Do rats time filled and empty intervals of equal duration differently?

The role of keypecking during filled intervals on the judgment of time for empty and filled intervals by pigeons

“…The present study replicates this effect in pigeons and shows that the timing difference is not due to difference in pecking behavior between filled and empty intervals. These results contribute to the growing research literature on parallels in human and animal timing (see Droit-Volet, 2008;MacInnis, 2007;Ortega, Lopez, & Church, 2009;Wearden, Goodson, & Foran, 2007;Wearden, Norton, Martin, & Montford-Bebb, 2007). an internal pacemaker (faster for empty intervals) and/ or an attentional difference in maintaining closure of a timing switch (greater for empty intervals).…”

Differences in duration discrimination of filled and empty auditory intervals as a function of base duration

“…Because of the large number of highly ambiguous results, in his comp prehensive reviews of the influence of filled and empty intervals on performance on duration discrimination in humans, Grondin (2001Grondin ( , 2003 arrived at the conclusion that, to date, no definitive statement on this issue can be made. Most interestingly, similarly inconclusive results have been reported from animal studies (e.g., Kraemer, Randall, & Brown, 1997;MacInnis, 2007;Miki & Santi, 2005;Santi, Keough, Gagne, & van Rooyen, 2007;Santi, Miki, Hornyak, & Eidse, 2006). At this point, it seems that differences in duration discrimination with filled and empty intervals may depend on various factors, such as the duration of the intervals to be compared, the sensory y p , p y modality in which the intervals are presented, the physical characteristics of the markers defining the empty intervals, or the psychophysical procedure applied (cf.…”

Everywhere and Everything: The Power and Ubiquity of Time

“…Based on the superiority of time-based cues, it could be assumed that with a greater number of effective time markers present, the uncertainty in estimating the time to reward delivery should substantially decrease. Previous research has shown that non-human animals, such as rats and pigeons, are able to combine information conveyed by multiple time markers to predict the time of food delivery (Church, Guilhardi, Keen, MacInnis, & Kirkpatrick, 2003;Guilhardi, Keen, MacInnis, & Church, 2005;Kirkpatrick & Church, 2000a;Leak & Gibbon, 1995;MacInnis, 2007;MacInnis, Marshall, Freestone, & Church, 2010;Meck & Church, 1984). Such time-based cue integration occurs in simultaneous temporal processing paradigms where overlapping intervals are signaled by different time markers (e.g., Church et al, 2003;Kirkpatrick & Church, 2000a;Meck & Church, 1984).…”