We investigated how does the structure of empty time intervals influence temporal processing. In experiment 1, the intervals to be discriminated were the silent durations marked by two sensory signals, both lasting 10 or 500 ms; these signals were two identical flashes (intramodal: VV), or one visual flash (V) followed by an auditory tone (A) (intermodal: VA). For the range of duration under investigation (standards = 0.2, 0.6, 1, or 1.4 s), the results indicated that both the marker length and sensory mode influenced discrimination, but no interaction between these variables or between one of these variables and standard duration was significant. In experiment 2, we compared, for each of four marker-type conditions (VV, AA, VA, AV; and standard = 1 s), intervals marked by two 10 ms signals with intervals marked by unequal signal length (markers 1 and 2 lasting 10 and 500 ms, or 500 and 10 ms). As in experiment 1, the results revealed significant marker-mode and marker-length effects, but no significant interaction between these variables. Experiment 3 showed that, for the same conditions as in experiment 2, perceived duration is not influenced by marker length and that the variability of interval reproductions does not depend on the perceived duration of intervals. The results are discussed in the light of a single-clock hypothesis: marker-length and marker-mode effects are presented as being non-temporal sources of variability associated mainly with sensory and memory processes.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AllanL G, 1979“The perception of time”Perception & Psychophysics26340–354.
2.
AllanL G, 1998“The influence of scalar timing model on human timing research”Behavioural Processes44110–117.
3.
CreelmanC D, 1962“Human discrimination of auditory duration”Journal of the Acoustical Society of America34582–593.
4.
GescheiderG A, (Ed.), 1985Psychophysics: Method, Theory, and Application (Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates).
5.
GettyD G, 1975“Discrimination of short temporal intervals: A comparison of two models”Perception & Psychophysics181–8.
6.
GibbonJ, 1991“Origins of scalar timing”Learning & Motivation223–38.
7.
GibbonJChurchR M, 1984“Sources of variance in an information processing theory of timing”, in Animal Cognition Eds RoitblatH LBeverT GTerraceH S, (Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates) pp 465–488.
8.
GrondinS, 1993“Duration discrimination of empty and filled intervals marked by auditory and visual signals”Perception & Psychophysics54383–394.
9.
GrondinS, 2001a“Discriminating time intervals presented in sequences marked by visual signals”Perception & Psychophysics631214–1228.
10.
GrondinS, 2001b“From physical time to the first and second moments of psychological time”Psychological Bulletin12722–44.
11.
GrondinS, 2003“Sensory modalities and temporal processing”, in Time and Mind II: Information Processing Perspectives Ed. HelfrichH, (Gottingen: Hogrefe & Huber) pp 75–92.
12.
GrondinSIvryR BFranzEPerreaultLMettheL, 1996“Markers' influence on the duration discrimination of intermodal intervals”Perception & Psychophysics58424–433.
13.
GrondinSMeilleur-WellsGLachanceR, 1999“When to start explicit counting in time-intervals discrimination task: A critical point in the timing process of humans”Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance25993–1004.
14.
GrondinSMetthéL, 1993“Procedural effects on duration discrimination”, in Fechner Day 93; Proceedings of the Ninth Annual Meeting of the International Society for Psychophysics Eds Garriga-TrilloAMinonPGarcia-GallegoCLubinPMorinoJVillarinoA, (Palma de Majorca: International Society for Psychophysics) pp 107–112.
15.
GrondinSOuelletBRousselM E, 2001“About optimal timing and stability of Weber fraction for duration discrimination”Acoustical Science & Technology22370–372.
16.
GrondinSOuelletBRousselM E, 2004“Benefits and limits of explicit counting for discriminating temporals”Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology581–12.
17.
GrondinSRousseauR, 1991“Judging the relative duration of multimodal short empty time intervals”Perception & Psychophysics49245–256.
18.
HelfrichH, (Ed.), 2003Time and Mind II: Information Processing Perspectives (Göttingen: Hogrefe & Huber).
IvryR BHazeltineR E, 1995“The perception and production of temporal intervals across a range of durations: Evidence for a common timing mechanism”Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance213–18.
21.
KatoHTsuzakiM, 1994“Intensity effect on discrimination of auditory duration flashed by preceding and succeeding tones”Journal of Acoustical Society of Japan, E15349–351.
22.
KatoHTsuzakiM, 1998“Evidence for a functional difference between rise and fall markers in discrimination of auditory unfilled duration”Journal of Acoustical Society of Japan E1973–76.
23.
KilleenP RTaylorT, 2000“How the propagation of error through stochastic counters affects time discrimination and other psychophysical judgments”Psychological Review107430–459.
24.
KilleenP RWeissN A, 1987“Optimal timing and the Weber function”Psychological Review94455–468.
25.
KirkR E, 1982Experimental Design: Procedures for the Behavioral Science (Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole).
26.
MacmillanN ACreelmanC D, 1991Detection Theory: A User's Guide (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
27.
MeckW H, (Ed.), 2003Functional and Neural Mechanisms of Interval Timing (Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press).
28.
MorganM JWatamaniukS N JMcKeeS P, 2000“The use of an implicit standard for measuring discrimination thresholds”Vision Research402341–2349.
29.
PennerM J, 1975“Persistence and integration: Two consequences of a sliding integrator”Perception & Psychophysics18114–120.
30.
PennerM J, 1976“The effect of marker variability on the discrimination of temporal intervals”Perception & Psychophysics19466–469.
31.
RammsayerT HLeutnerD, 1996“Temporal discrimination as a function of marker duration”Perception & Psychophysics581213–1223.
32.
RammsayerT HLimaS, 1991“Duration discrimination of filled and empty auditory intervals: Cognitive and perceptual factors”Perception & Psychophysics50565–574.
33.
RammsayerT HUlrichR, 2001“Counting models of temporal discrimination”Psychonomic Bulletin & Review84270–277.
34.
RoeckeleinJ E, 2000The Concept of Time in Psychology–A Resource Book and Annotated Bibliography (Westport, CT: Greenwood).
35.
RousseauRPoirierJLemyreL, 1983“Duration discrimination of empty time intervals marked by intermodal pulses”Perception & Psychophysics34541–548.
36.
ShamsLKamitaniYShimojoS, 2002“Visual illusion induced by sound”Cognitive Brain Research14147–154.
37.
ShimojoSShamsL, 2001“Sensory modalities are not separate modalities: Plasticity and interactions”Current Opinion in Neurobiology11505–509.
38.
YamashitaMNakajimaY, 1999“The effect of marker duration on time-shrinking”, in Music, Mind, and Science Ed. Won YiS, (Seoul: National University Press) pp 211–218.
39.
WatanabeKShimojoS, 2001a“When sound affects vision: Effects of auditory grouping on visual motion perception”Psychological Science12109–116.
