Slowing the Body slows down Time (Perception)

Abstract
Data availability
Article and author information
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Abstract

Interval timing is a fundamental component of action, and is susceptible to motor-related temporal distortions. Previous studies have shown that concurrent movement biases temporal estimates, but have primarily considered self-modulated movement only. However, real-world encounters often include situations in which movement is restricted or perturbed by environmental factors. In the following experiments, we introduced viscous movement environments to externally modulate movement and investigated the resulting effects on temporal perception. In two separate tasks, participants timed auditory intervals while moving a robotic arm that randomly applied four levels of viscosity. Results demonstrated that higher viscosity led to shorter perceived durations. Using a drift-diffusion model and a Bayesian observer model, we confirmed these biasing effects arose from perceptual mechanisms, instead of biases in decision making. These findings suggest that environmental perturbations are an important factor in movement-related temporal distortions, and enhance the current understanding of the interactions of motor activity and cognitive processes.

Data availability

All source data have been deposited in Dryad. Located at doi:10.25338/B8S913

The following data sets were generated

1. De Kock R
2. Zhou W
3. Joiner WM
4. Wiener M
(2021) Slowing the Body slows down Time (Perception)
Dryad Digital Repository, doi:10.25338/B8S913.

https://doi.org/10.25338/B8S913

Article and author information

Author details

Rose De Kock

Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, College of Biological Sciences, University of California, Davis, Davis, United States

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Weiwei Zhou

Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, University of California, Davis, Davis, United States

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Wilsaan M Joiner

Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, University of California, Davis, Davis, United States

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Martin Wiener

Psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, United States

For correspondence
mwiener@gmu.edu

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

"This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0001-5963-5439

Funding

National Science Foundation (1849067)

Martin Wiener

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Ethics

Human subjects: Informed consent was obtained from all subjects. All protocols were approved by the Institutional Review Board at the University of California, Davis (IRB Protocol # 1336438-6)

Copyright

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.