Sex based differences in time processing were found in newly developed tasks.

Time perception remains a complex and elusive cognitive process. While traditional assessment methods often rely on time comparison between stimuli durations or reproduction of a given interval, this study sought to address several unanswered questions when considered together. Specifically, we investigated how time is processed differently below and above one second intervals, the impact of faster and slower comparison stimuli on judgments, and the potential influence of stimuli motion in performance. To address these issues, we developed novel time comparison and reproduction computerized tasks, comparing them to an already validated motion-based time comparison procedure. In addition, we explored sex differences in time perception, which appear to be present in the literature but unclear in scope. Therefore, 42 healthy volunteer psychology students (20 men and 22 women) participated in this study, assessed with all three time tasks. Our findings revealed a male advantage in both time comparison and reproduction, characterized by greater accuracy and faster response times. We also observed differences in performance based on faster and slower stimuli, and between stimuli above and below 1 s duration. These results contrast with those of the validated motion-based task, underscoring the importance of controlling the design aspects. Our findings deepen the understanding of time perception, offering researchers new investigative tools that overcome previous design limitations.