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About the (Non)scalar Property for Time Perception

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Book cover Neurobiology of Interval Timing

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 829))

Abstract

Approaching sensation scientifically is relatively straightforward. There are physical attributes for stimulating the central nervous system, and there are specific receptors for each sense for translating the physical signals into codes that brain will recognize. When studying time though, it is far from obvious that there are any specific receptors or specific stimuli. Consequently, it becomes important to determine whether internal time obeys some laws or principles usually reported when other senses are studied. In addition to reviewing some classical methods for studying time perception, the present chapter focusses on one of these laws, Weber law, also referred to as the scalar property in the field of time perception. Therefore, the question addressed here is the following: does variability increase linearly as a function of the magnitude of the duration under investigation? The main empirical facts relative to this question are reviewed, along with a report of the theoretical impact of these facts on the hypotheses about the nature of the internal mechanisms responsible for estimating time.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Traditionally in psychophysics, when a psychometric function is used, the distance on the x axis corresponding to 75 and 25 % of “long” responses, divided by 2, is the discrimination threshold.

  2. 2.

    The reader will also find a Weber fraction increase for tempo discrimination, from 1 to 1.4 s, in Ehrlé and Samson [63, Table 5].

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Acknowledgement

This research program conducted by the author is supported by research grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada since 1991. I would like to thank Emi Hasuo and Vincent Laflamme for their comments on the text or help with the figures.

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  1. École de psychologie, Université Laval, 2325 rue des Bibliothèques, Québec, QC, Canada, G1V 0A6

    Simon Grondin

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  1. Campus Juriquilla, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Queretaro, Querétaro, Mexico

    Hugo Merchant

  2. Campus Juriquilla, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Queretaro, Querétaro, Mexico

    Victor de Lafuente

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Grondin, S. (2014). About the (Non)scalar Property for Time Perception. In: Merchant, H., de Lafuente, V. (eds) Neurobiology of Interval Timing. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 829. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1782-2_2

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