Moreover, sequential biases in time perception manifested only when the preceding task involved active duration reproduction, but diminished when participants passively viewed a prior duration without reproduction (citations). These findings suggest that working memory and response-related post-perceptual processes play a crucial role in explaining the occurrence of sequential dependence effects in the adjustment task. Instead,
Additionally, we observed significant decisional carry-over effects in both tasks, consistent with previous studies on duration judgments \cite{Brown2005,Wehrman2018,Wehrman2020,Wiener2014}. This tendency for participants to repeat their prior choice, especially under response uncertainty, aligns with the notion of motoric repetition, where participants tend to repeat their previous motor response when uncertain about the test stimulus \cite{Akaishi2014}.
Our findings indicate that sequential dependence in time perception can be influenced by the measurement methods. It is conceivable that the specific task can influence sequential dependence, thus, it is crucial to clarify the tasks’ contributions when interpreting and comparing results to achieve a clearer understanding of observed sequential effects. Unlike visual features, time perception is susceptible to contextual distortions arising from mental states, emotions, or selective attention \cite{Shi2013,Wittmann2009}. Whether these observations in time perception can be generalized to other perceptual domains requires further investigation.
In conclusion, our research revealed assimilation effects in time perception and highlighted a distinctive role of task relevance in shaping sequential effects in time discrimination and reproduction tasks. Specifically, the assimilation effect in the time discrimination task was unaffected by task relevance, while in the time reproduction task, it was notably stronger following the same duration reproduction trials. These results indicate that the sequential bias in time perception appears to be modulated by working memory processes that link sensory representation and decisional templates, resulting in a more pronounced sequential bias when the prior tasks involve relevant time reproduction tasks. Our findings thus imply that a reassessment of the evidence for sequential dependence in the literature may be advisable, taking into account its potential association with the specific nature of the task.