Abstract:
Studying human’s ability to estimate temporal durations could lead to a greater
understanding of our cognitive abilities as well as the processes that underlie temporal
estimation. It has been shown through previous research that time and number may be
interconnected cognitively and that the magnitude of one may alter the perception of the
other, which could be tested by using numerical anchors. I proposed that larger single
digit anchors will cause overestimation of duration and smaller single digit anchors will
cause underestimation of duration in both the millisecond and second ranges. A total of
six experiments were completed testing the idea that numbers can anchor duration
judgments. The first two experiments tested the ability of numbers to alter time
perceptions in the millisecond range. The last four experiments tested the ability of
numbers to alter time perceptions in the second range. Overall only durations lasting for a
matter of milliseconds showed significant results implying that numbers could alter the
perception of time in the millisecond range. These experiments could further support the
idea that numbers can alter the perception of millisecond timing. These experiments do
not support the idea that numbers can alter the perception of second timing.
