Methodological Factors Involved in the Study of Temporal Binding Using the Open Source Software Labclock Web.

Carmelo P Cubillas,Helena Matute,Íñigo Landáburu

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01040

Carmelo P Cubillas, Helena Matute + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01040

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Abstract

Temporal binding occurs when an action and an outcome that follows it after a short period of time are judged as occurring closer to each other in time than they actually are. This effect has often been studied using Libet’s clock methodology. Garaizar et al. (2016) presented Labclock Web, a free HTML5 open source software that allows researchers to conduct temporal binding and other experiments using Libet’s clock through the Internet. The purpose of the three experiments presented here was to test how certain methodological modifications in the Labclock Web task could impact the temporal binding effect. In comparison with the original study, we aimed to: (a) reduce the interval between action and outcome in the delayed condition to 100 ms, instead of 500, (b) present the two types of trials, immediate and delayed, in two separate consecutive blocks, instead of intermixed, (c) use a visual, rather than auditory, outcome following the action, and (d) reduce the number of trials. In addition to its potential theoretical implications, the results confirm that Labclock Web is a useful and reliable tool for conducting temporal binding experiments and that it is well suited to measure temporal binding effects in a broad range of situations.

Highlights

As humans, we have the ability to modify the environment through our actions; this is why we are agents
A pairedsamples t-test confirmed this impression t(36) = 2.326, p = 0.026, dz = 0.38. These results suggest that Labclock Web is sensitive enough to detect temporal binding effects even when using very short intervals of 100 ms between action and tone and when reducing the number of trials to 10 per condition, which is convenient, when performing the experiments with anonymous Internet users who will abandon them rapidly if they become bored or tired
The results confirm that Labclock Web is a useful tool for carrying out temporal binding experiments, when using the standard features and parameters that have already been published in the literature and when (a) using short action-outcome delays (i.e., 100 ms), (b) presenting the different types of trials in separate consecutive blocks, (c) using visual instead of auditory feedback, and (d) reducing the number of trials per condition

Summary

Introduction

We have the ability to modify the environment through our actions; this is why we are agents. Based on a procedure developed by Libet et al (1983) these authors found that when an intentional action produced the onset of a tone after 250 ms, experimental participants tended to perceive action and tone closer in time than they were. This binding effect did not occur when actions were unintentional (triggered by transcranial magnetic stimulation). A few years later, Buehner and Humphreys (2009; see Moore et al, 2009) found that this action-effect binding occurred only when participants perceived a causal relationship between the two events. Throughout this article, we will refer to this effect by using the more neutral term temporal binding

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