Temporal Order Discrimination: Recognition without Identification by Untrained Subjects
Richard M. Warren · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 1973
Earlier work with unpracticed subjects has indicated that identification (naming) of temporal order for repeated sequences consisting of three or four successive sounds such as hisses, tones, and buzzes could not be accomplished at item durations of 200 msec and below [see Warren et al., Science 164, 586–587 (1969)]. In the present experiment, eight separate groups of 30 subjects were required to tell whether alternating sequences, each consisting of a reiterated presentation of the same three or four successive items, had these items in the same or different order. Identification of these orders was not required. Accuracy of same/different judgments depended upon details of the experimental procedure employed, but in general was significantly better than chance when all items lasted 200 msec. Extending the duration of each item in one of the two sequences beyond 200 msec made the task more difficult. When one sequence had items at 200 msec and the other at 670 msec, same/different judgments were at chance level. It appears that if identification of orders cannot be accomplished, then recognition of the identity of or difference between patterns requires a prior “temporal template” for comparison of both duration and order. [Research supported by NSF.]