Subadditive versus hyperbolic discounting: A comparison of choice and matching

Impulsive and myopic choices are often explained as due to hyperbolic discounting, meaning that people are impatient for outcomes available immediately, and become increasingly more patient the more the outcome is delayed. Recent research, however, has suggested that much experimental evidence for increasing patience is actually due to subadditive discounting: people are less patient (per-time-unit) over shorter intervals regardless of when they occur. Because previous research into subadditive discounting has used a choice elicitation procedure, the present paper tests whether it generalises to matching. We find strong evidence that it does, but also find weak evidence of increasing patience for matching. We suggest, however, that subadditive discounting alone may be sufficient to account for all of our results. We conclude by questioning the contribution that hyperbolic discounting makes to our understanding of time preference.     

Compress global,dilate local: Intentional binding in action–outcome alternations

Intentional binding refers to subjective temporal attraction between an action and its outcome. However, the nature of intentional binding in multiple actions remains unclear. We examined intentional binding in alternated action–outcome dyads. Participants actively or passively pressed a key, followed by a tone, and they again pressed the key; resulting in four keypress–tone dyads in a trial. Participants reproduced the duration of alternated keypress–tone dyads or the temporal interval between a dyad embedded in the alternations. The reproduced duration was shorter in the active than in the passive condition, suggesting the intentional binding in action–outcome alternations. In contrast, the reproduced interval between a dyad was longer in the active condition and did not correlate with the reproduced duration. These results suggest that subjective time during actions relies not only on an internal clock but also on postdictive biases that are switched based on what we recall.     

Bayes,time perception,and relativity: The central role of hopelessness

Time judgement and time experience are distinct elements of time perception. It is known that time experience tends to be slow, or dilated, when depressed, but there is less certainty or clarity concerning how depression affects time judgement. Here, we use a Bayesian Prediction Error Minimisation (PEM) framework called ‘distrusting the present’ as an explanatory and predictive model of both aspects of time perception. An interval production task was designed to probe and modulate the relationship between time perception and depression. Results showed that hopelessness, a symptom of severe depression, was associated with the ordering of interval lengths, reduced overall error, and dilated time experience. We propose that ‘distrusting the future’ is accompanied by ‘trusting the present’, leading to the experiences of time dilation when depressed or hopeless. Evidence was also found to support a relative difference model of how hopelessness dilates, and arousal accelerates, the rate of experienced time.     

Systema Temporis: A time-based dimensional framework for consciousness and cognition

This study uses a combined categorical-dimensional approach to depict a hierarchical framework for consciousness similar to, and contiguous with, factorial models of cognition (cf., intelligence). On the basis of the longstanding definition of time consciousness, the analysis employs a dimension of temporal extension, in the same manner that psychology has temporally organised memory (i.e., short-term, long-term, and long-lasting memories). By defining temporal extension in terms of the structure of time perception at short timescales (<100 s), memory and time consciousness are proposed to fit along the same logarithmic dimension. This suggests that different forms of time consciousness (e.g., experience, wakefulness, and self-consciousness) are embedded within, or supported by, the ascending timescales of different modes of memory (i.e., short-term, long-term, etc.). A secondary dimension is also proposed to integrate higher-order forms of consciousness/emotion and memory/cognition. The resulting two-dimensional structure accords with existing theories of cognitive and emotional intelligence.     

Lexical prediction in the aging brain: The effects of predictiveness and congruency on the N400 ERP component

Although the N400 ERP component has been extensively studied in younger adults, the underlying mechanisms are still unclear. In older adults, N400 ERP studies have shown less efficient use of context compared to younger adults. Here, we asked whether the mechanisms underlying the N400 effect are the same in terms of predictiveness and congruency in younger and older adults. We used a simple picture-word matching task in which we crossed predictiveness and congruency. Our results indicate a three-way interaction between predictiveness, congruency, and age, in that, younger adults showed an N400 effect only in strongly constrained conditions; whereas, older adults showed an effect in both strongly- and weakly constrained conditions. This interaction was not modulated by language experience or cognitive decline. Our results support either two separate mechanisms (lexical access and integration) that run in parallel and are modulated by age or a common prediction error mechanism that changes with age.     

An improved method for counting stressful life events (SLEs) when predicting mental health and wellness

Objective: Checklists for registering stressful life events (SLEs) generally correlate negatively, but weakly, with mental health outcome measures. Thus, the present study examined various methodological approaches for improving these relationships.

Design: A total of 1679 participants (women?=?943, men?=?736, M age-39.8) were randomly drawn from the general Norwegian population (response rate 34%). This prospective cohort study included two follow-ups at 10 (n?=?1181) and 23 months (n?=?942).

Main outcome measures: Satisfaction with life and absence of psychological distress (i.e. anxiety and depression) represented a joint measure for indexing ‘mental wellness’ (MW).

Results: A simple count of SLEs weakly predicted MW, as expected, whereas the addition of a moderator (i.e. manageability of the event) substantially improved predictive power. Four additional moderators were examined: duration, impact, help-seeking and time since onset, but these were non-significant after inserting manageability into the model. This SLE counting method also retained its predictive power after including multiple criterion-related variables that substantially adjusted the longitudinal statistical model.

Conclusion: This new SLE counting method exhibited a considerable improvement to predicting mental health and well-being. It is well suited for use in epidemiological research requiring a short SLE checklist format with high predictive power.     

Measuring time perspective in adolescents: Can you get the right answer by asking the wrong questions?

Time perspective continues to evolve as a psychological construct. The extant literature suggests that higher future orientation and lower present orientation are associated with better developmental outcomes. However, the extant literature also suggests that issues remain with the measurement of the construct. Recently, a 25-item version of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI-25) was suggested for use based on high internal consistency estimates and good discriminant validity of scores in a sample of Italian adolescents. However, the genesis of this scale is uncertain. The present study examined the factorial validity, reliability, and concurrent validity of ZTPI-25 scores in Slovenian, American, and British adolescents. Results revealed satisfactory concurrent validity based on correlations with measures used in the development of the full ZTPI. However, internal consistency and factorial validity of scores were unsatisfactory. The present study questions the use of the ZTPI-25 with adolescents in the context of conceptual and measurement issues more broadly.     

Perception of Happening: How the Brain Deals with the No-History Problem

In physics, the temporal dimension has units of infinitesimally brief duration. Given this, how is it possible to perceive things, such as motion, music, and vibrotactile stimulation, that involve extension across many units of time? To address this problem, it is proposed that there is what is termed an “information construct of happening” (ICOH), a simultaneous representation of recent, temporally differentiated perceptual information on the millisecond time scale. The main features of the ICOH are (i) time marking, semantic labeling of all information in the ICOH with ordinal temporal information and distance from what is informationally identified as the present moment, (ii) vector informational features that specify kind, direction, and rate of change for every feature in a percept, and (iii) connectives, information relating vector informational features at adjacent temporal locations in the ICOH. The ICOH integrates products of perceptual processing with recent historical information in sensory memory on the subsecond time scale. Perceptual information about happening in informational sensory memory is encoded in semantic form that preserves connected semantic trails of vector and timing information. The basic properties of the ICOH must be supported by a general and widespread timing mechanism that generates ordinal and interval timing information and it is suggested that state-dependent networks may suffice for that purpose. Happening, therefore, is perceived at a moment and is constituted by an information structure of connected recent historical information.     

Some thoughts on Experiencing Time

This paper examples several arguments from Simon Prosser's book Experiencing Time. His argument against the doctrine of the specious present is applauded. His argument that even if time passes, nothing can detect the passage of time, is questioned. Also challenged are his claims that our experience represents things as enduring, rather than perduring, and represents things as having contradictory properties.     

Twin study of laboratory-induced aggression

The aim of this study was to explore genetic and environmental contributions to laboratory-induced aggressive behavior. On a sample of 478 adult twins (316 monozygotic), the Competitive Reaction Time Task was used for aggression induction. The results showed that the initial, basic level of aggression could be explained by both shared (45%) and nonshared environmental factors (55%), while only nonshared environmental factors (100%) had a significant influence on changes in aggression as provocation increased. Genetic factors had no influence on laboratory-induced aggression. The results highlight the importance of environmental factors in shaping situation-specific aggressive responses to provocation.