Vierordt's law

Relative constant error in time perception using Vierordt's Law

Karl von Vierordt in 1868 was the first to record a law of time perception which relates perceived duration to actual duration over different interval magnitudes, and according to task complexity.[1] It states that, retrospectively, "short" intervals of time (e.g., 10 seconds) tend to be overestimated, and "long" intervals of time tend to be underestimated.[2] To put it more objectively, if a person reproduced different intervals in a time range, the shorter intervals tended to be reproduced as longer and longer intervals were reproduced as shorter in reality.[3] Also in between these shorter and longer intervals, there is an in-different interval where the time is accurately perceived and thus is neither overestimated nor underestimated.[3][4]

The other major paradigm of time estimation methodology measures time prospectively as seen in the time measurement experiments in which subjects produced, reproduced or verbally estimated time intervals. This predates the modern scalar expectancy theory (SET) developed in 1984.[5] Modern research suggests that "Vierordt's law is caused by an unnatural yet widely used experimental protocol". Hence this law comes under the field of experimental psychology.[6]

Applications

It is widely used in psychology studies for classical methods of time estimation over different intervals of time; some really short (in ms) and some long (e.g., 10 seconds).[7][8]

It is also found to be present in drug addicted users which appears differently for both short term and long term users. Also the alteration in time perception is dependent on type of drugs consumed and amount of dose.[9]

For instance, the time people estimated to commute by car to Sydney central business district was reported as longer, and while those travelling by train estimated shorter times.[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lejeune, Helga; Wearden, J. H. (September 2009). "Vierordt's The Experimental Study of the Time Sense (1868) and its legacy". European Journal of Cognitive Psychology. 21 (6): 941–960. doi:10.1080/09541440802453006. ISSN 0954-1446.
  2. ↑ Roeckelein, Jon (1998-10-28). Dictionary of Theories, Laws, and Concepts in Psychology. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. p. 434. ISBN 978-0-313-00863-4. Vierordt's law is also defined in the area of time perception as the principle that short intervals are overestimated, and long ones are underestimated.
  3. 1 2 Wearden, John (2016-06-09). The Psychology of Time Perception. Springer. p. 13. ISBN 978-1-137-40883-9.
  4. ↑ Roeckelein, J. E. (2006-01-19). Elsevier's Dictionary of Psychological Theories. Elsevier. ISBN 978-0-08-046064-2.
  5. ↑ Wearden, J. H.; Lejeune, Helga (2008-04-01). "Scalar Properties in Human Timing: Conformity and Violations". Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. 61 (4): 569–587. doi:10.1080/17470210701282576. ISSN 1747-0218. PMID 18938276.
  6. ↑ Glasauer, Stefan; Shi, Zhuanghua (October 2021). "The origin of Vierordt's law: The experimental protocol matters". PsyCh Journal. 10 (5): 732–741. doi:10.1002/pchj.464. ISSN 2046-0252. PMID 34028202.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
  7. ↑ Mioni, Giovanna; Stablum, Franca; Grondin, Simon (2014-07-08). "Interval discrimination across different duration ranges with a look at spatial compatibility and context effects". Frontiers in Psychology. 5: 717. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00717. ISSN 1664-1078. PMC 4085565. PMID 25071680.
  8. ↑ Baolin, Li; Lijuan, Xiao; Huazhan, Yin; Peiduo, Liu; Xiting, Huang (2017-04-05). "Duration Aftereffect Depends on the Duration of Adaptation". Frontiers in Psychology. 8: 491. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00491. ISSN 1664-1078. PMC 5380747. PMID 28424646.
  9. ↑ Zhang, Mingming; Zhao, Di; Zhang, Zhao; Cao, Xinyu; Yin, Lu; Liu, Yi; Yuan, Ti-Fei; Luo, Wenbo (2019-10-30). "Time perception deficits and its dose-dependent effect in methamphetamine dependents with short-term abstinence". Science Advances. 5 (10) eaax6916. Bibcode:2019SciA....5.6916Z. doi:10.1126/sciadv.aax6916. PMC 6821467. PMID 31692967.
  10. ↑ Davies, Alan (2015-05-26). "Is it faster to drive, or take the train?". Crikey. Retrieved 2026-06-06.
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