The Modulation of Implicit Magnitude on Time Estimates

Studies in time and quantity have shown that explicit magnitude (e.g. Arabic numerals, luminance, or size) modulates time estimates with smaller magnitude biasing the judgment of time towards underestimation and larger magnitude towards overestimation. However, few studies have examined the effect of implicit magnitude on time estimates. The current study used a duration estimation task to investigate the effects of implicit magnitude on time estimation in three experiments. During the duration estimation task, the target words named objects of various lengths (Experiment 1), weights (Experiment 2) and volumes (Experiment 3) were presented on the screen and participants were asked to reproduce the amount of time the words remained on the screen via button presses. Results indicated that the time estimates were modulated by the implicit magnitude of the word's referent with words named objects of smaller magnitude (shorter, lighter, or smaller) being judged to last a shorter time, and words named objects of greater magnitude (longer, heavier, or bigger) being judged to last a longer time. These findings were consistent with previous studies examining the effect of implicit spatial length on time estimates. More importantly, current results extended the implicit magnitude of length to the implicit magnitude of weight and volume and demonstrated a functional interaction between time and implicit magnitude in all three aspects of quantity, suggesting a common generalized magnitude system. These results provided new evidence to support a theory of magnitude (ATOM).