Blocked versus interleaved: How range contexts modulate time perception and its EEG signatures

Abstract

Accurate time perception is a crucial element in a wide range of cognitive tasks, including decision-making, memory, and motor control. One commonly observed phenomenon is that when given a range of time intervals to consider, people's estimates often cluster around the midpoint of those intervals. Previous studies have suggested that the range of these intervals can also influence our judgments, but the neural mechanisms behind this “range effect” are not yet understood. We used both behavioral tests and electroencephalographic (EEG) measures to understand how the range of sample time intervals affects the accuracy of people's subsequent time estimates. Study participants were exposed to two different setups: In the “blocked-range” (BR) session, short and long intervals were presented in separate blocks, whereas in the “interleaved-range” (IR) session, intervals of various lengths were presented randomly. Our findings indicated that the BR context led to more accurate time estimates compared to the IR context. In terms of EEG data, the BR context resulted in quicker buildup of contingent negative variation (CNV), which also reached higher amplitude levels and dissolved more rapidly during the encoding stage. We also observed an enhanced amplitude in the offset P2 component of the EEG signal. Overall, our results suggest that the variability in time intervals, as defined by their range, influences the neural processes that underlie time estimation.