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. 2024 Feb;88(1):141-147.
doi: 10.1007/s00426-023-01854-4. Epub 2023 Jul 4.

How does it feel? Passage of time judgments in speeded RT performance

Daniel Bratzke  1 , Arne Hansen  2
Affiliations

How does it feel? Passage of time judgments in speeded RT performance

Daniel Bratzke et al. Psychol Res. 2024 Feb.

Abstract

The relationship between duration perception and the feeling of time passing (passage of time) is not yet understood. In the present study, we assessed introspective reaction times (RT) and passage of time judgments in a speeded RT task. Task difficulty was manipulated in a numerical comparison task by numerical distance (distance from the number 45) and notation (digit vs. word). The results showed that both effects were reflected in introspective RTs, replicating previous results. Moreover, passage of time judgments showed a very similar pattern, with slower passage of time for more difficult comparisons. These results suggest that in the millisecond range judgments of duration and passage of time largely mirror each other when participants introspect about their own RT performance.

Keywords: Introspective RTs; Passage of time judgments; Reaction time performance; Time perception.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Reaction time (RT), introspective RT (IRT), and passage of time (POT) judgment as a function of number and notation. Numbers inside (outside) the shaded area were classified as close to (far from) the reference number 45 (dashed line). Note that for the sake of comparability (a) the IRT scale is stretched by the factor 2 compared to the RT scale, and the y-axis is reversed in the POT graph. Error bars represent ± 1 within-subjects SE according to Morey (2008)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Relationship between reaction time (RT) and temporal judgments as a function of numerical distance and notation. Left panel: Introspective reaction time (IRT) plotted against RT (binned into three bins, vincentized). Right panel: Passage of time (POT) judgment plotted against binned RT. Error bars represent ± 1 within-subjects SE according to Morey (2008)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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