Time estimation as an index of processing demand in memory search

Abstract

The influence of cognitive processing on time estimation was investigated. A temporal-interval production and memory-search dual task was devised so that some operations needed by the search took place during the time interval. Subjects were required to produce time intervals concurrently with a memory-search task similar to Sternberg's (1966). On the average, duration increased in proportion to the number of elements in the positive set. In general, temporal-production duration displayed the features previously observed, with speeded responses in memory-search tasks. The additive effect of memory scanning on time estimation made possible an interpretation involving inhibition of timing during concurrent processing in short-term memory. This concurrent processing situation appears to be a fruitful procedure for the study of the interaction between time estimation and cognitive processes. However, since a methodological feature of the search task could favor a successive processing strategy, the possibility that subjects performed the time production and the item-recognition tasks successively makes a conclusive interpretation difficult. © 1987 Psychonomic Society, Inc.