Remembered duration: Effects of event and sequence complexity

Two experiments investigated the remembered duration of relatively long intervals. In both, subjects viewed two sequences of visual patterns. Then they unexpectedly were asked to make a comparative judgment of duration of the two intervals. In Experiment 1 there was no effect of complexity of the individual patterns on remembered duration. In Experiment 2, however, there was an effect of complexity of the entire sequence, with a complex sequence remembered as longer in duration than a simple sequence. In both experiments there was a positive time order error. Several subsequent memory tests were given in an attempt to determine what types of retrieval processes mediate remembered duration. Results were discussed in terms of several current hypotheses, and a contextual change hypothesis was proposed.