Prospective Time Estimation Research Articles

The role of cognitive changes in immediate and remote prospective time estimations

The present research examines the predictive value of memory storage-size, cognitive change and attentional models with the aim of discovering which of them best explains the human experience of duration under conditions of intentional attention to time and under immediate and remote time estimation conditions. An independent measurement was also made of the processing effort invested in experimental task performance. A completely randomized 3 x 2 x 2 between-subject factorial design was applied to 192 students of psychology at the University of Salamanca. The results, obtained by means of ANOVA methods and orthogonal contrasts between means, showed 1. (1) that changes in the cognitive context operate as the main determinants for making judgements of time, and 2. (2) that the distinction between immediate and remote prospective time estimation is crucial because it causes a shortening or lengthening of duration judgements by human beings. The significance of the results for time estimation models is discussed.

The roles of non-temporal information processing load and temporal expectations in children's prospective time estimation

Children in the pre-operational phase were asked to prospectively estimate the duration of a thirty-second interval. Estimated intervals were either filled by a task demanding non-temporal information processing, or were ‘empty’. Children were either expecting a prize after the termination of the to-be-estimated interval, or were not expecting such a prize. Prospective time estimates were highest when a prize was expected and the to-be-estimated interval was ‘empty’, and lowest when a prize was not expected and the to-be-estimated interval was filled by the task. Accuracy was highest when a prize was expected and a non-temporal task required. These findings were accounted for by an attentional model of prospective time estimation. The similarity between children and adults' prospective time estimation processes was discussed.

Time Estimation Methods—Do They Influence Prospective Duration Estimates?

The validity of an attentional model of prospective time estimation was tested in three experiments. In the first experiment two variables were manipulated: (1) nontemporal information processing load during the estimated interval, and (2) time estimation method, ie production of time simultaneously with the performance of a second task, or reproduction of time immediately upon termination of a task whose duration has to be measured. As predicted, a positive relationship between produced time length and information processing load demanded by a simultaneous task, and a negative relationship between reproduced time length and information processing load during the estimated interval, were found. The results were replicated in a second experiment in which verbal estimates of time were also measured and the objective duration of the estimated interval was varied. The pattern of results obtained for verbal estimates was similar to that obtained for reproduced ones. The results of a third experiment indicated that produced and reproduced times were positively correlated with clock time. The results are interpreted as supporting an attentional model of prospective time estimation.

The role of attention in children's time perception

This study tested the role of attention in 7- to 9-year-old children's time estimation. Based on an attentional model of time estimation, it was hypothesized that prospective estimates of short intervals are a function of the degree to which a child is occupied with the passage of time and is focusing his or her attention on estimating the exposure time of a stimulus. Two experiments with two different manipulations on attentional focus were conducted. Eighty children were exposed to two types of light bulbs, one a big bulb kindled with high intensity and the other a small one kindled with low intensity. The light bulbs were kindled for different intervals ranging from 3 to 10 s. In both experiments children estimated the lighting time of the bulbs in each condition by a reproduction method. In the first experiment prospective time estimates were found to be significantly longer than retrospective ones. In the second experiment children gave shorter time estimates when their attention was attracted away from the time estimation task than when it was not. In both experiments the attentional hypothesis was supported. In addition, support for the “more is more” hypothesis was obtained. Implications for understanding children's time perception processes are discussed.

Prospective time estimation and hypnotizability in a simulator design.

The present study of prospective time estimation examined the effects of hypnosis on short time intervals using a real-simulator design. The major hypothesis predicted a 2-way interaction between group (high hypnotizable, low hypnotizable, and simulator) and condition (waking and hypnotic) across all 4 time intervals (30, 60, 120, and 240 seconds). It was further hypothesized that on a "suggested" task (a measure of hypnotic depth), high hypnotizable Ss and simulators would not differ from each other but would differ from low hypnotizable Ss. 42 undergraduates were screened on both the Creative Imagination Scale (Wilson & Barber, 1977) and the Stanford Hypnotic Clinical Scale for Adults (Morgan & J. R. Hilgard, 1975, 1979) and assigned to 1 of 3 groups (high hypnotizable, low hypnotizable, simulator) based on combined hypnotizability scores. Ss verbally estimated time intervals of 30, 60, 120, and 240 seconds, 3 times each, both while in a waking and a hypnotic condition. Hypnotic depth was assessed once following each time interval. Partial support was found for the first hypothesis where, for both the 60- and 120-second intervals, high hypnotizable Ss increased their overestimation in the hypnotic condition. Low hypnotizable and simulator Ss showed no such increase. The second hypothesis, that high hypnotizable and simulator Ss would differ from low hypnotizables on the "suggested" task, was confirmed. The partial replication of previous research was examined in the context of choice of hypnotizability measure and reliability of time estimation.

INFLUENCE OF DIAZEPAM ON PROSPECTIVE TIME ESTIMATION

24 students, after intake of diazepam or placebo, performed a psychomotor test of finger tapping as a prospective time-estimation task. The task was less overestimated by those who were under the influence of the drug than by the 12 subjects to whom the placebo was given.

The diminution of spatial effects upon duration estimation with focused attention

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of spatial attributes of stimuli upon the estimation of duration time. Using magnitude estimation method, three tasks were imposed on seven undergraduate students. C (control) task was to estimate the duration of a static small circle, MF (moving-free) task was that of a moving pattern of randomly located luminous spots, both with free regard, and MX (moving-fixed) task was that of the small circle superimposed on the moving pattern, with focused attention. In the MF task, there was found a velocity effect, i.e. the higher the velocity was, the larger was the estimated duration. In the MX task, the velocity effect was also found but in a small amount. The estimated durations in the C task were larger than those for the lowest velocity conditions in the other two tasks. These results were discussed in terms of two hypothetical cognitive processing systems in prospective time estimation.