Temporal integration as an adaptive process in visual perception, attention, and working memory

The purpose of the present review is to propose that temporal integration is ubiquitous in visual perception, because it serves an adaptive role. To this end, evidence from historically separated research fields that target different timescales is drawn together. At one extreme, this concerns the detection and discrimination of successive stimuli within intervals of less than a quarter of a second. At an intermediate level, associated with attentional episodes, intervals of up to one second are considered. Finally, at the other extreme, intervals of multiple seconds or even minutes are studied, which constitute high-level, conceptual events. Across such varying intervals, the nature of temporal integration and the resultant perceptual events are clearly different. It is nevertheless proposed that temporal integration should be understood as a continuous process that serves a common adaptive goal: To maximize the amount of useful information, at minimal costs. Emerging from this viewpoint are several research directions that might be pursued on the topic of temporal integration, and on its consequences for perception and memory.