Individual alerting efficiency modulates time perception.

The perception of duration is influenced by various factors, including attention and the physical properties of stimuli. However, the interaction between these factors remains poorly understood. The present study investigated how covert visual attention, stimulus brightness, and contrast jointly influence time perception using a novel attentional temporal bisection task. Participants categorized the duration of a cued target stimulus as "short" or "long" while the brightness and contrast (relative to background) of the target and a distractor stimulus were systematically manipulated. Results showed that high-contrast targets were perceived as lasting longer than low-contrast targets. Surprisingly, brighter targets were perceived as shorter than dimmer targets. At the unattended location, the effects of distractor contrast and brightness were the mirror image, such that targets were perceived as longer in the presence of bright distractors and (though not reliably) low-contrast distractors. Taken together, the findings point to local encoding effects at the target (contrast lengthens; higher target brightness shortens) and a modest decisional/context bias from the distractor, consistent with partial competition across locations. Findings further indicate that contrast, rather than absolute brightness, is the primary determinant of perceived duration, with its effects mediated by attention. This study provides novel insights into how bottom-up stimulus properties and top-down attention jointly influence temporal processing, highlighting the need for more nuanced models of time perception that account for the complex interplay between attention, brightness, and contrast. Finally, the counterintuitive finding that increasing brightness can shorten perceived duration challenges the notion of a monotonic relationship between stimulus intensity and perceived time.

The temporal bisection task has long been used to study time perception as well as measure individual differences in time perception ability. The task involves training participants on short and long reference durations before presenting intermediate durations and asking participants to classify them as ‘short’ or ‘long’. However, there is little information about how well the bisection task measures individual differences in timing ability. To bridge this gap, we assessed the psychometric properties of measures obtained from a classic temporal bisection task: Weber ratio and percent correct. Because measures with binary responses tend to require many trials to reach adequate reliability, we also assessed the psychometric properties of a modified bisection task which used a continuous response format. In this task, participants represented intermediate durations on a visual analogue scale. Estimation error was used as the outcome measure. Participants (n = 46) completed the classic and modified bisection tasks twice across two sessions approximately one week apart. The modified bisection task had excellent internal consistency and test–retest reliability, while the classic task had fair to good internal consistency and good test–retest reliability. Overall, estimation error had the highest reliability, followed by percent correct, and then Weber ratio. In terms of validity, there was excellent convergent validity between the classic and modified bisection tasks. As an exploratory analysis, we assessed how the number of trials affected the reliability of each outcome measure across the two tasks. Based on this, we make recommendations on how to optimize reliability for both tasks in future research.

The perception of time is not veridical, but, rather, it is susceptible to environmental context, like the intrinsic dynamics of moving stimuli. The direction of motion has been reported to affect time perception such that movement of objects toward an observer (i.e., looming stimuli) is perceived as longer in duration than movement of objects away from the observer (i.e., receding stimuli). In the current study we investigated whether this looming/receding temporal asymmetry can be modulated by the direction of movement implied by static cues of images. Participants were presented with images of a running person, rendered from either the front or the back (i.e., representing movement toward or away from the observer). In Experiment 1, the size of the images was constant. In Experiment 2, the image sizes varied (i.e., increasing: looming; or decreasing: receding). In both experiments, participants performed a temporal bisection task by judging the duration of the image presentation as "short" or "long". In Experiment 1, we found no influence of implied-motion direction in the participants' duration perceptions. In Experiment 2, however, participants overestimated the duration of the looming, as compared to the receding image in relation to real motion. This finding replicated previous findings of the looming/receding asymmetry using naturalistic human-character stimuli. Further, in Experiment 2 we observed a directional congruency effect between real and implied motion; stimuli were perceived as lasting longer when the directions of real and implied motion were congruent versus when these directions were incongruent. Thus, looming (versus receding) movement, a perceptually salient stimulus, elicits differential temporal processing, and higher-order motion processing integrates signals of real and implied motion in time perception.

The effect of embodying the elderly on time perception

Age differences in the Attention Network Test: Evidence from behavior and event-related potentials

In recent years, several studies have reported that the allocation of spatial attention fluctuates periodically. This periodic attention was revealed by measuring behavioral performance as a function of cue-to-target interval in the Posner cueing paradigm. Previous studies reported behavioral oscillations using target detection tasks. Whether the influence of periodic attention extends to cognitively demanding tasks remains unclear. To assess this, we examined the effects of periodic attention on the perception of duration. In the experiment, participants performed a temporal bisection task while a cue was presented with various cue-to-target intervals. Perceived duration fluctuated rhythmically as a function of cue-to-target interval at a group level but not at an individual level when the target was presented on the same side as the attentional cue. The results indicate that the perception of duration is influenced by periodic attention. In other words, periodic attention can influence the performance of cognitively demanding tasks such as the perception of duration.

Optokinetic stimulation affects temporal estimation in healthy humans

According to the Posner’s theory of executive control there are three functional networks of attention: 1) alerting; 2) orienting; 3) executive control. Individual differences in executive control may be associated with personality. The aim of this study is to investigate relationships between the Big Five and executive control. Nighty eight volunteers participated in the experiment with Attentional Network Test (ANT, E-Prime version, Fan&Posner, 2002) during EEG recording. Personality characteristics were measured by «Big Fife» (Personality structure: Emergence of the five-factor model Digman J.M., 1990; Goldberg L.R.,1993), Trait Meta Mood Scale (TMMS, Salovey et al., 1995), Emotional Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ, Gross & John, 2003), Mood scale of DSSQ (The Dundee Stress State Questionnaire, DSSQ, Matthews et al., 2002). Alpha Cronbach were calculated for all questionnaires scales. Scales «Attention to emotion» and «Suppression» were reconstructed due lower alpha Cronbach. Dynamics of attentional networks showed significant attenuation in Alerting to the end of task. Results showed significant correlations between behavioral data and personality characteristics. For instance, «Alerting» positively correlated with «neuroticism» and «frustration» after experiment, and executive control with «frustration» before experiment. Hence, those personality and mood components are important for cognitive function control. Key words: extraversion, introversion, emotional intelligence, executive control, Attentional Network Test.

The dissociation of temporal processing behavior in concussion patients: Stable motor and dynamic perceptual timing

One of the less-noticed arguments associated with urban-space perception while moving is the pedestrians' subjective time perception. Indeed, in many cases, the pedestrians' perception of the time needed to travel a distance is shorter or longer than the actual time. The main objective of this paper—which has been neglected by many urban designers—is to determine the effect of the physical-spatial structure of a built environment on the pedestrians' perception of time. It is hypothesized that different spatial configurations and physical structures can have specific effects on the observer's subjective perception of time, while moving in an urban space.Since this study needed to examine different types of physical-spatial structures from a time perspective, while preventing the possible involvement of other non-physical factors that affect people's time estimates, real urban environments received limited use in this study. Instead, the researchers used a virtual-reality technique to maximize the similarity between the observers' perceived conditions and the real environment. This makes it possible to make dynamic and continuous changes to the physical-spatial variables under study in a semi-real context, and to control other variables affecting the time variable. In addition, to achieve a systematic and logical review, the researchers analyzed the effects of the physical-spatial structures in nine defined simulated tests on pedestrians' subjective time perception. The results supported the hypothesis of a logical relationship between certain physical-spatial configurations and the observer's subjective time perception while moving in an urban space. The logical relationships between the nine configurations studied in this paper were presented as part of the study’s practical results.

Mindfulness meditation is increasingly used for clinical treatment and to improve well-being. One of the most fundamental benefits of mindfulness meditation is now considered as enhanced attentional control. Mindfulness meditation is a complex technique but most of its variants consist of a combination of two types of basic meditation practice: focused attention meditation (FAM) and open monitoring meditation (OMM). Although many studies have examined the effect of relatively long-term meditation on attention, some recent studies have focused on the effect of a brief one-time meditation on cognitive processing, including attentional functions. Furthermore, it is necessary to discuss the relationship between the effect of mindfulness meditation on attentional functions and personality traits (especially traits related to mindfulness). This study investigated whether attentional control is improved by a single 30-min FAM or OMM and whether the degree of improvement in attentional functions – alerting, orienting, and conflict monitoring – induced by the meditation varies according to the participant’s trait scores related to mindfulness measured by the Five Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups, i.e., FAM, OMM, and no-meditation (noM) groups, and given an Attentional Network Test before and after each 30-min meditation session. Compared with the noM group, there was no overall improvement in attentional functions with either type of meditation. However, there were associations between the change of the alerting function’s score and the personality traits: in the FAM group, alerting scores were negatively associated with the nonreactivity facet of the FFMQ, and in the OMM group, alerting scores were positively associated with describing facet scores of the FFMQ. The results indicate that the effects of meditation methods on attentional functions could depend on the individual’s traits related to mindfulness and that mindfulness meditation could sometimes appear to have no impact on attentional functions.

Temporal variability of brain networks predicts individual differences in bistable perception

Developmental, behavioural, and neurological similarities in the processing of different magnitudes (time, number, space) support the existence of a common magnitude processing system (e.g., a theory of magnitude, ATOM). It is, however, unclear whether the recruitment of wider cognitive resources (short-term memory, STM; and executive function) during magnitude processing is similar across magnitude domains or is domain specific. The current study used an individual differences approach to examine the relationship between STM, executive function, and magnitude processing. In two experiments, participants completed number, length, and duration bisection tasks to assess magnitude processing and tasks that have been shown to assess STM span and executive component processes. The results suggest that the recruitment of STM and executive resources differed for the different magnitude domains. Duration perception was associated with access, inhibition, and STM span. Length processing was associated with updating, and number processing was associated with access to semantic memory. For duration and length, greater difficulty in the magnitude judgement task resulted in more relationships to STM and executive function. It is suggested that duration perception may be more demanding of STM and executive resources because it is represented sequentially, unlike length and number which can be represented nonsequentially.

Cognitive abilities explaining age-related changes in time perception of short and long durations

BackgroundPeople with high subthreshold autistic traits usually share behavioral patterns similar to those of individuals on the autism spectrum, but with fewer social and cognitive changes. The effect of autistic traits on time perception and the role of interpersonal information in this effect remain unexplored.MethodsThis study used a temporal bisection task between 400 and 1600 ms to compare the time perception of individuals with higher and lower autistic traits, and to explore the regulation of interpersonal information on their time perception by establishing associations between identities and geometric shapes. Thirty-two participants with high autistic traits and thirty-one participants with low autistic traits participated in this study.ResultsIn the absence of identity information, people with high autistic traits tended to judge short durations as longer. Their subjective bisection point was lower, and the Weber ratio was higher than for those with low autistic traits, suggesting that their overestimation of short duration was due to decreased temporal sensitivity. With the involvement of interpersonal information, the proportion of long responses for no identity was significantly lower than for self, friends, and strangers, which seemed more obvious in individuals with low autistic traits although there was no significant interaction between identity and group. The Weber ratio of no identity was lower than that for other identities.ConclusionThe results suggest that individuals with high autistic traits have more conservative responses that are relatively shorter in duration, and this change is related to a decline in perceptual sensitivity. Compared to individuals with high autistic traits, the time perception of individuals with low autistic traits seemed more susceptible to interpersonal information.