PEBL Hub — IRB Fact Sheet — 2026-08-23
Time Wall Task
Category:Perception
Duration:~3 minutes
Parameters:11 configurable parameters available
Version:0.1
Input:Keyboard
Description
A time estimation task from the UTC test battery (Jerison et al., 1957). A square target descends at constant speed, becomes occluded behind a wall, and participants estimate when it would reach a notch at the bottom. Tests temporal perception and mental extrapolation.
Notes
- Part of the Unified Tri-Services Cognitive Performance Assessment Battery
Key Parameters
| numTrials | Number of trials (default: 20) |
| feedback | Whether to give feedback (0=no, 1=yes) (default: 1) |
| mintime | Minimum transit time in milliseconds (default: 2000) |
| maxtime | Maximum transit time in milliseconds (default: 10000) |
| generateRandom | Generate random values (0=equally spaced, 1=random) (default: 0) |
| spaceheight | Height of task space in pixels (default: 600) |
| spacewidth | Width of task space in pixels (default: 800) |
| randomseed | Random seed (use 'timer' for randomization) (default: timer) |
| bgcol | Background color (default: lightblue) |
| wallcol | Wall color (default: darkred) |
| targcol | Target color (default: darkgreen) |
Example Data Output (3 sample rows)
| subnum | trial | targtime | resptime | acc | shortlong |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1116 | 1 | 6631.58 | 6412 | 0.0331111 | -1 |
| 1116 | 2 | 5368.42 | 5365 | 0.000637255 | -1 |
| 1116 | 3 | 3263.16 | 3223 | 0.0123065 | -1 |
References
Jerison, H. H., Crannell, C. W., & Pownall, O. (1957). Acoustic noise and repeated time judgements in a visual movement projection task (WADC-IR-57-54). Wright Air Development Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
Jerison, H. J., & Arginteanu, J. (1958). Time judgements, acoustic noise, and judgement drift (WADC-TR-57-454). Wright Air Development Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.