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Attention modulates subjective time perception across eye movements.
Chuyao Yan1, Hao Wang2, Xueyan Jiang3
1School of Psychology Nanjing Normal University Nanjing China.
Vision Research
|January 8, 2025
Summary
Attention significantly impacts how we perceive time during eye movements. Shifting focus before a saccade alters the subjective timing of events, showing attention is key to temporal continuity.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Perception Psychology
- Oculomotor Research
Background:
- Eye movements, specifically saccades, are known to influence time perception.
- The role of pre-saccadic attention in modulating subjective time perception remains underexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of pre-saccadic attention on subjective time perception during eye movements.
- To determine how attentional focus influences temporal judgments at the saccade target.
Main Methods:
- Participants reported perceived time from two clocks (fixation and saccade target) during eye movements.
- Experiments manipulated attentional focus prior to saccades to assess its effect on time perception.
Main Results:
- Participants perceived arrival at the saccade target as slightly earlier than actual time (Experiment 1).
- This temporal bias was reduced when attention was directed to the fixation point before the saccade (Experiment 2).
Conclusions:
- Subjective time perception during eye movements is strongly modulated by attentional conditions.
- Stable time perception relies on cognitive mechanisms like attention, not solely on the oculomotor system.
