Citation

Lieving LM, Lane SD, Cherek DR, Tcheremissine OV. Behav. Processes 2006; 71(2-3): 135-143.

Affiliation

Human Psychopharmacology Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Science, University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center, 1300 Moursund Street, Houston, TX 77030-3497, USA. lori.lieving@uth.tmc.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.beproc.2005.10.002

PMID

16289517

Abstract

Studies of temporal discrimination in non-human subjects have reliably shown a choose-short effect: higher matching accuracy on short-duration-sample trials than on long-duration-sample trials. This effect occurs as a function of increasing the delay between the onset of sample and comparison stimuli in a delayed matching-to-sample procedure. The present experiment investigated whether the choose-short effect could be demonstrated in human subjects under conditions which paralleled those used with non-human subjects. Subjects responded under a discrete-trial procedure in which they were required to push one of two buttons depending on the duration of a sample stimulus (a blue square on a computer monitor). Delays (0, 8, 16, and 32s) separated sample and comparison stimuli (two white boxes) and were tested both within and across several sessions. Intermediate durations (probe stimuli between 2 and 4s) were also presented. The addition of a delay between the sample and comparison stimuli produced a bias to judge intervals as short when the 8 and 32-s delays were tested across sessions and when the 0, 16, and 32-s delays were tested within the same session. Thus, the choose-short effect was produced in human subjects using the interval bisection procedure regardless of delay length.

Language: en