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Updated: Jun 20, 2026
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Irrelevant Stimuli and Action Control: Analyzing the Influence of Ignored Stimuli via the Distractor-Response Binding Paradigm
Published on: May 14, 2014
Causal binding of actions to their effects
Marc J Buehner1, Gruffydd R Humphreys
1School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3AT, United Kingdom. buehnerm@cardiff.ac.uk
Psychological Science
|September 8, 2009
Summary
Causality perception warps our sense of time, contrary to Humean views. Experiencing causality shortens perceived time, binding cause and effect in our minds.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Science
- Psychology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Traditional cognitive science views, following David Hume, posit that causality is inferred, not directly perceived.
- Perception of causality relies on sensory patterns like contingency and contiguity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between causality and the subjective experience of time.
- To test whether the experience of causality influences temporal perception.
Main Methods:
- A stimulus-anticipation task was employed.
- Participants' response behavior was analyzed when they generated stimuli versus when stimuli were externally provided.
Main Results:
- Participants experienced time as shorter when they caused target stimuli compared to equidistant, predictable stimuli they did not cause.
- This effect indicates a distortion in the subjective experience of time due to causality.
Conclusions:
- The findings suggest a reversal of Hume's conjecture: causality warps the sense of time.
- Causality in the mind creates a temporal binding effect between cause and effect.
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