Naïve theories of causal force and compression of elapsed time judgments

Recent research has shown that when people perceive a causal relation between 2 events, they "compress" the intervening elapsed time. The present work shows that a naïve mechanical-physical conception of causality, in which causal forces are believed to dissipate over time, underlies the estimates of shorter elapsed time. Being primed with alternative, nondissipative causal mechanisms and having the cognitive capacity to consider such mechanisms moderates the compression effect. The studies rule out similarity, mnemonic association, and anchoring as alternative accounts for the effect. Taken together, the findings support the hypothesis that causal cognition plays a major role in judgments of elapsed time. The implications of the compression effect on the timing of future actions, persistence, and causal learning are discussed.