Background: An experimental study was conducted to compare time perception of short durations, including intra- and interindividual variability of subjective duration judgments, in schizophrenic and in healthy males. Methods: The psychological methods of reproduction, and of verbal estimation in subjective seconds, were used. Results: It was found 1) that the means of the reproductions do not differ between the 2 groups, 2) the schizophrenics verbally estimated all durations longer and less veridical than the healthy subjects, 3) the variability of the estimates between, as well as within, subjects is much greater in schizophrenics than in the healthy group, 4) also the estimates by the schizophrenic group showed an approximately linear function of responses vs. the reference durations in log-log coordinates, in agreement with Stevens# power law. Conclusion: Schizophrenics are described in terms of distraction and of chaotic and disorganized behavior. This important aspect of schizophrenic symptomatology typically results in cognitive impairment. The impairment may be at the root of the deviant, though fairly consistent, estimations by the schizophrenic subjects. This vulnerability entails that the schizophrenics seem to be unable to translate perceived time into numbers (seconds), probably because of their general difficulty in being able to quantify. To be more specific, it appears that the better understanding of the cognitive processes and the vulnerability factors of experiencing time and of time-structuring behavior is important knowledge as to how the schizophrenics individuals orient themselves in time and space. The conclusion is that our result does not support the view of general time distortion as such in schizophrenia.