Time perception in real-life scenarios and its value for clinical diagnostics of early-stage dementia
Human Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience
Final Report Abstract
The studies from this research project are in favor of the initial hypothesis and represent a clear case regarding the potential of implementing more naturalistic paradigms in time perception research. As such, the studies will be informative both for the scientific community and for clinicians developing diagnostic test batteries to assess the risk for neurodegenerative diseases. Both published studies (Study 1 and 3) have shown that especially age-related timing deficits can be better detected when probed with naturalistic stimuli that are embedded within a semantic context. It remains unclear, however, where the advantage of naturalistic stimuli originates from. The investigation of this origin was not a goal of the present project, but it is a research question that directly follows from the obtained results. One possibility is that older adults are distracted by the richness of realistic stimuli (as compared to the relative simplicity of abstract stimuli) and therefore less cognitive resources are available for the processing of temporal information. Another possibility is that temporal expectations are more prominent for realistic as compared to abstract stimuli, and that those expectations therefore interfere with the timing process more when realistic stimuli are used. These research questions are to be investigated in future studies.
Publications
- (2021). Age-related changes in time perception: The impact of naturalistic environments and retrospective judgements on timing performance. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology
Riemer, M., Wolbers, T., & van Rijn, H.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1177/17470218211023362) - (2021). Temporal context effects are associated with cognitive status in advanced age. Psychological Research
Maaß, S. C., Wolbers, T., van Rijn, H., & Riemer, M.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-021-01502-9)
