Duration Reproduction: Lossy Integration and Effects of Sensory Modalities, Cognitive Functioning, Age, and Sex

Abstract

The “dual klepsydra model” (DKM) of internal time representation successfully models duration reproduction data, but relations between the DKM-based parameter κ (“loss rate”) and procedural variables (presentation modality) or individual characteristics (cognitive indices, age, sex) remained as yet unexplored. For that purpose, we re-analyzed data from an earlier time reproduction study ( N = 100), using visually or acoustically presented intervals of 1–5 sec. duration. Typical values of parameter κ were ≈0.03–0.04 sec.−1, corresponding to relaxation times of internal “lossy integrators” of ≈30 sec. Significant effects of presentation modality (smaller κ values for the visual reproduction task) and of age (greater κ in acoustic reproduction with increasing age) were observed. Cognitive variables (working memory, general fluid reasoning, attention) and sex of participants were not associated with κ. Cognitive functions seem to play only a minor, if any, role at the level of time representation addressed by the DKM.