AUTHOR=Liu Peiduo , Yang Wenjing , Yuan Xiangyong , Bi Cuihua , Chen Antao , Huang Xiting TITLE=Individual alerting efficiency modulates time perception JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology VOLUME=6 YEAR=2015 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00386 DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00386 ISSN=1664-1078 ABSTRACT=

Time perception plays a fundamental role in human perceptual and motor activities, and can be influenced by various factors, such as selective attention and arousal. However, little is known about the influence of individual alerting efficiency on perceived duration. In this study, we explored this question by running two experiments. The Attentional Networks Test was used to evaluate individual differences in alerting efficiency in each experiment. Temporal bisection (Experiment 1) and time generalization task (Experiment 2) were used to explore the participants’ perception of duration. The results indicated that subjects in the high alerting efficiency group overestimated interval durations and estimated durations more accurately compared with subjects in the low alerting efficiency group. The two experiments showed that the sensitivity of time was not influenced by individual alerting efficiency. Based on previous studies and current findings, we infer that individual differences in alerting efficiency may influence time perception through modulating the latency of the attention-controlled switch and the speed of the peacemaker within the framework of the internal clock model.