Relationship between human temporal behavior and discrimination-reversal learning (original) (raw)
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A comparison of empirical and theoretical explanations of temporal discrimination
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 2009
The empirical goals were to describe the behavior of rats trained on multiple temporal discriminations and to use these descriptions to predict behavior observed under new training conditions. The theoretical goals were to fit a quantitative theory to behavior from one training condition, estimate parameters for the intervening perception, memory, and decision processes, and use these parameters to predict behavior observed under new conditions. Twenty-four rats were trained on a multiple peak-interval procedure with two stimuli that were presented individually (Stimulus A and B), or in compound (Compound AB); either different responses (Experiment 1) or the same response (Experiment 2) were reinforced during the presentations of Stimulus A, Stimulus B, and Compound AB. The patterns of correct and stimulus-error responses during Stimulus A and Stimulus B (Experiment 1) were used as elements that, with summation rules, predicted behavior under new conditions (Compound AB, Experiment 1 and Stimulus A, Stimulus B, and Compound AB, Experiment 2). A comparison of the success of the empirical and theoretical goals supported the use of a quantitative theory of behavior to explain the data. 3 The empirical goal was to describe the behavior of rats trained on multiple temporal discriminations (Experiment 1) and to use this description to predict behavior observed under new training conditions (Experiments 1 and 2). The theoretical goal was to fit a quantitative theory to behavior from one training condition, estimate parameters for the intervening perception, memory, and decision processes, and use these parameters to predict behavior observed under new conditions. A comparison of the success of the empirical and theoretical goals is provided in the General Discussion. During one widely used temporal discrimination procedure, the peak procedure (Catania, 1970; Roberts, 1981), rats are presented with food following the first response after a fixed interval since the onset of a stimulus on some occasions; on others, no food is delivered and the stimulus remains on for a duration that is longer than the fixed interval. Rats may be trained on different intervals (e.g., Church, Meck, & Gibbon, 1994); or the same rats may be trained on multiple intervals that are signaled by different stimuli (e.g., Roberts, 1981; Yi, 2007). The standard results during the nonfood stimulus presentations are that response rate increases as a function of time, reaches a maximum at approximately the usual time of reinforcement, and then slowly decreases asymmetrically. When performance on multiple intervals in the nonfood cycles in the peak procedure are compared, it is often observed that (1) the time at which response rate is at its maximum (peak time) is linearly related to the fixed interval (proportionality result); (2) the spread of the response rate gradient is also linearly related to the fixed interval (scalar property result); (3) since there is a linear relationship between the peak time and the spread of the response rate gradients and the fixed interval, the coefficient of variation, defined as the spread (standard deviation) divided by the peak time (mean) is constant (Weber's law for timing result); and (4) to Brown University. This research was included in the thesis of Paulo Guilhardi submitted to the Department of Psychology at Brown University as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the doctoral degree at Brown University, on May 2005 (Guilhardi, 2005). The author would like to thank his advisor Russell M. Church and members of his committee Donald S. Blough, Julius W. Kling, and Rebecca A. Burwell for their guidance.
Suppose someone had to prepare a review article on visual perception, instead of time perception. This individual would probably ask for a series of reviews, with at least one-and probably several-dedicated to color, distance, shape, and motion perception, and maybe to other aspects of visual perception. It would be very difficult to complete the same exercise for time perception since the categories of temporal experiences are not as clearly defined. However, for a reader to understand the scope of a text on time perception, it is essential to develop a representation of what the main research avenues or categories are. The present text should help the reader to grasp the scope of recent literature related to psychological time and time perception.
The Effect of Feedback and Reinforcement Learning on Time Perception
2020
Behavioral and electrophysiology studies have shown that humans possess a certain self-awareness of their individual timing ability. However, conflicting reports raise concerns about whether humans can discern the direction of their timing error, calling into question the extent of this temporal metacognition. To understand the depth of this ability, the impact of non-directional feedback and reinforcement learning on time perception were examined in a unique temporal reproduction paradigm that involved a mixed set of interval durations the opportunity to repeat every trial immediately after receiving feedback, essentially allowing a “re-do.” Within this task, we tested two groups of participants on versions where non-directional feedback was provided after every response, or not provided at all. Participants in both groups demonstrated reduced central tendency and exhibited significantly greater accuracy in the re-do trial temporal estimates, showcasing metacognitive ability and an...
Making decisions about time: Event-related potentials and judgements about the equality of durations
Biological Psychology, 2011
Participants were exposed to a temporal generalization task where the duration of a small visual stimulus was judged. People received a 600 ms standard duration, then had to judge whether other durations (longer than, shorter than, or equal to the standard) were or were not the standard (making a YES or NO response). In different experimental conditions, the spacing of non-standard durations around the standard was 150 ms (Easy condition), or 75 ms (Difficult condition), so the two conditions involved some judgements made with the same stimuli (450, 600, and 750 ms). The experiment thus compared judgements of the same physical stimuli, when the basis of the judgement was the same, thus avoiding some problems of control that have been present in earlier electrophysiological studies of time judgements. As in previous work, fewer YES responses occurred in the Difficult condition and the 450 ms duration was less confused with the 600 ms standard than the 750 ms one was. Computer modelling suggested that this (fewer YES responses) was due to a decrease in the decision threshold for the YES judgement. The electrophysiological results showed a distinction between the Easy and Difficult conditions observable by a change in the LCPt (Late Positive Component of Timing) measured after the stimulus presentations and by a change in the P1, the CNV (Contingent Negative Variation), and its positive counterpart during the presentation of the stimulus, which were larger when the discrimination was difficult. Our results therefore suggest that the increase in the difficulty of the generalization task not only changes decision processes but also alters attentional mechanisms. They also reveal that the decision does not seem to involve a unitary mechanism but depends on a group of sub-processes, notably attentional mechanisms which are altered from the moment of presentation of the stimulus.► The research examined ERPs and behavioural responses when participants judged whether a visual stimulus had the same duration as a previous standard. ► A task difficulty manipulation was used so that ERPs could be compared from the same physical stimuli when judgements were systematically changed. ► This method addresses some persistent problems of experimental control in the electrophysiology of time perception. ► Manipulation of task difficulty replicated effects found in previous work. ► ERPs were larger when the task was more difficult in fronto-parietal regions during the stimuli and in prefrontal areas after stimulus termination.
Short-term memory for time in children and adults: A behavioral study and a model
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 2007
This experiment investigated the effect of the short-term retention of duration on temporal discrimination in 5-and 8-year-olds, as well as in adults, by using an episodic temporal generalization task. In each age group, the participants' task was to compare two successive durations (a standard and a comparison duration) separated by a retention interval of 500 ms, 5 s, or 10 s, with the order of presentation of these two durations being counterbalanced. The results revealed a shortening effect for the first presented stimulus in all of the age groups, although this was greater in the younger children, thereby indicating the presence of a negative time-order error. Furthermore, introducing a retention delay between the two durations did not produce a shortening effect but instead flattened the generalization gradient, especially in the younger children. However, this flattening of the generalization gradient with the retention delay was more marked between 500 ms and 5 s than between 5 s and 10 s. Thus, retaining the first duration in short-term memory during a task requiring the comparison of two successive durations reduced temporal discrimination accuracy and did so to a greater extent in the younger children.
Individual differences in temporal information processing in humans
Acta neurobiologiae experimentalis, 2004
This article reviews some of our investigations concerning individual differences in temporal information processing. Two different levels of temporal information processing are discussed, namely the low-frequency (i.e., a few seconds time range) and the high-frequency processing level (i.e., some tens of milliseconds range) of temporal information with respect to various experimental paradigms. Evidence has been obtained indicating that the processing of temporal information on these two levels can be influenced by various subject-related factors, out of which age, gender, developmental disorders, auditory experience and localisation of damage in the brain seem to be the most significant.
The role of cognitive changes in immediate and remote prospective time estimations
Acta Psychologica, 1994
The present research examines the predictive value of memory storage-size, cognitive change and attentional models with the aim of discovering which of them best explains the human experience of duration under conditions of intentional attention to time and under immediate and remote time estimation conditions. An independent measurement was also made of the processing effort invested in experimental task performance. A completely randomized 3 x 2 X 2 between-subject factorial design was applied to 192 students of psychology at the University of Salamanca. The results, obtained by means of ANOVA methods and orthogonal contrasts between means, showed (1) that changes in the cognitive context operate as the main determinants for making judgments of time, and (2) that the distinction between immediate and remote prospective time estimation is crucial because it causes a shortening or lengthening of duration judgments by human beings. The significance of the results for time estimation models is discussed.
Time perception, attention, and memory: A selective review
Acta Psychologica, 2014
This article provides a selective review of time perception research, mainly focusing on the authors' research. Aspects of psychological time include simultaneity, successiveness, temporal order, and duration judgments. In contrast to findings at interstimulus intervals or durations less than 3.0-5.0 s, there is little evidence for an "across-senses" effect of perceptual modality (visual vs. auditory) at longer intervals or durations. In addition, the flow of time (events) is a pervasive perceptual illusion, and we review evidence on that. Some temporal information is encoded All rights reserved. relatively automatically into memory: People can judge timerelated attributes such as recency, frequency, temporal order, and duration of events. Duration judgments in prospective and retrospective paradigms reveal differences between them, as well as variables that moderate the processes involved. An attentional-gate model is needed to account for prospective judgments, and a contextual-change model is needed to account for retrospective judgments.
Learning about Time: Plastic Changes and Interindividual Brain Differences
Neuron, 2012
Learning the timing of rapidly changing sensory events is crucial to construct a reliable representation of the environment and to efficiently control behavior. The neurophysiological mechanisms underlying the learning of time are unknown. We used functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging to investigate neurophysiological changes and individual brain differences underlying the learning of time in the millisecond range. We found that the representation of a trained visual temporal interval was associated with functional and structural changes in a sensory-motor network including occipital, parietal, and insular cortices, plus the cerebellum. We show that both types of neurophysiological changes correlated with changes of performance accuracy and that activity and gray-matter volume of sensorimotor cortices predicted individual learning abilities. These findings represent neurophysiological evidence of functional and structural plasticity associated with the learning of time in humans and highlight the role of sensory-motor circuits in the perceptual representation of time in the millisecond range.