ENTERING TRAIT AND CONTEXT INTO A COGNITIVE-TIMER MODEL FOR TIME-ESTIMATION

Subjects were exposed to conditions of perceptual deprivation and perc eptual overload, and were then asked to produce short intervals of tim e. It was hypothesized that the greater the variation in the sensory e nvironment (i.e. perceptual overload vs perceptual deprivation), the s horter would be the time estimation obtained by this method of product ion. It was further assumed that the personality trait of Experience S eeking could moderate this influence of the altered sensory environmen ts on the functioning of the cognitive timer. A trait-context interact ion was uncovered, indicating this moderating effect. Furthermore, bot h trait and context effects were specific to the measure constant of t he psychophysical function relating produced time to required time. Th ese results are presented within a contextualistic approach to the stu dy of subjective time. (C) 1996 Academic Press Limited.