The effects of quantity and depth of processing on children's time perception

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of quantity and depth of processing on children's time perception. These experiments tested the appropriateness of two adult time-perception models (attentional and storage size) for younger ages. Children were given stimulus sets of equal time which varied by level of processing (deep/shallow) and quantity (list length). In the first experiment, 28 children in Grade 6 reproduced presentation times of various quantities of pictures under deep (living/nonliving categorization) or shallow (repeating label) conditions. Students also compared pairs of durations. In the second experiment, 128 children in Grades K, 2, 4, and 6 reproduced presentation times under similar conditions with three or six pictures and with deep or shallow processing requirements. Deep processing led to decreased estimation of time. Higher quantity led to increased estimation of time. Comparative judgments were influenced by quantity. The interaction between age and depth of processing was significant. Older children were more affected by depth differences than were younger children. Results were interpreted as supporting different aspects of each adult model as explanations of children's time perception. The processing effect supported the attentional model and the quantity effect supported the storage size model.