The Time Paradigm is used to measure time perception by asking the participant to estimate when one minute has passed.  The measurement of time perception has been useful for studying the behavior of impulsive individuals where timing of cognitive and behavioral events are thought to be inherently disrupted.

The Time Paradigm was developed for the assessment of time perception.  This program allows for numerous changes in parameter settings for the systematic exploration of time perception, as well as the effect of performance feedback and reinforcement/punishment on time perception.  The measurement of time perception has been useful for studying the behavior of impulsive individuals where timing of cognitive and behavioral events are thought to be inherently disrupted.  For the impulsive person, time seems to pass more slowly causing them to guess, for example, that five minutes have elapsed when only four minutes have actually passed.  The accuracy of time perception has been negatively related to both laboratory behavioral (e.g., Immediate and Delayed Memory Tasks) and self-report (Barratt Impulsivity Scale) measures of impulsivity.  One exception is that this relationship is not maintained for shorter time intervals (i.e., 1-10 seconds).

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Impulsive and premeditated subtypes of aggression in Conduct Disorder: Differences in time estimation.
Dougherty, D. M., Dew, R. E., Mathias, C. W., Marsh, D. M., Addicott, M. A., and Barratt, E. S. (2007). 
Aggressive Behavior, 33, 574-582. 

Laboratory measures of impulsivity.
Dougherty, D. M., Mathias, C. W., Marsh, D. M., and Jagar, A. A. (2005).   
Behavior Research Methods, 37, 82-90. 

Validation of the Immediate and Delayed Memory Tasks in hospitalized adolescents with Disruptive Behavior Disorders.
Dougherty, D. M., Bjork, J. M., Harper, R. A., Mathias, C. W., Moeller, F. G., and Marsh, D. M.  (2003).
The Psychological Record, 53, 509-532.