Developmental changes in human duration judgments: a meta-analytic review

Abstract

We reviewed 20 experiments comparing duration judgments made by children versus adolescents and adults. All used a prospective paradigm, in which partici-pants knew they would have to make duration judgments. Meta-analyses revealed substantial age-related differences: Compared to older participants, children make larger verbal estimates, comparable productions, and shorter reproductions of dura-tion. Children’s duration judgments also show greater interindividual variability. We discuss physiological hypotheses concerning pacemaker rate and temperature or metabolic rate, along with cognitive hypotheses concerning duration units, memory processes, attentional resources, and impatience and waiting. At least two explana-tions are needed: Children have not yet accurately learned verbal labels for duration experiences, and they are impatient during relatively empty durations. Both can be interpreted in terms of an attentional-gate model. © 1999 Academic Press Psychological time involves processes by which an organism adapts to and represents the temporal properties of environmental events. For more than a century, experimental psychologists have studied aspects of psycho