Abstract
Two experiments were designed and conducted to study duration estimates made under conditions different in respect to the assumed number of informational-processing substeps. In Experiment I, 20 different two-digit numbers were presented successively at fixed intervals during a period of 20s. Subjects were required to estimate the duration by the method of reproduction after one of the three intervening tasks; (a) doing nothing (b) reading numbers aloud (c) reading numbers aloud and classifying them into even or odd numbers. In Experiment II, 14 different three-digit numbers were presented during a period of 40s. The tasks were to (a) add 100 to the numbers (b) add 110 to the numbers (c) add 111 to the numbers. Results indicated that the duration estimates decreased as a function of the number of the processing substeps.
