Dan Zakay

Prospective and retrospective duration judgments: A meta-analytic review

A meta-analytic review compared prospective and retrospective judgments of duration, or duration judgment paradigm. Some theorists have concluded that the two paradigms involve similar cognitive processes, whereas others have found that they involve different processes. A review of 20 experiments revealed that prospective judgments are longer and less variable than are retrospective judgments. Several theoretically important variables moderate these effects, especially those concerned with information processing activities. Therefore, somewhat different cognitive processes subserve experienced and remembered duration. Attentional models are needed to explain prospective judgments, and memory-based models are needed to explain retrospective judgments. These findings clarify models of human duration judgment and suggest directions for future research. Evidence on duration judgments may also influence models of attention and memory.

The role of attention in time estimation processes

Abstract Several cognitive models of time estimation have been proposed. We discuss the different role of attention in prospective and retrospective time estimation processes, the empirical evidences and methodological problems in the study of attention, and the relationship between attention, temporal uncertainly and temporal relevance-toward a general theoretical framework for understanding time estimation processes.

Chapter 10 Subjective Time and Attentional Resource Allocation: An Integrated Model of Time Estimation

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses subjective time and attentional resource allocation. A convenient paradigm widely used to study time estimation processes involves manipulating the level of information processing load during an interval and measuring the resulting changes in the length of its duration estimation. Ornstein introduces the storage-size metaphor to explain the time estimation process. According to this model, the higher the complexity of a stimulus, the higher is the subjective estimate of the duration of its exposure. This follows from the assumption that storage size, on which time estimation is based, is larger for a complex stimulus than for a simple one. Attentional models are the one in which the judged duration is a direct function of the amount of attention allocated to the passage of time. It is assumed that a cognitive unit (a timer or counter), exists, whose purpose it is to process and encode temporal information. This counter, however, demands attentional resources for its operation.

How cognitive load affects duration judgments: A meta-analytic review

A meta-analysis of 117 experiments evaluated the effects of cognitive load on duration judgments. Cognitive load refers to information-processing (attentional or working-memory) demands. Six types of cognitive load were analyzed to resolve ongoing controversies and to test current duration judgment theories. Duration judgments depend on whether or not participants are informed in advance that they are needed: prospective paradigm (informed) versus retrospective paradigm (not informed). With higher cognitive load, the prospective duration judgment ratio (subjective duration to objective duration) decreases but the retrospective ratio increases. Thus, the duration judgment ratio differs depending on the paradigm and the specific type of cognitive load. As assessed by the coefficient of variation, relative variability of prospective, but not retrospective, judgments increases with cognitive load. The prospective findings support models emphasizing attentional resources, especially executive control. The retrospective findings support models emphasizing memory changes. Alternative theories do not fit with the meta-analytic findings and are rejected.

Human Aging and Duration Judgments: A Meta-Analytic Review

Differences in duration judgments made by younger and older adults were reviewed. Previous research is unclear about whether such differences exist and, if so, how they may be explained. The meta-analyses revealed substantial age-related differences. Older adults gave larger verbal estimates and made shorter productions of duration than did younger adults. There were no age-related differences in reproduction of duration or in psychophysical slope relating judged and target duration. Older adults duration estimates were more variable than were those of younger ones. Findings are discussed in terms of pacemaker rate and attentional resources. An explanation regarding divided attention between nontemporal and temporal information processing best explains the findings.

Time pressure, training and decision effectiveness

An experiment was carried out in order to evaluate the effects of time pressure and of training on the utilization of compensatory multi-attribute (MAU) decision processes. Sixty subjects made buying decisions with and without training in the process of compensatory MAU decision-making. This was repeated with and without time pressure. It was found that training resulted in more effective decision making only under the ‘no time pressure’ condition. Under time pressure the training did not improve the quality of decision making at all, and the effectiveness of the decisions was significantly lower than under no time pressure. It was concluded that specific training methods should be designed to help decision makers improve their decisions under time pressure.

Prospective and retrospective duration judgments: an executive-control perspective.

Most theorists propose that when a person is aware that a duration judgment must be made (prospective paradigm), experienced duration depends on attention to temporal information, which competes with attention to nontemporal information. When a person is not aware that a duration judgment must be made until later (retrospective paradigm), remembered duration depends on incidental memory for temporal information. In the present article we describe two experiments in which durations involved with high-level, executive-control functions were judged either prospectively or retrospectively. In one experiment, the executive function involved resolving syntactic ambiguity in reading. In another experiment, it involved controlling the switching between tasks. In both experiments, there was a unique cost to the operation of control high-level, executive functions which was manifested by prospective reproductions shortening a finding that supports an attentional model of prospective timing. In addition, activation of executive functions produced contextual changes that were encoded in memory and resulted in longer retrospective reproductions, a finding that supports a contextual-change model of retrospective timing. Thus, different cognitive processes underlie prospective and retrospective timing. Recent findings obtained by some brain researchers also support these conclusions.

The influence of task difficulty and external tempo on subjective time estimation.

Ninety-six subjects were asked to estimate durations of either “empty” or “filled” intervals during which they performed verbal tasks at three levels of difficulty. The verbal tasks were performed under three conditions of external rhythmic stimulation: fast, slow, and no external tempo. It was found that subjective time estimations were a decreasing function of task difficulty, and that durations for “empty” intervals were estimated to be longer than those for “filled” intervals. A relationship between external tempo and subjective time estimation was found. Longest time estimates were obtained under fast external tempo, and shortest time estimates were obtained under slow external tempo. Time estimates under the condition of no external tempo were found to be intermediate. The findings were interpreted as supporting a cognitive timer model of subjective time estimation.

A timely account of the role of duration in decision making.

The current work takes a general perspective on the role of time in decision making. There are many different relationships and interactions between time and decision making, and no single summary can do justice to this topic. In this paper we will describe a few of the aspects in which time and decision making are interleaved: (a) temporal perspectives of decisions--the various temporal orientations that decision-makers may adopt while making decisions, and the impact of such temporal orientations on the decision process and its outcomes; (b) time as a medium within which decisions take place--the nature of decision processes that occur along time; (c) time as a resource and as a contextual factor--the implications of shortage in time resources and the impact of time limits on decision making processes and performance; (d) time as a commodity--time as the subject matter of decision making. The paper ends with a few general questions on the role of duration in decision making.

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.