Predictive processing in time perception: Assessing prediction error minimization in the sub-second range.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Computational Neuroscience

Background:

• Predictive processing theory suggests minimizing prediction error guides perception, learning, and behavior.
• Direct empirical tests of this hypothesis in human time perception are limited.
• This study investigates prediction error minimization within the context of sub-second time perception.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test the predictive processing theory's hypothesis of prediction error minimization in time perception.
• To operationalize prediction error minimization as the updating of an internal temporal reference.
• To examine if temporal reference updating aligns with the direction needed to reduce systematic prediction errors.

Main Methods:

• Two experiments were conducted involving a temporal generalization task.
• Participants included university students (Experiment 1) and a broader adult age range (Experiment 2).
• Reference updating was measured by analyzing changes in distributional asymmetry and peak shifts of temporal generalization gradients.

Main Results:

• Experiment 1 showed that frequent exposure to specific durations caused expected directional shifts in the internal temporal reference.
• Experiment 2 revealed that reliable shifts in the temporal reference only occurred when prediction error was substantial.
• Smaller prediction errors in Experiment 2 did not consistently induce reference updating.

Conclusions:

• Internal temporal reference updating in sub-second time perception is demonstrably influenced by the direction and magnitude of prediction error.
• These findings provide direct behavioral evidence supporting the prediction error minimization hypothesis in time perception.
• The study differentiates reference updating from perceptual biases that affect gradient steepness without altering the peak shift.