The effect of motor activity on the formation and maintenance of the function of time perception in the course of ontogeny

The effect of motor activity on the perception of the duration of time intervals was studied. Seven hundred and ninety-two subjects aged 7-91 years subjectively measured (scaled) time intervals in the range from 1 to 10 s by methods of estimating, production, and cross-modality matching. The accuracy of scaling was estimated from the value of the relative error. The degree of correspondence of subjective time scales to physical ones was determined from the exponent of the psychophysical scaling function. It was shown that the use of methods with a distinct motor component (production) ensures the smallest error of subjective measurement and the formation of the most adequate subjective time scales. It was found that, for subjects of older age groups, motor activity is a factor that promotes the maintenance of the time perception function. © MAIK Nauka 2008