Direct comparison of temporal error monitoring in humans and rats

Temporal error monitoring sits at the intersection of timing, metacognition, and error monitoring. Through a comparative paradigm, we explored distinctions and parallels between rats and humans. Both species were trained to produce a target interval (2s) by pressing a key and to associate reward size based on error magnitude with the location of one of two cards on a screen (humans) or with reward ports (rats). Results showed that both species could report their temporal errors, with rats displaying higher accuracy. Better representation of rule-based variables increased choice accuracy in both species. When performances were equated for specific task variables, the accuracy difference diminished but remained. Response times, used as a proxy for confidence, reflected confidence more accurately in rats, likely resulting from different exploratory and decisional processes in humans. These findings identify key task variables that support temporal error monitoring, with broader implications for comparative metacognition research.