Transient attention does not alter the eccentricity effect in estimation of duration

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Stimulus eccentricity influences perceived duration, with underestimation increasing as stimuli move further from fixation.
• Spatial attention is known to affect perceived duration, prompting investigation into its role in the eccentricity effect.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether transient covert attention influences the eccentricity effect in duration estimation.
• To determine if spatial attention modulates the relationship between stimulus location and perceived time.

Main Methods:

• Two experiments (online and laboratory) used a duration estimation task.
• Participants compared peripheral stimulus duration to a foveal standard.
• Transient covert attention was manipulated using validly or neutrally cued peripheral stimulus locations.

Main Results:

• The eccentricity effect was replicated: duration was more underestimated for far stimuli than near stimuli.
• Cueing effectively shortened response latencies, indicating successful attentional shifts.
• Cueing did not significantly alter the magnitude of the eccentricity effect on duration perception.

Conclusions:

• Transient covert attention shifts, induced by cueing, do not account for the eccentricity effect in perceived duration.
• The findings suggest that factors other than spatial attention contribute to how stimulus location affects time perception.