Use of temporal and spatial information in estimating event completion time

In this research, we investigated how students use temporal and spatial information to estimate the time to fill a tank. In Experiment 1, we evaluated the usefulness of a digital clock to calibrate temporal information and of an overflow tank to calibrate spatial information and investigated how component skills, such as judging volume, judging time, and performing mental calculations, correlate with estimation accuracy. In Experiment 2, we compared the usefulness of static and animated displays in order to test the prediction that static displays would be more useful when the fill rate remained constant but animated displays would be more useful when the fill rate changed. The findings, when combined with verbal reports, provide evidence regarding the use of four strategies that differ in their perceptual and arithmetic demands.