When Causality Shapes the Experience of Time: Evidence for Temporal Binding in Young Children

Blakey, Emma and Tecwyn, Emma C and McCormack, Teresa and Lagnado, David and Hoerl, Christoph and Lorimer, Sara and Buehner, Marc (2018) When Causality Shapes the Experience of Time: Evidence for Temporal Binding in Young Children. Developmental Science.

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Abstract

It is well-established that the temporal proximity of two events is a fundamental cue to causality. Recent research with adults has shown that this relation is bidirectional: events that are believed to be causally related are perceived as occurring closer together in time—the so-called temporal binding effect. Here we examined the developmental origins of temporal binding. Participants predicted when an event that was either caused by a button press, or preceded by a non-causal signal, would occur. We demonstrate for the first time that children as young as four years are susceptible to temporal binding. Binding occurred both when the button press was executed via intentional action, and when a machine caused it. These results suggest binding is a fundamental, early developing property of perception and grounded in causal knowledge.

Item Type: Article
Dates:
DateEvent
24 October 2018Accepted
10 November 2018Published Online
Subjects: CAH04 - psychology > CAH04-01 - psychology > CAH04-01-01 - psychology (non-specific)
Divisions: Faculty of Business, Law and Social Sciences > School of Social Sciences > Dept. Psychology
Depositing User: Emma Tecwyn
Date Deposited: 14 Jan 2019 12:59
Last Modified: 03 Mar 2022 15:42
URI: https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/6813

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