The remembrance of times past: interference in temporal reference memory.
Six experiments examined human performance on a modified temporal generalization task when either 1 or 2 standard durations were encoded. In most conditions, participants were presented with a 1st standard duration (A), then judged whether a number of comparison stimuli had the same duration as A. They were then presented with a 2nd standard (B) and again judged whether other comparison stimuli had the same duration as B. Then, after a delay period of 0-45 s, further comparison stimuli were presented, and participants judged whether those stimuli had the same duration as A, without A being represented. A was either the same length as B or shorter or longer than it, so potential retroactive interference effects of B on A could be examined. After a short delay before retesting of A comparisons, the peak of the temporal generalization gradient shifted toward the shortest of the comparisons when A < B and the longest when A > B. The results suggest that certain combinations of delay and interference might render the memory of A unusable, so that a new standard is constructed on the basis of the remembered relationship between A and B, a kind of "false memory" for duration.
Ogden
Ruth S
RS
School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, England.
Wearden
J H
JH
Jones
Luke A
LA
D001288:Attention; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D005793:Generalization, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D011939:Mental Recall; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012094:Repression, Psychology; D013998:Time Perception