Short-Term Retention of Temporal Visual Information

Abstract

The main purpose was to determine the short-term retention characteristics of temporal information when subjects experienced time under a conscious cognitive strategy for time estimation, i.e., subjects were instructed to refrain from employing time-aiding techniques. Visual durations of 1 and 4 sec. were estimated by 12 subjects under the method of reproduction. Six levels of retention interval were used, viz., immediate reproduction, self-paced reproduction, i.e., the subjects were allowed to recall whenever they wished, 15 and 30 sec. of rest, and 15 and 30 sec. of interpolated activity, i.e., counting backwards by threes. The variable error was used to evaluate effects of forgetting. When subjects held a duration of 4 sec. in memory for a period of 15 or 30 sec. of rest, they became more variable than when they recalled the item immediately, at their own pace or when the duration to be remembered was only 1 sec. long. When an interpolated task was required during the retention interval, its variability was similar to the results obtained under an unfulfilled retention interval for both durations. The presence of an interaction between duration and retention interval under the variable error was explained in terms of memory.