Time to Contrast Models of Timing: The Structure of Temporal Memory

• Published in: Behavioral neuroscience 2022-10, Vol.136 (5), p.404-417
• Main Authors: Machado, Armando, Carvalho, Marilia Pinheiro de, Vasconcelos, Marco
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal; Animal Learning; Animal Motivation; Expectancy; Expectations; Memory; Simulation; Theoretical Orientation
• ISSN: 0735-7044; 1939-0084
• DOI: 10.1037/bne0000521

In the study of animal timing over the last 100 years, we identify three different periods, each characterized by a distinct activity. In the first period, researchers brought timing into the laboratory and explored its multiple expressions empirically. In the second period, the growing body of empirical findings inspired researchers to develop a plethora of timing models that vary in theoretical orientation, scope, depth, and quantitative explicitness. We argue that it is now the time to advance towards a third period, wherein researchers select models by comparing them with one another and with data. We make our case by contrasting how the scalar expectancy theory and the learning-to-time model conceive of temporal memory and learning both in concurrent timing tasks and in retrospective timing tasks. We identify four problems related to the structure of temporal memory and to the rules of temporal learning that challenge these models and that should drive the next steps in modeling the timing abilities of animals.