title: The attenuation effect in timing: counteracting dual-task interference with time-judgment skill training.
abstract: A basic finding in the time-perception literature is an interference effect in dual-task conditions involving concurrent timing and distractor tasks. Dual-task conditions typically cause time judgments to become less accurate than single-task conditions in which subjects judge time alone. Previous research (Brown, 1998 Psychological Research 61 71-81; Brown and Bennett, 2002 Psychological Research 66 80-89) has shown that practice on the distractor task reduces interference, a phenomenon called the attenuation effect. The present research was designed to determine whether practice on the time-judgment task would produce a similar result. In experiment 1, subjects reproduced 6-14 s intervals in a series of practice trials. Some subjects received feedback regarding the accuracy of each response and others received no feedback. Subsequent testing under dual-task (timing + digit memory) conditions showed that feedback training reduced interference. In experiment 2, the practice trials included both single-task and dual-task conditions. Later tests showed that feedback training eliminated the interference effect. The results highlight the role of attentional resources, the transfer of skills, and compensatory decision processes in time-judgment skill training.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Southern Maine, Portland, ME 04104-9300, USA. swbrown@usm.maine.edu
authors.forename: Scott W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Brown
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010469:Perceptual Distortion / Q000502:physiology*; D011214:Practice, Psychological; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D013998:Time Perception / Q000502:physiology*