Abstract
Taylor and Lupker (2001) reported that in a naming task, stimuli were named more rapidly when preceded by an easy-to-name stimulus than when preceded by a difficult-to-name stimulus (sequential effects). The goal of the present research was to investigate whether sequential effects could be explained in terms of time perception processes (within the context of Lupker, Brown, and Colombo’s [1997] time criterion account). Participants were required to name easy and difficult stimuli (high-frequency words and nonwords in Experiment 1; words only in Experiment 2). Each naming trial was followed by a set of asterisks (*****). The participants were required to press a button when they thought the asterisks had been presented for exactly 1 sec. Time intervals produced after naming difficult stimuli were longer than time intervals produced after naming easy stimuli. That is, time perception was affected by the difficulty of word/nonword naming in a way that carried over to the next stimulus, supporting the idea that carryover effects in time perception may be the source of sequential effects in the naming task.
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This research was based on a dissertation presented by the first author in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Ph.D. at the University of Western Ontario. This work was partially supported by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Grant A6333 to the second author.
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Taylor, T.E., Lupker, S.J. Sequential effects in time perception. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 14, 70–74 (2007). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03194030
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03194030