Scalar properties in animal timing: Conformity and violations

• Published in: Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006) 2006-11, Vol.59 (11), p.1875-1908
• Main Authors: Lejeune, Helga, Wearden, J. H.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anatomie (cytologie, histologie, embryologie...) & physiologie; Anatomy (cytology, histology, embryology...) & physiology; Animal; Animal psychology, ethology & psychobiology; Animals; Appetitive Behavior - physiology; Avoidance Learning - physiology; Behavior, Animal - physiology; Biological and medical sciences; Columbidae; Conditioning; Conditioning (Psychology) - physiology; Discrimination Learning - physiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Learning. Memory; Life sciences; Normal Distribution; Psychologie animale, éthologie & psychobiologie; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Rats; Reproducibility of Results; Sciences du vivant; Sciences sociales & comportementales, psychologie; Social & behavioral sciences, psychology; Task Performance and Analysis; Time Factors; Time Perception - physiology
• ISSN: 1747-0218; 1747-0226; 1747-0226
• DOI: 10.1080/17470210600784649

The article reviews data from animal subjects on a range of timing tasks (including fixed-interval and temporal differentiation schedules, stimulus timing, aversive conditioning, and Pavlovian methods) with respect to conformity to the two scalar properties of timing behaviour: mean accuracy and scalar (Weberian) variance. Systematic deviations were found in data from temporal differentiation schedules, timing of very short (100 s) durations, effects of "task difficulty", and some special cases where circadian and interval timing seemed to interact, or where some specific durations seemed to be timed more precisely than others. Theoretical reconciliation of some of these deviations with underlying scalar timing can be achieved, but a number of problematical cases remain unexplained.