1/f Noise in Human Cognition
Gilden DL, Thornton T, Mallon MW
Science , 267(5205): 1837-1839 (1995)
Abstract
When a person attempts to produce from memory a given spatial or
temporal interval, there is inevitably some error associated
with the estimate. The time course of this error was measured
in a series of experiments where subjects repeatedly attempted
to replicate given target intervals. Sequences of the errors
in both spatial and temporal replications were found to
fluctuate as 1/f noises. 1/f noise is encountered in a wide
variety of physical systems and is theorized to be a
characteristic signature of complexity.
