| Predictions based on storage-size, processing effort, and change models of time perception were tested in five experiments. The first of these presented subjects with stimulus patterns which varied on dimensions of sensory event numerosity, uncertainty, and clock duration. Subjects estimated the duration of stimuli presentations using the reproduction method. Duration estimates were most accurately predicted by the number of sensory events in each pattern. This relationship was generally positive, although the specific function relating these variables was dependent upon clock duration. Of the storage-size, processing effort, and change models of duration perception, the change model seemed to fit these data best. Experiment II demonstrated that the relationship between sensory change and perceived duration found in Experiment I was not due to the total time of sensory input. Experiments III, IV, and V tested the effects of several different aspects of change. In Experiments III and IV, the number of sensory events was held constant, but the regularity of their spatial presentation was varied. In both experiments, perceived duration was positively related to the number of changes which occurred. Because the manipulations used in these experiments also produced differences in visual complexity of stimulus patterns, the argument could be made that storage size or processing effort accounted for the data. Experiment V tested the effects of change on perceived duration while holding the visual complexity of stimulus patterns constant. A positive linear relationship between perceived duration and number of changes was again found. |
