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Children's representation of long duration: when memory and attention meet in processing time
1Goucher College, Department of Psychology, 1021 Dulaney Valley Road, Baltimore, MD 21204, USA. katherine.choe@goucher.edu
The Journal of Genetic Psychology
|March 29, 2013
Summary
Children and adults perceive long durations differently based on task interest, with memory, not attention, playing a key role. Middle childhood shows a shift in time tracking influencing duration perception.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Time perception is crucial for daily functioning.
- Understanding age-related differences in time perception is important.
- Existing models (memory and attention) offer different explanations for time perception.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate time perception in children and adults over long durations.
- To compare the predictive power of memory and attention models.
- To explore developmental changes in time perception during middle childhood.
Main Methods:
- Two studies were conducted with participants ranging from preschool to adult age.
- Participants judged the duration of tasks with varying interest levels and cognitive demands.
- Data were analyzed to compare over/underestimation of duration based on task characteristics and age.
Main Results:
- In Study 1, children overestimated interesting movie durations, while adults underestimated them.
- In Study 2, both children and adults overestimated interesting puzzle durations.
- Findings suggest the memory model better explains long-duration perception than the attention model.
Conclusions:
- Time perception over long durations is influenced by memory and task engagement.
- A developmental shift in time-tracking strategies emerges in middle childhood.
- These findings contribute to understanding the complexities of temporal representation across the lifespan.
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