Attention and control processes in interval timing

估计短时间间隔的能力涉及各种日常人类行为。协调运动、播放音乐、在移动环境中驾驶汽车、判断社交互动中的“正常”持续时间（例如，谈话中的停顿、视觉接触或握手的持续时间）需要估计第二范围中的时间间隔。许多研究表明，在人类中，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于研究，这些研究显示了计时任务与需要注意力和记忆的任务之间的干扰：当人类被要求估计时间，同时进行另一项涉及注意力或记忆的任务时，计时会受到系统性的干扰。本研究旨在探讨与注意力和记忆相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，大概是因为预期会分散我们对计时的注意力。在程序的第一部分中，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，我们以前的研究表明，准备中断或恢复计时也会影响时间估计，我们将在节目中进一步研究。在程序的第二部分，我们将分析不同任务之间的时间和切换之间的干扰。最近的数据表明，时间和任务切换可能会相互干扰。在本程序的实验中使用的切换条件需要协调工作记忆中的心理活动，诸如记住任务序列中的时间位置（例如，哪个任务在另一个之前），计划并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，该计划还将提供有关时间处理作用的新见解，当我们必须在各种任务之间交替时。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，对与衰老有关的认知缺陷敏感。在目前的计划中，类似的发展计划在更多的应用环境。

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.