Development of time concepts: differentiating clock and calendar from apparent durations.
To investigate the role of perception and stress on time concepts, the real-time and apparent durations of common events varying in length from 30 s to 4 years were rated by kindergarten through 12th-grade pupils, college students, professors, and stress-impaired adults (N = 1,788). The events were pleasant, neutral or unpleasant; either directly perceptible and of specific duration or perceptually vague; and happened either to oneself or to someone else. Second graders differentiated apparent from real-time durations and, therefore, already had an abstract concept of time. As predicted from differentiation theory (Gibson, E. J., 1969; Gibson, J. J., 1966, 1983), longer durations were acquired later than shorter ones; perceptually-vague durations were acquired later than clearly perceptible ones of similar length; and, as Neisser (1976) also suggested, stress did not lead to regression, nor did the personal-impersonal dimension make a difference during childhood.
Westman
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AS
Department of Psychology, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti 48197.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003210:Concept Formation; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D013998:Time Perception