Presentation Information
[O1-05]Spatial tool use modulates time perception in near and far space
*Amir Jahanian-Najafabadi1, Argiro Vatakis2, Christoph Kayser1 (1. Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Bielefeld University (Germany), 2. Department of Psychology, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences (Greece))
Keywords:
time perception,spatial distance,tool-use training,peripersonal space,action-perception coupling
In our recent research, we found that time estimation is mildly influenced by spatial distance and tool-use training in both young and older adults, using a visual time reproduction task. These findings supported the notion that time perception is linked to spatial processing and sensorimotor interactions within and beyond the peripersonal space, with effects that appear to be age-dependent. In the present study, we aimed to replicate and extend these findings by investigating whether spatial influences on time perception are task-specific and sensitive to stimulus duration. Twenty young adults performed two temporal judgment tasks (time reproduction, time bisection) before and after tool-use training. During training, participants used a mechanical grabber to grasp and move 100 objects located at a distance of 120 cm toward their body. Time stimuli, consisting of eight durations (2100–2900 ms), were presented at three distances from the body: 60 cm, 120 cm, and 240 cm. In the reproduction task, participants reproduced the durations; in the bisection task, they judged whether durations were shorter or longer than a learned standard. The results revealed consistent underestimation of intervals presented at 60 cm (near space), indicated by a reduced proportion of “long” responses compared to the 120 cm and 240 cm (far space) conditions. This suggests a distance-dependent modulation of perceived time, with time appearing to be perceived as shorter in near space. Notably, tool-use training shifted these baseline biases, indicating that sensorimotor experience can influence temporal judgments across space. These findings reinforce the idea that time perception is not purely internal but is shaped by the spatial context of sensory events and by our capacity to interact with objects in space, suggesting the plasticity of time perception in response to action and space around us.