Attention and control processes in interval timing

估计短时间间隔的能力涉及到各种各样的日常人类行为。协调动作、播放音乐、在移动的环境中驾驶汽车、判断社交互动中的“正常”持续时间（例如，对话中的停顿、视觉接触或握手的持续时间）都需要估计第二范围内的时间间隔。许多研究表明，对人类来说，准确的时间需要注意力和记忆力。这一结论的证据主要来自计时任务和需要注意力和记忆的任务之间的干扰研究：当人们被要求在做另一项涉及注意力或记忆的任务的同时估计时间时，计时会受到系统的干扰。本研究计划探讨与注意力和记忆有关的特定因素在时间估计中的作用。当我们预期当前正在计时的刺激会中断时，我们对其持续时间的估计会受到很大影响，可能是因为预期会分散对时机的关注。在节目的第一部分，我们将分析中断预期的确定性程度如何影响我们的时间估计。此外，我们之前的研究表明，准备中断或恢复时间也会影响时间估计，我们将在节目中进一步研究。在节目的第二部分，我们将分析计时和在不同任务之间切换之间的干扰。最近的数据表明，时间和任务切换可能会相互干扰。本项目实验中使用的切换条件要求协调工作记忆中的心理活动，如记住任务序列中的时间位置（例如，哪个任务在另一个任务之前），计划和准备切换到即将到来的任务。除了揭示与时间有关的特定认知过程外，该项目还将为我们必须在不同任务之间交替时时间处理的作用提供新的见解。此外，在过去，我们对时间和注意力的基础研究已经产生了一个有用的范式，对衰老相关的认知缺陷敏感。在本方案中，计划在更多的应用环境中进行类似的开发。

The ability to estimate short time intervals is involved in a variety of everyday human behaviors. Coordinating movements, playing music, driving a car in a moving environment, judging "normal" durations in social interactions (e.g., pauses in conversations, durations of visual contact or of a handshake) entail estimating time intervals in the second range. Numerous studies have revealed that in humans, accurate timing requires attention and memory. Evidence for this conclusion comes mainly from studies showing interference between timing tasks and tasks requiring attention and memory: when humans are asked to estimate time while doing simultaneously another task involving attention or memory, timing is systematically perturbed. This research program investigates the role of specific factors related to attention and memory in time estimation. When we expect an interruption in a stimulus that we are currently timing, our estimate of its duration is greatly affected, presumably because expectancy detracts attention from timing. In the first part of the program, we will analyze how the degree of certainty about the expectancy of an interruption influences our temporal estimate. Besides, our previous studies showed that preparation to interrupt or to resume timing affects time estimates also, which we will investigate further in the program. In the second part of the program, we will analyze the interference between timing and switching between different tasks. Recent data suggest that timing and task switching may interfere with each other. The switching conditions used in the experiments of the present program require coordinating mental activities in working memory, activities such as remembering temporal position in task sequences (e.g., which task comes before the other), planning and preparing to switch to a forthcoming task. In addition to uncovering specific cognitive processes involved in timing, the program will provide novel insights on the role of temporal processing when we must alternate between various tasks. Besides, in the past, our fundamental research on timing and attention has produced a useful paradigm sensitive to cognitive deficits related to aging. In the present program, similar developments are planned in more applied settings.