When is an hour not 60 minutes? Deadlines, temporal schemata, and individual and task group performance

We investigated variation in how deadlines are experienced based on whether they match culturally entrained milestones. Consequences for task performance were also examined. We manipulated starting times on two experimental tasks as prototypical (e.g., 4:00 p.m.) or atypical (e.g., 4:07 p.m). In one experiment, each of 20 task groups was to create a television commercial in one hour. Groups' time pacing and performance varied significantly, and groups with prototypical starting times performed better. In a second experiment, 73 individuals were to divide time equally between two tasks. Individuals with atypical starting times performed more poorly on their second tasks.