Abstract
Abstract Two experiments were conducted to examine children's developing conception of objective time, and its relation to time perception. In Experiment 1, 60 children, 15 each at ages 4, 5, 6, and 7 years, were asked what happened to the clock at night while they were sleeping. They also judged whether either of 2 puppets dancing for 15 seconds to a slow and fast metronome danced for a longer time. In Experiment 2, 90 children, 30 each from Grades 1, 2, and 3, were given modifications of the previous two tasks plus a time reproduction task with the puppets. Results indicated that a large number of children aged 4–5, thought the clock went more slowly at night and more rapidly during the day, in accord with their own subjective slowness at night and increase of activity during the day. The notion of the constancy of objective time appeared to develop between kindergarten and second grade (7–9 years). Time conception was related to time perception in Experiment 1, but this finding was neither replicated nor extended in Experiment 2. Results suggested the development of a progressive differentiation of self from the external world of objective time. Results were interpreted in terms of Piaget's theory of the parallel development of the conceptual and perceptual domains.
Published Version
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