Motivational salience, not valence, modulates time perception.

It has been argued that cognitive processes such as attention and memory are influenced by motivational salience (high or low predictability of an outcome) rather than valance or value (gain or loss). However, whether this holds for subjective time perception remains unclear. To investigate this, a two-phase study was conducted. First, in a value learning task, a set of neutral faces was imbued with different levels of motivational salience (high or low) crossed with two levels of value (gain, loss). Thus, a specific face could acquire, for example, high motivational salience and low value by repeatedly signaling an 80% chance of losing points. Faces with these learned associations were then presented as an oddball for a varying duration (300–700 ms in steps of 50 ms) in a sequence of standard stimuli previously seen but predictive of no outcome (each presented for 500 ms). Participants assessed whether the oddball was longer or shorter than the duration of the standard stimuli. The results show that an oddball associated with a high predictable outcome (80% chance of gain or loss) was perceived to last longer than an oddball associated with a low predictable outcome (20% chance of gain or loss). The present study supports previous studies by showing that a high motivational outcome, rather than valance/value, changes cognitive engagement with a stimulus. Attention may play an essential role in this interaction by modulating subjective expansion of time. (PsycInfo Database ...
Source: Emotion - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research