The Effect on Time Estimation of Increasing the Complexity of a Cognitive Task

Measurements of the apparent duration, numerosity, familiarity, predictability, and organization of musical sequences were obtained to resolve conflicting claims about the effects of stimulus variables on duration judgments and to assess whether subjective number is an effective mediating variable underlying duration judgments. Intervals filled with perceptually familiar, organized, and predictable sequences of musical notes were judged by verbal estimation and, in most cases, by magnitude estimation to be longer and to have more notes than their perceptually unfamiliar reverse counterparts. The relationship between perceived and physical duration or number is consistent with Stevens's law, with exponents typical of reported values. Temporal and numerosity exponents derived from verbal estimates, but not from magnitude estimates, were higher for familiar, organized, and predictable sequences, but only when sequences were not paired with their reverse counterparts. Exponents and intercepts were not independent, but were inversely related; both may be needed to describe the duration and numerosity data.Duration perception is affected by several factors. Time intervals containing complex, unfamiliar, more numerous, or less predictable stimuli are estimated to be longer than intervals containing simpler (e.g

“…C. Jones & Natale, 1973;Kowal, 1976;Mo & Michalski, 1972;M. J. Smith, 1975;N. C. Smith, Jr., 1969;Thomas & Weaver, 1975;Warm, Greenberg, & Dube, 1964;Warm & McCray, 1969;Yeager, 1969).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Apparent duration and numerosity as a function of melodic familiarity

Kowal

1987

“…Some researchers have compared time judgments of intervals spent performing easy versus difficult versions of such tasks, and the results show that the more ATTENTIONAL RESOURCES IN TIMING 1119 difficult task is associated with shorter judgments (Block, 1992, Experiment I;Harton, 1938a), although one study yielded an opposite effect (Martin, Shumate, & Frauenfelder, 1981). Some experimental designs have included three or more task conditions representing different degrees of difficulty, and the results indicate that perceived time becomes progressively shortened as the task becomes more demanding (Smith, 1969;Zakay, Nitzan, & Glicksohn, 1983). It should be noted, however, that one manipulation that does not seem to interfere reliably with prospective timing is depth of processing.…”

Section: Interference Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Attentional resources in timing: Interference effects in concurrent temporal and nontemporal working memory tasks

Brown

1997

525

504

Three experiments examined interference effects in concurrent temporal and nontemporal tasks. The timing task in each experiment required subjects to generate a series of 2-or 5-sec temporal productions. The nontemporal tasks were pursuit rotor tracking (Experiment 1), visual search (Experiment 2), and mental arithmetic (Experiment 3). Each nontemporal task had two levels of difficulty. All tasks were performed under both single-and dual-task conditions. A simple attentional allocation model predicts bidirectional interference between concurrent tasks. The main results showed the classic interference effect in timing. That is, the concurrent nontemporal tasks caused temporal productions to become longer (longer productions represent a shortening of perceived time) and/or more variable than did timing-onlyconditions. In general, the difficult version of each nontemporal task disrupted timing more than the easier version. The timing data also exhibited a serial lengthening effect, in which temporal productions became longer across trials. Nontemporal task performance showed a mixed pattern. Tracking and visual search were essentially unaffected by the addition of a timing task, whereas mental arithmetic was disrupted by concurrent timing. These results call for a modification of the attentional allocation model to incorporate the idea of specialized processing resources. Two major theoretical frameworks-multiple resource theory and the working memory model-are critically evaluated with respect to the resource demands of timing and temporal/nontemporal dual-task performance.The interference effect is one of the most consistent findings in the time perception literature. The effect refers to a disruption in timing that occurs when subjects are required to perform some demanding nontemporal task during the interval. The usual result is that perceived time becomes shortened. Because of differences between time judgment methods (see below), this effect is manifested as either shorter verbal estimations and reproductions or longer temporal productions. Time judgments also may display more error and variability under nontemporal task conditions than under control (no-task) conditions. This paper explores the nature of this effect, with special reference to the role ofattentional processes in timing. First, a review of the empirical and theoretical work in the area is presented, and issues involving mutual interference between temporal and nontemporal processing are raised. Three experiments designed to address these issues are reported. The paper concludes with a discussion centering on the relationship between timing and current models of attentional resources.

“…In all cases, the interval was filled with a perceptual judgment task that varied in complexity from trial to trial. One wellestablished finding in the time duration judgment literature is that verbal estimates of duration decrease as task complexity increases (Brown, 1985;Hicks et al, 1976;Smith, 1969;Zakay, 1993;Zakay, Nitzan, & Glicksohn, 1983), possibly because greater attentional demands of the task result in less attention being paid to the passage of time itself Frankenhaeuser, 1959;. Given that, in the present experiment, the intervals were all filled, and, thus, in a sense, the duration judgment task was a secondary task, it was predicted that older participants would report shorter verbal estimates but produce longer intervals in production trials; both cases would reflect the reduced attentional resources available to older participants in dual-task situations.…”

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confidence: 99%

Aging and judgments of duration: Effects of task complexity and method of estimation

Craik

Hay

1999

135

119

The effects of aging on judgments of short temporal durations were explored using the prospective paradigm and the methods of verbal estimation and production. Younger and older adults performed a perceptual judgment task at five levels of complexity for periods of 30, 60, and 120 sec. Participants either continued to perform the task for a specified interval (production) or were stopped and then verbally estimated the interval. Older adults gave shorter verbal estimates and longer productions than did younger adults. The methods of verbal estimation and production yielded approximately equal durationjudgment ratios once range effects were taken into account. Task complexity had little effect. The major conclusion is that duration judgment ratios decrease from younger to older adults when the intervals are filled with a mental task.