Time perception

About: Time perception is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1918 publications have been published within this topic receiving 87020 citations.

The Impact of Time Perception Processes on Decision Making under Time Stress

Abstract: The purpose of the present chapter is to introduce a model for explaining the noxious effects of time stress on decision-making optimality. Although the impact of time stress on decision making is well documented, there is no clear explanation for that phenomenon. So far, no specific theoretical model of decision making under time stress has been developed. The model presented here is based on time perception processes, a cognitive domain that is usually neglected in the decision-making literature.

Cardiac Signals Are Independently Associated with Temporal Discounting and Time Perception

Abstract: Cardiac signals reflect the function of the autonomic nervous system and have previously been associated with a range of self-regulatory behaviours such as emotion regulation and memory recall. It is unknown whether cardiac signals may also be associated with self-regulation in the temporal domain, in particular impulsivity. We assessed both decision impulsivity (temporal discounting) and time perception impulsivity (duration reproduction) in 120 participants while they underwent electrocardiography in order to test whether cardiac signals were related to these two aspects of impulsivity. We found that over the entire period of task performance, individuals with higher heart rates had a tendency toward lower discount rates, supporting previous research that has associated sympathetic responses with decreased impulsivity. We also found that low-frequency components of heart rate variability were associated with a less accurate perception of time, suggesting that time perception may be modulated by autonomic nervous system function. Overall, these findings constitute preliminary evidence that autonomic function plays an important role in both decision impulsivity and time perception.

Directed attention prolongs the perceived duration of a brief stimulus

Abstract: Stelmach, Herdman, and McNeil (1994) suggested recently that the perceived duration for attended stimuli is shorter than that for unattended ones. In contrast, the attenuation hypothesis (Thomas & Weaver, 1975) suggests the reverse relation between directed attention and perceived duration. We conducted six experiments to test the validity of the two contradictory hypotheses. In all the experiments, attention was directed to one of two possible stimulus sources. Experiments 1 and 2 employed stimulus durations from 70 to 270 msec. A stimulus appeared in either the visual or the auditory modality. Stimuli in the attended modality were rated as longer than stimuli in the unattended modality. Experiment 3 replicated this finding using a different psychophysical procedure. Experiments 4-6 showed that the finding applies not only to stimuli from different sensory modalities but also to stimuli appearing at different locations within the visual field. The results of all six experiments support the assumption that directed attention prolongs the perceived duration of a stimulus.