Duration reproduction under memory pressure: Modeling the roles of visual memory load in duration encoding and reproduction

Abstract

Duration estimates are often biased by the sampled statistical context, yielding the classical central- tendency effect, i.e., short durations are over- and long duration underestimated. Most studies of the central-tendency bias have primarily focused on the integration of the sensory measure and the prior information, without considering any cognitive limits. Here, we investigated the impact of cognitive (visual working-memory) load on duration estimation in the duration encoding and reproduction stages. In four experiments, observers had to perform a dual, attention-sharing task: reproducing a given duration (primary) and memorizing a variable set of color patches (secondary). We found an increase in memory load (i.e., set size) during the duration-encoding stage to increase the central-tendency bias, while shortening the reproduced duration in general; in contrast, increasing the load during the reproduction stage prolonged the reproduced duration, without influencing the central tendency. By integrating an attentional-sharing account into a hierarchical Bayesian model, we were able to predict both the general over- and underestimation and the central- tendency effects observed in all four experiments. The model suggests that memory pressure during the encoding stage increases the sensory noise, which elevates the central-tendency effect. In contrast, memory pressure during the reproduction stage only influences the monitoring of elapsed time, leading to a general duration over-reproduction without impacting the central tendency.

Reference induces biases in late visual processing

“…S4 ). Therefore, it is plausible that the post-stimulus reference introduced greater attraction compared to a reference presented simultaneously with the stimulus, as participants may rely more on decision categories when sensory representations decayed in working memory 23 .…”

Neural mechanisms of sequential dependence in time perception: The impact of prior task and memory processing

“…We adopted a duration reproduction paradigm (Shi, Ganzenmüller, et al 2013; Shi et al 2022; Zang et al 2022), consisting of an encoding phase and a reproduction phase (see Figure 1). Participants laid down comfortably with their head in the head coil, inside some cushions to fixate the head position and avoid motion.…”

“…In this study, we employed a classic post-cueing paradigm used in sequential dependence research (Czoschke et al 2019;Bae and Luck 2020) to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying sequential dependence in a duration reproduction task (Shi, Ganzenmüller, et al 2013;Shi et al 2022;Zang et al 2022) in conjunction with MRI scanning. The task consisted of an encoding phase and a subsequent phase that was either for reproduction or passive-viewing, contingent on a post-cue that indicated "Response" or "No-response".…”

Neural mechanisms of sequential dependence in time perception: the impact of prior task and memory processing

“…We adopted a duration reproduction paradigm (Shi, Ganzenmüller, and Müller 2013;Zang et al 2022;Shi et al 2022), consisting of an encoding phase and a reproduction phase (see Figure 1).…”

“…In this study, drawing on a classic post-cueing paradigm used in serial dependence research (Czoschke et al 2019;Bae and Luck 2020), we aimed to explore the neural mechanisms underlying serial dependence in time perception using a duration reproduction task (Shi, Ganzenmüller, and Müller 2013;Zang et al 2022;Shi et al 2022) with MRI scanning. The task consisted of the encoding phase and the reproduction or passive-viewing phase, with the latter being contingent upon the Response / No-response cue (see Figure 1a).…”