When is the ball going to hit the ground? Duration estimates, eye movements, and mental imagery of object motion
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 24, 2026

Eye Movements in Visual Duration Perception: Disentangling Stimulus from Time in Predecisional Processes
Published on: January 19, 2024
Susanne Huber1, Horst Krist, Susanne Huber
1Friedrich Miescher Laboratory, Max Planck Society, Tubingen, Germany. susanne.huber@tuebingen.mpg.de
Abstract:
Performance in 2 versions of a computer-animated task was compared. Participants either indicated the time of arrival of a target that rolled off a horizontal surface and fell--hidden from view--onto a landing point (production task) or judged flight time on a rating scale (judgment task). As predicted, performance was significantly better in the production task (Experiment 1), in which imagery of object motion probably replaced reasoning processes. Participants who exhibited eye movements suggesting mental tracking performed particularly well in the production task (Experiment 2). There was, however, no decrement in performance when participants were asked to fixate the point where the target disappeared. For motion duration estimations, eye movements seem to be only a by-product of mental tracking.
Related Concept Videos
Motion of a Projectile
Horizontal motion, governed by the initial kick, maintains a constant velocity throughout the flight of the soccer ball.
Projectile Motion
Projectile Motion
When an object falls under gravity and has no horizontal...
Projectile Motion: Example
When we speak of the range (R) of a projectile on level...
Free-falling Bodies: Introduction
Quadratic Models

