La mémoire à long terme des durées : fonctionnement et développement

Estimating the duration of an event often requires that we reference our own knowledge about the duration of similar events stored in long-term memory. The ability to preserve these durations in long-term memory therefore seems to serve an important function in time estimation. However, relatively few studies on this topic appear in the psychology literature. In the present article, we describe how time estimation models have treated long-term memory, and discuss relevant empirical data obtained from adults. Then, we present the results of recent experiments that examine 3- to 8-year-old children's ability to maintain durations in memory, depending on the kind of previous experience the children have had with these durations.