The Internal Clock Revisited

An “internal-clock” has been a central feature of psychophysical accounts of time perception. Investigators have found the concept to provide a convenient metaphor to guide thinking and research. Today, time is being studied, not only by psychophysicists, but also by those working within traditional cognitive research. As a result, a broader range of temporal phenomena has become the subject of study. Some cognitive psychologists have raised doubts about the value of internal-clock models, even questioning the study of time as a distinct area of investigation. This paper critically evaluates the usefulness of internal-clock models, and concludes that such models continue to provide a useful heuristic. While internal-clock models may be limited, they are broader than their critics suggest. The goal for the future should be the integration of the two approaches to temporal processing, rather than the replacement of the old psychophysical tradition by the newer cognitive direction.

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