Memory and the experience of duration in retrospect

Abstract

Two experiments investigated the relationship between long-term memory for events occurring during an interval and the experience of duration of the interval in retrospect. In both, Ss attended to a sequence consisting of a standard, an experimental, and a second standard interval. Then unexpected comparative duration and memory judgments were requested. In Experiment I, either 30 or 60 unrelated words occurred during the 180-see experimental interval. When more words had occurred, judgments of duration of the experimental interval, judgments of number of words presented, and number of words recognized all increased, but free recall of words was unaffected. In Experiment II, 80 categorized words occurred during the 160-see experimental interval, with category instances in either blocked or random order. When words were blocked by category, judgments of duration of the experimental interval, free recall, and recognition all increased, but judgments of number of words were unaffected. Results were discussed in terms of Ornstein’s (1969) “storage size” hypothesis.