The Dawn of the Experimental Study of Time Perception: Höring (1864) and Mach (1865)

What is it about?

The article discusses what are probably the two earliest publications in the experimental study of time perception, works by Horing (1864) and Mach (1865). Both were concerned, in rather different ways, with the issue of conformity of time to Weber's Law, the proposition that timing sensitivity is constant as the interval timed varies. Horing's work used metronomes to provide the stimulus material, Mach's a variety of techniques, some involving apparatus he invented himself. Both were agreed that Weber's Law for time does not hold, with sensitivity decreasing as time intervals lengthen. Mach's article also contained material about rhythm perception, in particular the fact that people can perceive the same rhythm in pieces of music even when the notes are different, or even when there are no notes at all, as when the rhythm is tapped out. Mach regarded this as strong evidence for a real "time sense". He also discussed the possibility that different animal species possess different sensitivity to time. The article also briefly reviews some more modern work on possible conformity of timing to Weber's Law.

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