Changes In Time Perception Research Articles

Drugs and homicide: A theory

In this paper we report our experience with 24 cases in which there was a homicide or homicides committed in association with use of large amounts of psychoactive drugs. Many, if not most of these homicides, would not have occurred without drug effects, for frequently there was evidence of grossly illogical thinking in close temporal association with use of intoxicants and in many cases there was no previous history of violence, no evidence of premeditation, no plan to avoid arrest and little or no discernible motivation. Usually there were multiple losses or other severe stress in the lives of the persons committing the homicide in the months preceding the crime. The stress increase was accompanied by increased and extraordinary intake of psychoactive substances. We theorize that high doses of psychoactive drugs impaired severely the brain systems upon which the mental functions of reality testing and judgment depend. Drug induced impairment of reality testing and judgment is frequently uncritically equated with hallucinations, disorientation, changes in time perception or other drug induced mental phenomena. Impairment of reality testing and judgment are basic criteria for linking drug effects with the behavior of homicide in the cases reviewed.

Manipulating apparent duration with simultaneous effects on memory

This experiment explored the relationship between perceived time and memory. One hundred and forty-four subjects viewed a list of 30 words under one of three conditions. The conditions were designed to induce differences in the perceived duration of the words by varying the number of incidental stimuli during the period just before each word was visible. After viewing the list, all subjects estimated the duration of each word, the number of words, and the duration of the list. Following this, subjects attempted to recognize the words among 50 distractors. It was found that increases in memory accompanied increases in perceived duration. The results were consistent with the hypothesis that changes in time perception and memory are mediated by changes in attention.

Aging and the relativity of time.

ABSTRACT: The perception of passing time is related to life experience. A model for this process, similar to the relationship between stimulation and sensation in the field of physiology, is presented. It is suggested that many of the maladaptive phenomena of aging could be explained by a change in time perception with age.

Age Change in Time Perception in Native Americans, Mexican Americans, and Anglo-Americans

Native Americans, Mexican Americans, and Anglo-Americans estimated equal intervals of idle time and time spent working at meaningful tasks. Younger Anglo-Americans and all older groups perceived idle time as longer. Younger minority culture groups perceived no difference in the two times. These findings suggest a perception of idle time as wasted and thus appearing long as contrasted with the perception of time spent achieving. It is proposed that cultural differences in the strength of the tendency to view achievement as occurring in sequences of time. The temporal problems of minority cultures in majority cultures schools are related to this aspect of time.

The effects of meprobamate on time perception.

The change in time perception produced by the administration of drugs has received a fair amount of attention. Frankenhaeuser (6) has reviewed the work on the effects of hashish and mescaline intoxication on the estimation of time. She concludes that “there seems to be some agreement in that time seems longer than usual in passing but shorter when regarded in retrospect”. But this work dealt with introspective reports regarding the passage of time rather than with quantitative changes and will not be discussed further here.

Preliminary Study of Endurance and Perceptual Change in Sleep Deprivation

The study reported in this paper is the result of an opportunistic series of observations which the authors intend to follow up with careful experimentation. The opportunity to observe fairly prolonged sleep deprivation presented itself when a talkathon contest was held in Toronto in the spring of 1959. Contestants were required to talk continuously, with a 10-min. break each hour, and'were not allowed to sleep. Anyone who remained in the contest for 88 consecutive hours was awarded a cash prize. Two questions were asked. First, what are some of the predictors of endurance in a situation of this kind? Second, does sleep deprivation lead to changes in perception of time, space and body, and a feeling of unreality? This study can provide only the tentative answers to these questions since the observational situation allowed very little control.

MARIHUANA INTOXICATION

I. Marihuana is the Latin-American name for a cigarette preparation of the hemp plant. The active principle is cannabis sativa: the drug has various synonyms—hasheesh, ganja, reefers, Indian hemp, etc. It has been used for centuries in the Orient and later in Latin America. Mental states produced by the drug constitute a fairly definite clinical entity. II. A study of the relation between violent crime (murder, assault, rape, etc.) with marihuana showed no direct correlation. It is clear from this study, that in this region the drug is a "breeder of crime" only when used by psychopathic types in whom the drug allows the emergence of aggressive, sexual or anti-social tendencies. The addiction to marihuana is not on the same deep physiological or psychologic level that morphine addiction is. III. The clinical pictures observed can be divided into three groups: (1) Acute intoxications. (2) Emotional reactions to the intoxication features. (3) Toxic psychosis due to admixture of drug effects and basic psychosis (manic-depressive, schizophrenic, etc.). IV. Psychologic factors are of great importance in the emotional reaction of an intoxication, bringing various personality forces and conflicts to the surface. V. The psychologic and physiologic effects of cannabis intoxication have been well studied. They are: (1) A change in time perception, reality feeling, somatic, sensory and motor phenomena. (2) Disturbance of consciousness with difficulty in memory retention. (3) Change in subjective evaluation of perception of visual, tactile, proprioceptive, auditory experiences because of disintegration of sensation to a primitive level of perception. The result of this change in body-model (Körperschema) perception may be expressed in feelings of unreality that appear as panic-states in narcissistic or hysterical individuals. (4) A mood reaction consisting of elevation with periods of sudden boisterous laughter. (5) A primary stimulus to the impulsive life with direct expression in the motor field.