Temporal control and coordination: the multiple timer model.

We consider the psychological and neurological mechanisms involved in timed behaviors, motor or perceptual tasks that emphasize the temporal relationship between successive events. Two general models for representing temporal information are described. In one model, temporal information is based on the oscillatory activity of an endogenous pacemaker; in the other model, temporal information is interval-based with distinct elements devoted to representing different intervals. We incorporate the interval hypothesis into a process model, the multiple timer model, to account for the timing and coordination of repetitive movements. The model accounts for the patterns of temporal stability observed within each effector and offers a novel account of between-effector coordination. Finally, we consider how timing and temporal coordination may be instantiated in the nervous system. Copyright 2001 Elsevier Science (USA).