Temporal Binding, Causation, and Agency: Developing a New Theoretical Framework.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Perception

Background:

• Temporal binding, the subjective compression of time between events, is observed in both voluntary action and passive observation contexts.
• Existing theories propose separate mechanisms for agency-related binding and belief-based binding.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a unitary explanation for temporal binding, unifying agency and passive observation contexts.
• To explore how causal inference principles can explain temporal binding.

Main Methods:

• Conceptual analysis of existing temporal binding literature.
• Application of causal inference and causal selection principles to temporal binding.

Main Results:

• Temporal binding can be understood as a top-down perceptual effect driven by causal beliefs.
• Agency influences temporal binding strength by affecting the strength of causal beliefs.

Conclusions:

• A single mechanism, top-down causal belief, can explain temporal binding across different contexts.
• Causal inference principles offer a unified framework for understanding temporal binding and the role of agency.