Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1978,46, 1338. @ Perceptual and Motor Skills 1978

A THEORETICAL NOTE ON TIME PERCEPTION H. WAYNE HOGAN

Cookeuille, Term.] The literature on time perception (cf. Roeckelein, 1973) suffers from considerable conceptual and methodological disarray (Bindra & Wakesberg, 1956; Gilliland, et al., 1964). Terminology has tended to vary from study to study, while associated research techniques have been almost seasonably faddish in their rates of change. The literature is particularly inconsistent in its usage of the terms "empty" and "filled" time, with "empty" time sometimes referring to the "absence" of sensory stimulation, sometimes not, and "filled" time sometimes referring to the "presence" of sensory stimulation, sometimes nor. Further, an "empty" time interval in the experimental literature is often defined as one bounded by brief auditory or visual signals, e.g., a buzzer sound or flash of light; correspondingly, a "filled" interval is rypically operationalized as one during which the subject is exposed to a continuous sound or visual stimulus. With time intervals of generally less than 60 sec., the frequently reported results are that the so-called empty intervals are experienced as shorter than the s c x a l l d filled intemals. While findings such as these apparently support Omstein's (1970) neurological storage-size thesis, they contradict both common sense expectations and the Priestly (1968) model, namely, that empty time, being experientially boring, will be judged as longer than more exciting, filled time (cf. Hogan, in press). But the bounded vs continuous stimulus definition of empty vs filled time may point to more correspondence between the Ornstein and Priestly views than has previously been recognized. That is, the bounded intervals which some researchers have defined as "empty" may be experienced as a form of variable reinforcement-the initial buzzer or flash of light, say, may create an ambiguity-filled expectancy as to when the next stimulus point will be experienced. The resulting uncenainty may thus.evoke sufficient vigilance on the subject's part that the time elapsing between the interval's two bounded points will seem short by comparison with an objectively equal, fixed reinforcement interval filled with a continuous, less cognicively/perceptually uncertain and challenging stimulus. The variable reinforcement interval, termed "empty" by some, would thus be more filled, hence be judged as shorter than the fixed reinforcement interval, previously seen as "filled" but now defined as empty and experienced as relatively longer than the variable reinforcement interval. The earlier interval definitions are thus in line with Omstein's thesis while the revised definitions fit Priestly's model. If we redefine in this fashion past experiments on time perception that have methodologically compared bounded and continuous intervals, some of the resulting study-t~study inconsistencies in "empq" vs "filled" rime estimations may thus be resolved. REFERENCES BINDRA,D., & WAKESBERG, H. Methods and terminology in studies of time estimation. Psychological Bulletin, 1956, 5 3, 155-159. GILLILAND, A. k.,HOFBLD,J., & ECKSTRAND,G . Studies in time perception. P~ychological Bulletin, 1964, 43, 162-176. HOGAN,H. W. A theoretical reconciliation of competing views of time perception. American Journal o f Psychology, in press. ORNSTBIN, R. E. On the experience of time. Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1970. PRIESTLY, J . B. Man aJ time. New York: Dell, 1968. ROECKELEIN, J. E. Bibliography on time perception (1960-1972). Journal Supplement Abstract Seruice, 1973, Ms. No. 286, 67pp.

Accepted June 12, 1978. '455 Freeze Street, Cookeville, Tenn. 38501.

A theoretical note on time perception.

Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1978,46, 1338. @ Perceptual and Motor Skills 1978 A THEORETICAL NOTE ON TIME PERCEPTION H. WAYNE HOGAN Cookeuille, Term...
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