Time estimation in young children as a function of instructions and response type

The present study tested the effect of instructions on 3- and 5 1/2-year-ol ds' ability to produce a response duration (filled condition) or a temporal interval between two responses (empty condition) in 30 discrete trials. Du ring the first 10 trials, children received either verbal or copy-imitation instructions. In the, imitation condition, they produced the target durati on at the same time as the experimenter. The results showed that the 5 1/2- year-olds produced more accurate responses than the 3-year-olds, but this d ifference between the two ages decreased in the response duration condition with the imitation instructions. With these instructions, the 3-year-olds were more efficient in the filled than in the empty condition. In contrast, with the verbal instructions, the children produced more correct responses with the empty than with the filled duration. Their timing behavior was al so less variable. The findings are discussed in the framework of a dissocia tion between 3-year-olds' filled duration knowledge and 5 1/2-year-olds' co ncept of time.