Subjective time scaling: influence of age, gender, and Type A and Type B behavior.

Abstract

Forty-eight subjects, divided into 4 equal groups (young and older female, young and older male), reproduced 19 time intervals varying in logarithmic steps between 1.3 and 20 s. The durations were indicated by noise of 50 dB SL. To assess Type A and Type B behavior, the subjects were administered a Swedish version of Jenkins Activity Survey with 21 items. It was found that 1. reproductions of durations by older subjects are longer than those by younger subjects, and 2. reproductions by male subjects are shorter than those by female, although an interaction was also detected between gender and the standard durations. Type A and Type B behavior did not show any main effect. The data were treated in accordance with the "parallel-clock model", whereby the parameters of the psychophysical power function are determined from duration reproduction data. As in previous experiments, the data showed a break in the function, entailing two segments. The effect of both age and gender could be explained by the weight coefficient of the upper relative to the lower segment of the psychophysical function, the coefficient being lower for male and higher for older subjects.