Time-order error and scalar variance in a computational model of human timing: simulations and predictions

摘要

Abstract Background This work introduces a computational model of human temporal discrimination mechanism – the Clock-Counter Timing Network. It is an artificial neural network implementation of a timing mechanism based on the informational architecture of the popular Scalar Timing Model. Methods The model has been simulated in a virtual environment enabling computational experiments which imitate a temporal discrimination task – the two-alternative forced choice task. The influence of key parameters of the model (including the internal pacemaker speed and the variability of memory translation) on the network accuracy and the time-order error phenomenon has been evaluated. Results The results of simulations reveal how activities of different modules contribute to the overall performance of the model. While the number of significant effects is quite large, the article focuses on the relevant observations concerning the influence of the pacemaker speed and the scalar source of variance on the measured indicators of network performance. Conclusions The results of performed experiments demonstrate consequences of the fundamental assumptions of the clock-counter model for the results in a temporal discrimination task. The results can be compared and verified in empirical experiments with human participants, especially when the modes of activity of the internal timing mechanism are changed because of some external conditions, or are impaired due to some kind of a neural degradation process.