The Effect of Delay Upon the Duplication of Short Temporal Intervals

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FO R D H A M U N IV E R SIT Y G R A D U A T E SCHOOL

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This dissertation prepared under my direction by

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has been accepted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the

Degree of

(F /c u lty A d vise r)

THE e ff ec t of delay upon the duplication OF SHORT TEMPORAL INTERVALS

BY WALTER J. KOWALSKI M.A., Fordham University, *40

DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY AT FORDHAM UNIVERSITY

NEW YORK 1942

ProQuest Number: 10992506

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i TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter LIST OF TABLES

Page ............................

LIST OF FIGURES .I..,.*****.*,,***.**.****.***,*.***....

V

I. INTRODUCTION .*..*.**.*.♦..******..**..♦.*.**..**.*..

1

.....«♦..,.**...**.

3

ii* survey of literature III* EXPERIMENT I ...... Ofejeetive© Apparatus Methods and Procedure© Treatment of Bata

24

IF* INTERPRETATION OF DATA ~ EXPERIMENT I **...****...*.. Conclusions V. EXPERIMENT II ******..... Objective Apparatus Methods and Procedures Treatment of Data

34 44

VI. INTERPRETATION OF DATA - EXPERIMENT II *»•„»•««*»*„ Percent of Estimation and Analysis of Variance Comparison of Experiment I with Experiment II Conclusions of Experiment II VII. DISCUSSION ...... Summary and Conclusions of Experiment H

L

iv

53

67

APPENDIX .... Design Colored by Subjects during Experiment IX

75

BIBLIOGRAPHY

77

.......

*.........

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iv r LIST OF TABUS

Table

Page

I. Randomisation of the Stimulus Durations for Each of Five Sessions Used in Experiment 1 * «*•**...«» II* Percent of Estimation for A H Delay Intervals at Each Stimulus Duration

35

III* Mean Percent of Estimation for Each Stimulus Duration at Each Delay Interval •*»*»»***••«,*»*«»**•#

38

I?* Average Duplications in Seconds of All Subjects Combined for each Stimulus Duration at Each Delay Interval .............. *•••*•.•,•**•**•«•*«.»,»

41

V* Chronological Ages of Group Tested in Experiment II VI* Stimulus Durations and Delay Intervals Randomised in Accordance with the Graeco-Latin Square Arrangement ..........

46

48

VII, Mean* Sigma and Coefficient of Variability for Distributions of Stimulus Durations

50

VIII* Median Duplication Times in Seconds for All Stimulus Durations at Each Delay Interval

53

IX. PI of Medians of Corrected Responses for A H Stimulus Durations at Each Delay Interval ............

54

X. Quartiie Deviations of Corrected Response# for A H Stimulus Durations at Each Delay Interval ••••

56

XI* Quartil# Measures of Skewness of Corrected Responses for All Stimulus Durations at Each Delay Interval ,*,:***•,**,«***,*#,,***,*♦♦,***.•#

58

XII* Percent of Estimation of All Stimulus Durations at Each Delay Interval *,•***,**,#♦#**#•,*,*

59

XIII* Analysis of Variance *****

L.

31

......................

60

J

V r LISt OF FIGURES

Figure

Fag®

1« Diagram ©I Interval Timer **,***♦**•,,.*****♦**♦*•***»

25

2* Circuit of Interval Timer •*«•«.••*»•«*•*»««*•«*••****»

26

3* Mean Percent of Estimation for Each Stimulus Duration at Each Delay Interval

36

4« Mean Percent of Estimation at Each Delay Interval *«*•

40

5, Mean Percent of Estimation for Delay Intervals at Each Stimulus Duration

42

6. Relative Variability of PEfs of Corrected Responses for 411 Stimulus Durations »•«**#••**•***»•*

55

7# Relative Variability of Quartlie Deviations of Corrected Responses for 411 Stimulus Durations •«*#

57

S. Mean Percent of Estimation for All Stimulus Durations « . * • «» * «• • * «• * • *« » «* • * *« «* * * •» •

* 61

9« Mean Percent of Estimation for All Delay Intervals **#••**»«»•«***♦*.♦•***»****#***************

L.

63

J

ACKMOWLEDCMEM’S I wish to acknowledge sgr indebtedness to Dr, B,R* Philip for his wise counseling and constant encouragement. His kind assis­ tance and constructive suggestions made it possible for me to com­ plete this study, 1 am also grateful to the readers for their help­ ful criticisms of the manuscript, and to the subjects who so pa­ tiently offered their services for these experiments* Finally, I wish to express appreciation to ay fellow students, who assisted in the practical arrangements of the study.

THE EFFECT OF DELAY UPON THE DUPLICATION OF SHORT TEMPORAL INTERVALS

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Psychological journals have devoted much space to investigations whose chief aim was to determine the conditions that influence our experience of time.

The principal methods utilized in the study of

temporal intervals are the methods of comparison, estimation and duplication*

In the method of comparison two stimulus durations are

presented to a subject, who then judges whether the second duration is longer than, shorter than, or equal to the first.

In the method of

estimation the subject merely estimates the duration of the stimulus in terms of seconds or minutes*

In the method of duplication the subject

reproduces the duration of a time interval, generally utilizing a set up similar to that used in presenting the stimulus duration.

The method of

duplication is more accurate than either of the other two methods for the study of time perception. Many of the studies, as reported in the journals, deal with a duration of time bounded by taps or clicks.

These limiting sounds,

however, are detrimental to the accuracy of the results, because subjects tend to incorporate in the time interval these limiting sounds, which themselves take an appreciable length of time. The prime objective of this investigation is to determine the influence of varying delay Intervals upon the duplication of short temporal intervals.

The delay interval is defined as the period of tins©

that elapses between the end of the stimulus and the beginning of the response.

Thus, It is proposed to determine whether any trend can be

2 discerned and attributed to the varying lengths of the delay interval* i i,e,* what kind of relationship exists between the delay interval and the stimulus durations. The author has been unable to find in psychological literature any study that concerns itself with this delay interval,

Woodrow merely

states that this delay interval has no effect upon temporal duplica­ tions,*^ possibly because in his investigation of short time intervals he uses a constant delay interval of two seconds.

However* experiments

in the psychological laboratory of Fordham University and the author*s preliminary experiment definitely show that the delay interval does influence the duplication of short intervals of time. In a study of time perception the method or apparatus used to present and to reproduce temporal durations is always an important problem.

Early investigators were handicapped by the lack of an

adequate Instrument for controlling and measuring temporal intervals, For this study an apparatus was designed not only accurately to control the stimulus duration* but also to make it possible for the subject to duplicate this duration in the same manner as it was presented. This study consists of two experiments. and exploratory in nature.

Experiment I is preliminary

Its purpose is to determine the relationships

existing between delay intervals and duplications of the stimulus temporal durations* and to standardize methods and procedures for the second experiment.

In the second experiment an attempt was made to correct the

shortcomings of the first experiment and to investigate more intensively the trends indicated by the preliminary data. 1, Woodrow* H** ’’The Reproduction of Temporal Intervals”* J, exp, Psychol,, L 1930* XIII, 6, 496.

3 r

-i CHAPTER II SURVEY OF LITERATURE The earliest experimentation with short temporal intervals dates

back to the Wundtian laboratory*

These early experiments, together with

other investigations that followed, aided in the acquisition of some knowledge about the fundamental activities involved in the perception of time* A careful survey of the literature on time perception yields many studies, some of which are quite extensive*

A division of the litera­

ture into studies primarily concerned with the Influence of inter­ polated material upon time perception and into studies concerned with the method of measuring time perception seems to be logical and best adapted for our purpose* 1,

Influence of Interpolated Material upon Time Perception

L* T* Spencer^- reviewed two of the earlier studies on time percep­ tion, i.e., one by McDougall2 and the other by Xerkes and Urban.3 McDougall, investigating sex differences found that women are less accurate than men in their estimates of time and that women have a greater tendency to over-estimate than men* Xerkes and Urban in a similar study of sex differences presented like results*

They, however, used filled intervals of time, i.e,, the

1. Spencer, L. T., "An Experiment In Time Estimation Using Different Interpolations”, Amer. J. Psychol.* 1921, 32, 3, 557-562. 2. McDougall, R., "Sex Differences in Sense of Time”, Science. 1904, 707-708. 3. Xerkes and Urban, "Time Estimation in Its Relation to Sex, Age, and Physiological Rhythms”, Harvard Psychol. Studies * 1906, 2, 405-530. L

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4 interval to be estimated was devoid of any activity, or filled with

n

reading by the experimenter, or with writing at dictation, or with simple estimation by any method except using a watch.

They also found

that the number of correct responses decreases with the increase in the length of the interval. Spencer in his study of time employed the method of reproduction. He presented time intervals to the subjects by means of sharp taps on a table.

The subjects at an oral signal from the experimenter

reproduced the time intervals by starting and stopping a watch.

Though

crude, this procedure was more accurate than the method of estimation. The stimulus intervals were filled intervals.

However, when the

subject reproduced these intervals, he remained entirely inactive. The more important conclusions derived from Spencerfs study weres 1. Although the percentage of correct responses was greater by this method than by estimation, nevertheless these estimations were not very accurate.

2, All intervals were over-estimated, no matter what inter­

polations were used, and 3# the degree of over-estimation of the interval depended to some extent upon the type of interpolation.

4*

The results of this study agree with those of Yerkes and Urban when we compare the effects of interpolated materials upon temporal judgments. Another study of the estimate of duration was conducted by Mary Sturt,4

Although this study lacked precision, it nevertheless yielded

some Interesting results.

Only two subjects were used.

The experimental

situations were various degress of comfort and discomfort.

The stimuli

were temporal intervals varying from one second to one minute.

Only six

4, Sturt, M,, 11Experiments on the Estimate of Duration”, Brit. J. Psychol,, L 1923, 13* 382-388.

5 r

i to eight estimates were obtained for each experimental situation. Results showed considerable Irregularity in the accuracy and

comparative length of real and apparent time.

Mo definite tendencies

to judge the times as either too long or too short were found. were no signs of improvement with practice.

There

Further conclusions were

that in estimating time we rely on the amount of mental content experienced during that time, i.e., time filled with many thoughts appears to be longer than that filled with a few thoughts.

Also

contrary to the usual assumption that time seems longer when one experiences pain, she found that pain does not increase the apparent duration of time. Swift and MeGeochS also studied the perception of filled and empty time intervals with a view to determining the general, individual and sex differences in the estimation of time intervals, ranging from 30 seconds to 10 minutes, and variously filled. by a stop-watch. experiment.

Time was controlled

The subjects were not aware of the purpose of the

The empty time intervals were intervals during which the

subject was idle.

The filled time intervals were intervals during

which the subject was occupied in copying nonsense syllables, uninteresting sense materials, an interesting incident from Huckleberry Finn, or finally in listening to the reading of another anecdote. From this study Swift and McGeoch concluded that temporal periods up to 5 minutes are over-estimated by both men and women, irrespective of ages and regardless of whether the intervals are filled or empty. 5, Swift, E, J,, and McGeoch, J, A., "An Experimental Study of the Perception of Filled and Empty Tim©", J. exp, Psychol., 1925, 8, L 210-249,

6 r However, considering the general average of correct responses, the women were slightly more accurate in their estimates than men*

i

A

further conclusion was that the 10 minute period was under-estimated by both men and women when copying material, but it was over­ estimated when listening to a humorous story*

Thus time seemed

shorter to them when occupied than when listening to an interesting story* Robert Axel& in an intensive study of time estimation attempted to determine the effect of different temporal intervals upon the estimation of time, and the influence of age on this ability. procedure was simplej

The

the subject, when given the signal, begins to

work as fast and as accurately as possible on the prescribed task, and then when the signal to stop is given, he is to estimate how long he has been working.

The fillings were such that required complete

concentration on the part of the subject.

The time intervals were from

20 to 40 seconds* Axel believed that the fillings should be classified in terms of the different levels of human behavior, arranged in a definite order beginning with a simple motor activity and gradually ascending to more complex activities.

The interpolated materials were divided into three

classess 1, motor activity (tapping, writing i fs), 2* sensori-motor activity (cancellations), 3* mental activity (analogies, number completion, addition). This classification of interpolated materials was a definite advancement in time perception techniques.

L

Previous investigators

6, Axel, R,, "Estimation of Time% Arch, Psychol., 1925* 12, 74, 1-77. -j

randomly selected interpolated materials.

Since interpolated materials

definitely influence time estimations, any comparison of results was impossible. General conclusions of Axelfs study may be summarized as follows! 1* There arc great individual differences for all intervals and for fillings,

2, The estimation of small durations is to a great extent

influenced by the tendency to express estimates, using the numerals 0 and 5 as final digits,

3, Hie most important of his conclusions is

that the estimation of small durations of time is influenced by the level of behavior functioning during a given interval*

The higher the

level of behavior the greater the tendency to under-estimate and vice-versa the lower the level of behavior the less is the tendency to under-estimate and the greater the tendency to over-estimate, Harold Gulliksen? in another investigation of time perception attempted to find out how various situations influence the estimation of time.

Hie subjects were instructed to estimate the length of each

of eight periods, during which they were to be occupied in various activities,

Each situation lasted 200 seconds.

The eight situations used in this study were: 1* rest, 2, rapid metronome beat (184 beats per minute), %

slow metronome beat (66

beats per minute), 4* working out division problems, 5, reading directions in a mirror, 6, enduring pain, 7# becoming fatigued (arms outstretched), 8. taking dictation. An analysis of Gulliksen1s data revealed that within a limited 7* Gulliksen, H,, "The Influence of Occupation upon the Perception of Time", J, exp, Psychol,, 1927, 10, 52-59.

a r

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range differences in time estimations depend primarily upon the occupation of the individual*

The eight situations ranked in order

from the longest to the shortest were as follows; 1. complete rest, 2. fatigue, 3* listening to the slow metronome beat, 4# listening to the rapid metronome beat, 5* enduring pain, 6. reading directions in a mirror, 7* copying dictation and 8* doing long division* Further analysis showed marked sex differences*

However, using

the Pearson coefficient of variability as a true measure of variability, these sex differences were shown to be less marked*

Also, an analysis

for positional effect of the situation in a series upon the estimate revealed this influence as negligible* Anderson and Ahitely^ investigated the effect of various inter­ polations upon the estimation of time* of two experiments,

Their investigation consisted

Hie first experiment was by the method of estima­

tion, wherein the subject merely reported to the experimenter the estimated duration*

The temporal durations studied were those of 15

seconds, 30 seconds and 45 seconds, each judged under the following conditions:

either when the temporal duration was unfilled, or whan it

was filled by a non-rhythmic buzzer sound, or when it was filled with music. The apparatus consisted of an office buzzer, used to produce a non-rhythmic buzzer tone. clicks of a telegraph key,

The unfilled interval was bounded by two A phonograph playing the “Radetsky March”

by Straus was used to produce the musical fillings. 8* Whitely, P* J,, and Anderson, C* J,, "The Influence of Two Different Interpolations upon Time Estimation”, J, gen, Psychol*, 1930, 4, L 391-401.

9 r

-l The second experiment was by the method of comparison.

The

conditions and the apparatus were the same as used in the first experiment*

The durations to be compared were always the same,

differing only in the type of filling.

Thus, a five second unfilled

duration was followed by a five second duration filled with music and the subject was to judge whether the second duration was equal to, longer or shorter than the first* Although Anderson and ihitely state that the experiments were really preliminary in character, on the basis of objective data they presented a few tentative conclusions.

When the subjects estimated

durations in terms of seconds, it was found that intervals of time filled with music were judged consistently as being shorter than unfilled durations or durations filled with buzzer sounds.

However,

they admit that whether this influence upon tin© estimation was due to the rhythmical factor or to the amount of filling, could not be definitely determined by such an experiment. The method of paired comparisons yielded results corroborating those of the first experiment.

Consistently, the subjects judged

intervals of time filled with music as being shorter than the un­ filled time or time filled by buzzer sounds, for durations of 10 and 15 seconds.

The results for durations of 5 seconds under all three

conditions were not consistent*

Also, judgments of unfilled durations

compared with durations filled by buzzer tones yielded no definite trends. The central problem of Dorothy Triplett*s9 investigation was 9. Triplett, D., "The Relation between the Physical Pattern and the Reproductions of Short Temporal Intervals: A Study in the Percep­ tion of Filled and Unfilled Time'*, Psychol. Monogr,. 1931, 11, 4, L 2G1-2G6.

,

10 r

-i Mthe comparison of ‘ tiltics i*6p^oductijlon of t>6stp0!TdJL IjitiBrv&Xs wH6H t^hs standard and the reproduced intervals are filled with tones and when tney are empty so far as the sensory content is concerned*

A

secondary problem investigated was the effect of the pitch of the tonal filling upon the estimation of temporal intervals* Triplett1s investigation differed from the usual experiments in this that the unfilled sounds were not silences bounded by clicks, but rather they were silences in a background of constant tones* The apparatus employed was the Western Electric 2a Audiometer, which produced homogenous tones of different pitches.

The standard

intervals to be reproduced were 0.5, 1*5# and 2*5 seconds. The filled interval was a standard tone heard in the receiver of the audiometer#

The subject reproduced the interval by depressing a

key for the estimated duration.

The unfilled interval was a period of

silence in a continuous tonal background. An analysis of the results reveals great individual differences. Comparing filled and unfilled intervals, a more important discovery was that some of the subjects perceived the unfilled interval as a positive entity, i.e., a reversal of figure and ground resulted, in which the silenGe became the figure when it m s the interval to be reproduced.

An investigation of the secondary problem, i.e., whether

the pitch of the filling influences the reproduction, yielded negative results* Harton^ conducted a study to determine the influence of the 10. ibid.. 202. 11. Harton, J. J., "The Influence of the Difficulty of Activity on the Estimation of Time11, J. exp. Psychol.* 1933, 23, 270-287.

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~l

difficulty of an activity upon the estimation of time* experiments coaprised this study.

Several

In the first experiment a metronome

heating either at a slow rate (104 beats per minute) or at a fast rate (152 beats per minute) was used as an activity coincident with time estimation.

From this experiment he concluded that time passed more

rapidly during the fast metronome beats than during the slow metronome beats.

Other experiments were devised by Harton^ to test his

hypothesis that periods of time spent at difficult tasks are estimated less than equal periods of time spent at easier tasks.

All of his

studies confirmed his hypothesis. In still another investigation Harton^ studied the influence of different degrees of unity of organization on the estimation of time, The assumption underlying this study is that periods of time with a high degree of unity of organization would be estimated less than equal durations with a lesser degree of unity of organization. The activity chosen to influence the various degrees of organiza­ tion was the learning of mental mazes.

The first maze to be learned was

a long maze and the time required to learn this long maze was used as the objective duration of the next learning which consisted of a series of shorter mazes.

Thus, time estimates were secured for equal objective

durations, even though in the first case the subject learned one long maze and in the second case he learned a series of short mazes. Results showed that the period of time spent in learning one long

12. Ibid., 423—433* 13. Harton, J, J., ’’The Influence of the Degree of Unity of Organiza­ tion on the Estimation of Time”, J. gen. Psychol., 1939* 21, 25-49* L

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12 mass© was estimated in the majority of cases as less than the time spent in learning a series of short mazes.

From this he inferred*

that time during which one goal is striven for and attained is generally estimated as less than an equal period of time during which more than one goal is sought and attained. In general* the results of all Hartonfs experiments indicated that periods of time spent at tasks involving a high degree of unity in the organization of the activity are estimated as less than equal periods of time spent at tasks involving lesser degress of organiza­ tion in activity. Harton^ further investigated the influence of success and failure on the estimation of time. determined*

Success and failure were arbitrarily

The activity studied was that of learning mental mazes.

The subjects were instructed to estimate the time spent at tasks with contrasting conditions i.e. in the first task the subject anticipating success attained it* whereas in the second he anticipated failure with subsequent failure, From this experiment Barton concluded that time spent at a task resulting in success was estimated as less than equal time spent at a task resulting in failure*

His explanation for this is that time

spent at a successful task results in a greater unity of organization than time spent at failure. The studies described above were primarily concerned with the influence of interpolated materials upon time perception,

A general

14. Barton* J. J., "An Investigation of the Influence of Success and Failure on the Estimation of Time", J, gen. Psychol.* 1939* 21* L 51*62,

13

1

r conclusion is that time perception to a large extent is dependent upon the type of interpolated material*

Thus, mental content, level

of behavior, unity of organisation, success and failure are important factors that influence the perception of temporal intervals* 2.

Methods of Measuring Time Perception

Generally, three methods are used in investigations of time perception, i*e* estimation, comparison and reproduction or duplica­ tion.

An attempt is made to group the following studies according to

the method used in the investigation, Kahnt^ from a study of time by the method of estimation concludes that standard intervals less than 300 sigma are under-estimated, those from 300 to 680 sigma are both under and over-estimated, whereas those beyond 800 sigma are again under-estimated. Stalnaker and Richardsonl6 investigated the accuracy of time estimations in the hypnotic trance.

Nine well trained subjects in

each of ten experimental periods estimated 12 time intervals, 6 in the waking state and 6 in the hypnotic state.

The intervals of time used

were 1, 2 and 3 minutes. Results of this investigation showed no noteworthy differences in the average error in estimating these time intervals.

No significant

tendency to make the estimate too large or too small in either state was found. Under the assumption that estimations of short time intervals are 15, Kahnt, 0., "Uber den Gang des Schatzungsfehlers bel der Vergleichung von Zeitstreeken", Psychol* Stud., 1914# 9, 279-320* 16. Stalnaker, J. M,, and Richardson, M* If*, "Time Estimation in the Hypnotic Trance”, J * gen. Psychol.* 1930, 4# 362-366* L

14

r

-i based upon certain bodily changes such as breaching* blood pressure changes or heart beat, Gilliland and Schaeffer*^ set out to investigate this hypothesis.

They tried to determine a physical basis for the

estimation of short time intervals. Four male college subjects were given time intervals from 4 to 27 seconds to estimate.

Unfilled intervals bounded by two clicks of

a telegraphic sounder were the stimuli.

The stimulus intervals were

estimated in terns of seconds or fractions of a second.

With the

presentation of each series of ten stimulus intervals, measurements were made of five physiological functions, i.e., pulse rate, heart work, breathing rate, breathing work and blood pressure changes. The apparatus consisted of a Keeler polygraph with sphygmomanometer and pneumograph attachments, which made continuous graphic records for all five physiological changes.

The oscillometer was used to determine

the amplitude of breathing and heart beat records.

The stimulus time

intervals were produced by a telegraphic sounder.

The time intervals

employed were both short and longj the short intervals were 4 and 6 seconds, whereas the long intervals were 22 and 27 seconds. The conclusions presented by Gilliland

and

Schaeffer arenegative.

No significant relationship was found between short temporal estima­ tions and the physiological conditions studied.

No significant

differences in errors were found between estimations of the subjects when at rest or in a state of increased physiological activity* Berman^ studied the relation of time estimation to satiation, on 17. Gilliland, A.R* and Schaeffer, V.G., "The Relation of Time Estimation to Certain Physiological Changes'1, J. exp. Psychol. 1938, 23, 545-553* 18. Berman, A., "The Relation of Time Estimation to Satiation", J, exp. L Psychol.. 1939, 25, 281-293. m

the hypothesis that a satiated individual always over—estimates the temporal period required to become satiated, secured verbally.

lime estimations were

Results yielded both under and over-estimations

of time for the satiated as well as for the non-satiated group.

No

consistent tendency was indicated. In another investigation Gilliland^ studied other factors in estimating short time intervals.

Three-hundred-one college students

estimated intervals ranging from 4 to 27 seconds.

The time estimated

was an unfilled interval bounded by two clicks of a telegraph key, Gilliland’s findings are briefly summarized as follows:

1, Most

people count when making time estimates) 2, Judgments without counting are almost as accurate as those with counting.

3, Attention whether

close or casual yields similarly accurate estimations,

4* Whether the

estimate is immediate or a few days later, time estimates are considerably consistent, Pearl

G r i d l e y ^ O

5* Little sex differences were found.

Investigated the accuracy of time discrimination

by ear and by finger tip.

The stimuli were clicks produced by the

Seashore record for measuring the sense of time.

In the hearing

condition the clicks were transmitted to the subject in another room by means of an amplifier, whereas in the touch condition the clicks were transmitted by the teletactor as vibrations, which the subject felt by holding his thumb against the diaphragm of the teletactor. Results showed that the subjects were more accurate in their discriminations by ear than by touch.

Practice effect was greater

■.. 1

» -.mm.nr......

-

«i-

19, Gilliland, A. R., "Some Factors in Estimating Short Time Intervals”, J. exp, Fsychol,. 1940, 27, 3, 243-255,

L20-S»»bg-llr\l'^Igi^^gRo£f.S^5lI^ rII^3°f

by?ingr

for touch than for hearing.

However, the evidence as presented in

this experiment is insufficient to determine significant differences. Woodrow^ by the method of comparison intensively studied temporal illusions, which are described as errors resulting from different lengths of auditory stimuli, which bound the ten^oral intervals. In this experiment the subject was instructed to compare two intervals of silence, each bounded by different limiting sounds, and to indicate whether the second tenporal pattern (the variable) was longer than, shorter than or equal to the first temporal pattern (the standard).

A temporal pattern consisted of a period of silence

bounded by two buzzer sounds.

The length of the sounds limiting an

interval varied from ,06 seconds to .50 seconds. The apparatus consisted of a buzzer which was used to bound the interval of silence.

The Meuaann time sense apparatus was used to

control the duration of all sounds and intervals*

Woodrow admits

that perfect accuracy was unobtainable. The results of this experiment show that a long initial sound consistently causes the interval that follows to be judged longer. Also a long terminal sound causes the interval that follows to be judged longer, but the Influence here is not as great as that of a long initial sound.

The theoretical explanation for these illusions

was obviously due to the limiting sounds,

Woodrow explains that it

Is difficult to attend to the Interval without paying some attention 21. Woodrow, H., “Behaviour with Respect to Short Temporal Stimulus Forms”, J. exp. Psychol., 1928, June, 11, 3# 167-193.

17 to the limiting sounds*

The reaction is to the temporal pattern as a

whole, and there is no definite and accurate impression of the temporal interval, apart from the limiting sounds. According to Woodrow, a long initial sound has greater influence upon a judgment than a long terminal sound, because, in order to judge an interval, the subject must attend to the termination of the initial sound, so as to catch th© beginning of the interval, whereas such attention is not necessary for the terminal sounds, for the interval is already complete* Stott^ in an intensive investigation attempted to determine the time order errors, which occur in comparing short durations, and to determine the location of the indifference durations, i.e., the duration at which time order errors disappear* The apparatus was a complicated one, consisting of a time control device, of an apparatus for producing and presenting th© sound stimuli and of a set up for measuring the durations of the sounds.

All the

pieces of apparatus are described in detail by Stott. On the basis of four series of experiments Stott concludes: 1. that with naive subjects the time order indifference point for tonal durations is about 0.92 seconds,

2. that sittings definitely

affect time order errors, causing a marked change in the obtained length of the indifference duration,

3* that, to obtain consistent

and understandable results for time order errors and for indifference points, it is necessary to minimize the effects of experience; this can be done by using a large number of subjects and by considering 22. L

Stott, L. H., “Time Order Errors in the Discrimination of Short Tonal Durations", J. exp. Psychol.. 1935, IB, 741-766.

only the early judgments of the sitting. This investigation was very intensive and the various factors were well controlled#

His conclusions are definite contributions to

th® problem of time perception. On© of th© earliest studies of time by the method of duplication 23 or reproduction was made by Spencer, ^ who presented time intervals

by means of sharp taps on a table.

The subjects at an oral signal from

the experimenter reproduced these intervals by starting and stopping a watch*

Although Spencer found that th© percentage of correct responses

was greater by this method than by th© method of estimation, neverthe­ less these duplications were not very accurate.

The methods used to

control the stimulus time interval and to duplicate th® interval were unreliable and inaccurate. Woodrow2^ in his investigations of time studied complicated stimulus forms by the method of reproduction.

His apparatus was a

buzzer to bound th© interval of silence and a Meumann time sens© apparatus to control the duration of all sounds and intervals. subjects were five advanced students in psychology.

The

The subject m s

instructed to listen to a single temporal form and then to reproduce the entire form.

A temporal form consisted of a period of silence

bounded by two buzzer sounds, which varied in length. In addition to the reproduction of th© stimulus form, th© subject was instructed to state which of the intervals in th© form was th© longer.

Frequently, the subjects contradicted their

23. Spencer, L. T., 51An Experiment in Time Estimation Using Different

19 r , reproduction and Woodrow believes that this was not a mere accident.

-i

He asserts that "the nature of the relationship between the reproduction of temporal forms and oral judgments about them, must be regarded as something of a

r i d d l e . ” 2 ^

The conclusions derived in this investigation are similar to those of his earlier experiments.

Woodrow claims that the duration

of the sounds bounding the intervals determine the constant errors in the reproductions and judgments of intervals, i.e., the sounds them­ selves are of greater import than

the intervals in

determining asub­

jects behaviour in response to atotal form. Briefly, as a result of thisintensive investigation it may be stated that in all illusions ”a long initial sound causes the interval following to be judged longer, as does also a long terminal sound. But the effect of a long initial sound is greater than that of a long terminal sound. In a further investigation of temporal intervals, Woodrow2? attempted to determine the effect of the length of intervals upon the accuracy of their reproduction.

nTh© primary aim of this investiga­

tion was to explore thoroughly and mo t accurately the nature of the constant and variable errors made in reproducing intervals of time and in particular to determine the relationship between these errors and the length of the reproduced intervals,”2** The intervals used in this investigation were empty intervals

25* Ibid. 262, 26. Ibid. 278. 27. Woodrow, H.# nTh@ Reproduction of Temporal Intervals”, J, exp. Psychol^. 1930, 13, 6, 473-499. l_28. Ibid. 473.

bounded by two clicks produced by an electromagnetic relay.

Thirteen

intervals| ranging from 0,2 seconds to 30,0 seconds, were used,

A

buzzer signal given about two seconds before the initial click was used as a warning before each interval, given to each of eight subjects.

Only erne interval per day was The shortest Interval was given the

first day, a longer one the next day, etc* until the ascending series was complete, then the order was reversed. and reproduced fifty times,

Each interval was presented

Hie subject reproduced the stimulus by

means of two taps upon a Seashore reaction key, which through electrical wiring produced clicks such as used for the presentation of the stimulus*

The time between clicks was registered on a

chronoscope. The entire apparatus was rather complicated,

A Hipp chronoscope

was used to measure all Intervals except that of 0,2 seconds, for which the Klopsteg Fall apparatus was used,

Th© Bergstrom chronoscope

was used to control intervals of 0,4 to 1,2 seconds, whereas the Kronecker metronome was used to control intervals of 1*5 seconds. Intervals of 2 to 30 seconds were controlled by a Bowditeh-Baltzar contact clock* Data gathered from this investigation prove definitely that the reproduction of an interval as longer or shorter than the stimulus interval depends upon the subject.

Constant errors not only vary from

subject to subject, but even within the same subject they vary with different sittings. From introspective reports ’-foodrow determined that only time intervals having a duration of more than 1,5 seconds have a definite

21

r experience of duration.

-i Introspective data indicated that the

attitude of the subject has a definite effect upon his duplications. Furthermore, Woodrow reports that 11the period of delay, i.e., the time elapsing from the end of the stimulus interval to the beginning of the reproduction, has no significant bearing upon the accuracy of the subjects performance nor upon the nature of the individual differences."^9 The above study, though detailed in every respect, yielded unreliable results because of the small number of subjects*

Woodrow

himself admits this unreliability and at a later date repeats the investigation with 12 subjects.

This later study^ confirmed the

fact that the mental attitude of the subject greatly influences his reproductions• Woodrow* s investigations on the illusions found in the perception of short time intervals were duplicated by Israeli,who instead of sounds used light flashes to form stimulus patterns.

He

made a special effort to note the effect of a variable time interval either before, within or after the main interval. The apparatus consisted of a time sense machine which was used to regulate the time between several light flashes. The subjects, unaware of the purpose of the experiment, were placed in a dark noiseless room.

They were instructed to reproduce

29. Ibid* 496. 30. Woodrow, H., "Individual Differences in the Reproduction of Temporal Intervals", Amer. J. Psychol., 1933# 45* 271-281. 31. Israeli, N., "Illusions in the perception of Short Time Intervals", Arch. Psychol,. 1930, 18, 5-47. L

j

22 r

an interval of time between certain flashes within a stimulus pattern* Thus, for example, if the stimulus pattern consisted of a main interval preceded by an interval, the subject saw three flashes and he was to reproduce the interval between the second and third flash, immediately after the third flash.

To reproduce such an interval the subject

pressed down on an electric key once and then a second time, the two taps of the key indicating the interval between two light flashes, Before each experiment the subject was instructed what interval in a pattern he was to reproduce.

Note, however, that in this experiment

the mode of reproducing the interval does not give the same type of interval as the stimulus duration. The entire investigation consisted of four experiments.

In

experiment I, the variable interval preceded the main interval and the subject was to reproduce the interval between the second and third flashes, directly after the third flash.

In experiment II

the variable interval followed the main interval and the subject was to reproduce the Interval between the first and second flashes, directly after the third flash.

In experiment III the main interval

was both preceded and followed by a variable interval and the subject was to reproduce the interval between the second and third flashes, directly after the fourth flash.

In experiment IV the main interval

was divided by an extra stimulus and the subject was to reproduce the interval between the first and third flashes, directly after the third flash.

Israeli also used a control interval, wherein the subject was

instructed to flash directly after the second flash. The investigation consisted of nine sittings over a period of two

23 months,

A sitting lasted two hours.

The subjects were ninety-five

paid observers, The main intervals in experiments I, II and III were 0,356 seconds, 0 ,72? seconds and 1,094 seconds, whereas the variable intervals, which preceded or succeeded th© main interval, were ,18 seconds, ,36 seconds and ,54 seconds.

In experiment IV the stimulus

pattern was A-Y-B, the constant interval A-B being split by an extra stimulus X,

three main Intervals were used in this pattern,

consisting of 0,609 seconds, 1,214 seconds and 1.799 seconds. The results of this Investigation confirm Woodrow* s findings, the apparent length of the main interval is increased, as the length of the interval preceding or succeeding the main interval is increased.

The magnitude of the illusions varies inversely with

th© duration of the main intervals in all the experiments.

Further

examining the effects of practice on th© illusions, Israeli found that the illusions tend to persist with increased practice and also that individuals become more accurate and consistent in their reproductions in all experiments with increased practice.

L

24 r

"i CHAPTER III EXPERIMENT I 1. Objectives This study concerns itself chiefly with the delay interval, previously defined as the period of time that elapses between the stimulus and the response.

The immediate aim is to determine the

influence of this delay interval on the duplication of short temporal intervals and the relationship between delay intervals ranging from 2,5 seconds to 20 seconds and stimulus durations ranging from 0.61 seconds to 15,00 seconds.

The preliminary

experiment attempts to determine the methods and procedures to be employed in the principal investigation to be reported in Part XI, to standardize the apparatus, to discover trends and to make generalizations on the basis of the preliminary data, 2, Apparatus The materials used in this experiment are an interval timer, variac, voltmeter, two chronoscopes, double-pole double-throw switch, neon lamp and a buzzer* The interval timer was designed by Dr. Philip of the Psychology Department of Fordham University and collaborators, Mr. Eentjes and Mr. Weil of the Electronic Engineering laboratory of Manhattan College, This interval timer is an apparatus designed primarily for experiments on time perception.

Figure 1 presents a pictorial graph of the

entire apparatus used in this study. of the interval timer.

Figure 2 presents the circuit

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