Explicit and implicit timing in healthy and pathological aging: Disentangling the role of age and cognitive functioning in temporal processing

This study aimed to test two common explanations for the general finding of age-related changes in temporal processing. The first one is that older adults have a real difficulty in processing temporal information as compared to younger adults. The second one is that older adults perform poorly on timing tasks because of their reduced cognitive functioning. These explanations have been mostly contrasted in explicit timing tasks, where participants are overtly informed about the temporal nature of the task. Fewer studies have instead focused on age-related differences in implicit timing tasks, where no explicit instructions to process time are provided. Moreover, the comparison of both explicit and implicit timing in older adults has been restricted to healthy aging only. Here, a large sample (N= 85) of healthy and pathological older participants completed explicit (time bisection) and implicit (foreperiod) timing tasks. Participants’ age and general cognitive functioning, measured with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), were used as continuous variables to explain performance on explicit and implicit timing tasks. Results showed a clear dissociation between the effects of healthy cognitive aging and pathological cognitive decline on processing of explicit and implicit timing. Whereas age and cognitive decline similarly impaired the non-temporal cognitive processes (e.g., memory for and/or attention to durations) involved in explicit temporal judgements, processing of implicit timing survived normal age-related changes. These findings carry important theoretical and practical implications by providing the first experimental evidence that processing of implicit, but not explicit, timing is differentially affected in healthy and pathological aging.

On Improving Model Checking of Time Petri Nets and Its Application to the Formal Verification

Time Petri nets (TPN) are successfully used in the specification and analysis of distributed systems that involve explicit timing constraints. Especially, model checking TPN is a hopeful method for the formal verification of such complex systems. For this, it is promising to lean to the construction of an optimized version of the state space. The well-known methods of state space abstraction are SCG (state class graph) and ZBG (graph based on zones). For ZBG, a symbolic state represents the real evaluations of the clocks of the TPN; it is thus possible to directly check quantitative time properties. However, this method suffers from the state space explosion. To attenuate this problem, the authors propose in this paper to combine the ZBG approach with the partial order reduction technique based on stubborn set, leading thus to the proposal of a new state space abstraction called reduced zone-based graph (RZBG). The authors show via case studies the efficiency of the RZBG which is implemented and integrated within the 〖TPN-TCTL〗_h^∆ model checking in the model checker Romeo.

Explicit and Implicit Timing of Short Time Intervals: Using the Same Method

Up until now, there has been no study conducted in the field of time perception using very short intervals for a direct comparison between implicit and explicit timing tasks in order to uncover plausibly different underlying mechanisms. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare human time estimation during implicit and explicit timing tasks with short intervals and the same method. A total of 81 adults were divided into three groups and completed two tasks with one of three different intervals: 500, 1,000, and 2,000 ms. The results revealed an overestimation for all three intervals of the implicit timing task, while participants overestimated 500 ms but underestimated 1,000 and 2,000 ms intervals of the explicit timing task. Moreover, explicit time estimation was more precise than implicit time estimation. We observed the opposite pattern as compared to a few previous studies with long intervals: Short intervals were perceived longer in the implicit timing task as compared to the explicit timing task. We concluded that nontemporal contents represent passing time during the implicit timing task but unlike temporal dimension during the explicit timing task. Therefore, even the same method of measurement led to a different performance in implicit and explicit timing tasks.

Effects of Explicit Timing on the Reading Fluency of Third Graders with Learning Challenges

In this study, we examined the impact of a simple explicit-timing intervention on low-achieving third-grade students’ ability to read more rapidly and accurately. We implemented an ABAB design with four struggling readers to establish experimental control and to evaluate the effects of the treatment in terms of the target variable. The results indicated that explicit timing was very helpful in increasing the participants’ reading rates. That is, each of the four students demonstrated better mean results in the B phases than in the A phases. The article closes with a discussion of the practical implications and applications of the findings, including limitations to be addressed in future studies.

The Effects of a Motivational Intervention on Improving the Writing Productivity of Students with Learning Disabilities

The purpose of this study was to implement and evaluate a motivational intervention that consisted of explicit timing, immediate feedback through self-scoring, and display of high scores with the goal of encouraging four students with learning disabilities to write longer stories. All participants were initially very unwilling to engage in text production. An ABA reversal design was used to assess the effectiveness of the approach. Immediately after the treatment, the subjects started to write more extensive stories. However, this effect ended abruptly once the intervention was terminated. The study’s results show that, even for very reluctant students with learning disabilities, writing motivation can be significantly enhanced with relatively little effort. All the participants reported enjoying the treatment. The paper ends with a discussion of the experiment’s limitations and the practical implications of the findings.

Utilizing the PPET Mnemonic to Guide Classroom-Level PBIS for Students With or at Risk for EBD Across Classroom Settings

In this article, the authors discuss how the emphasis on classroom-level Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports strategies can establish a foundation for an efficient classroom management program and be utilized as a resource. The strategies described are physical classroom, procedures and rules, explicit timing, and transition (PETT mnemonic). Each strategy can be particularly useful in assisting novice and veteran teachers provide instruction to students with emotional and behavioral disorders within inclusive or self-contained classrooms.