Psychological, Computational and Robotic Models of Time Perception

Animals exploit time to survive in the world. Temporal information is required for higher-level cognitive abilities such as planning, decision making, communication and effective cooperation. Since time is an inseparable part of cognition, there is a growing interest in artificial intelligence to time, which has a possibility of advancing the field. This study aims to provide researchers with an interdisciplinary perspective on time. Firstly, we briefly discussed the necessary information from psychology and neuroscience, such as characteristics and models of time perception and related abilities. Secondly, we investigated the emergent computational and robotic models of time perception. As a result of the review, we observed that most timing models showed a sign of dedicated time processing like the emergence of clock-like mechanism from the neural network dynamics and revealed a relationship between embodiment and time perception. We also noticed that most models of timing developed for either sensory timing, the ability of assessment of an interval, or motor timing, ability to reproduce an interval. Additionally, the number of timing models capable of retrospective timing, which is the ability to track time without paying attention, is insufficient. In this light, we discussed possible research directions to promote interdisciplinary collaboration for time perception.