Changes In Time Perception Research Articles

Changes in Time Perception and Coping Strategies in Young Adults With Cancer: A Qualitative Study.

A cancer diagnosis is a traumatic event. Youths, in the most crucial stage in a person's life course, are more susceptible to the influence of cancer. The diagnosis disrupts the original life and time plans of young adults with cancer, resulting in a reconstruction of time perception and changes in coping strategies. The aim of this study was to explore the changes in time perception and coping strategies in young adults with cancer. A phenomenological research methodology was used in the qualitative study. Thirty-one young adults with cancer were recruited. Semistructured interviews were conducted with them, and the interview data were analyzed using Colaizzi's 7-step analysis method. The study revealed 3 themes related to changes in time perception: perceived alterations in the speed of time, changes in remaining available time, and shifts in time preferences. Five themes were identified regarding coping strategies for changes in time perception: self-regulation of emotions, establishing spiritual beliefs, planning time effectively, returning to family life, and closure of the inner self. Identifying changes in time perception among young adults with cancer through the speed of time, remaining available time, and time preference and guiding patients in adopting positive coping strategies can offer more effective cancer support and care for patients. Healthcare professionals should pay attention to the changes in time perception in young adults with cancer and guide them to cope positively.

Age-related changes in time perception: Effects of immersive virtual reality and spatial location of stimuli

The perception of time is subject to various environmental influences and exhibits changes across the lifespan. Studies on time perception have often been conducted using abstract stimuli and artificial scenarios, and recent claims for more naturalistic paradigms and realistic stimuli pose the question as to whether immersive virtual reality set-ups differently affect the timing abilities of older versus younger adults. Here, we tested the hypotheses that naturalistic 3D stimuli presented in immersive virtual reality (as opposed to abstract 2D stimuli presented on a computer screen) and the spatial location of those stimuli (left vs. right) affect the perceived time point of their occurrence.Our results demonstrate that a naturalistic presentation of stimuli leads to a bias towards earlier time points in younger, but not older participants. Furthermore, this bias was associated with lower scores of memory capacity. Contrary to our hypothesis that right-sided stimuli are perceived as later than left-sided stimuli, no spatial influences on temporal processing were observed. These results show that older and younger adults are differently affected by an increase in the realism and the immersiveness of experimental paradigms, and highlight the importance of task design in studies on human time perception.

Differences between sub-second and supra-second durations for the assessment of timing deficits in amnestic mild cognitive impairment

Previous studies have often reported timing deficits in older adults with different degrees of cognitive decline, however, the exact nature of impairments in time perception is still to be elucidated. In particular, it is unclear if the deficits are more pronounced for short or long intervals, consistent with notions that different cognitive processes and neuroanatomical areas are involved in the processing of durations of different ranges. The present study aims to further investigate timing abilities in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) patients and age-matched controls. Participants were asked to decide whether an acoustic event occurred within the first or the second half of a reference duration. The results revealed a bias towards larger PSE values and reduced precision in aMCI patients compared to healthy controls. Further analyses showed that the bias towards larger PSE values correlated with memory performance, especially when sub-second durations were tested. Overall, the results demonstrate that memory deficits in aMCI patients coincide with changes in time perception in the sub-second interval range.

Validating virtual reality for time perception research: Virtual reality changes expectations about the duration of physical processes, but not the sense of time.

Immersive virtual reality (VR) provides a versatile method for investigating human time perception, because it allows the manipulation and control of relevant variables (e.g., the speed of environmental changes) that cannot be modified in the real world. However, an important premise for interpreting the results of VR studies, namely that the method itself does not affect time perception, has received little attention. Here we tested this assumption by comparing timing performance in a real environment and a VR scenario. Participants performed two timing tasks, requiring the production of intervals defined either by numerical values ("eight seconds") or by a physical process ("the time it takes for a bottle to run out when turned over"). We found that the experience of immersive VR exclusively altered judgments about the duration of physical processes, whereas judgments about the duration of abstract time units were unaffected. These results demonstrate that effects of VR on timing performance are not driven by changes in time perception itself, but rather by altered expectations regarding the duration of physical processes. The present study validates the use of VR in time perception research and strengthens the interpretation of changed timing behaviour induced by manipulations within VR.

Quantifying time perception during virtual reality gameplay using a multimodal biosensor-instrumented headset: a feasibility study.

We have all experienced the sense of time slowing down when we are bored or speeding up when we are focused, engaged, or excited about a task. In virtual reality (VR), perception of time can be a key aspect related to flow, immersion, engagement, and ultimately, to overall quality of experience. While several studies have explored changes in time perception using questionnaires, limited studies have attempted to characterize them objectively. In this paper, we propose the use of a multimodal biosensor-embedded VR headset capable of measuring electroencephalography (EEG), electrooculography (EOG), electrocardiography (ECG), and head movement data while the user is immersed in a virtual environment. Eight gamers were recruited to play a commercial action game comprised of puzzle-solving tasks and first-person shooting and combat. After gameplay, ratings were given across multiple dimensions, including (1) the perception of time flowing differently than usual and (2) the gamers losing sense of time. Several features were extracted from the biosignals, ranked based on a two-step feature selection procedure, and then mapped to a predicted time perception rating using a Gaussian process regressor. Top features were found to come from the four signal modalities and the two regressors, one for each time perception scale, were shown to achieve results significantly better than chance. An in-depth analysis of the top features is presented with the hope that the insights can be used to inform the design of more engaging and immersive VR experiences.

Change in Time Perception Following the Place of Pre-Existence Technique.

Time perception is closely related to spatial and bodily perception, yet little is known about how this interrelationship is impacted by meditation and biological sex. To examine this, we studied the effects of a stepwise application of three meditation techniques, from focused attention, to open monitoring to non-dual meditation, encompassed in the Place of Pre-Existence technique (PPEt) on the subjective perception of time, space and body using a pre-post research design. A total of 280 participants (mean age = 47.09 years; SD = 10.13; 127:153 males to females) completed the Subjective Time, Self, Space inventory before and after PPEt. Following PPEt, participants perceived time passing as slowing down, while time intensity, relaxation, 'awareness of space' and 'awareness of body' increased, suggesting heightened mindfulness to these constructs following the training. Awareness of space revealed to be modulated by biological sex and meditation expertise, with males showing a decrease of spatial awareness as a function of meditation expertise while females showed an opposite pattern. The speed and intensity of the experience of time both correlated with body and space awareness. In line with previous studies demonstrating a connection between relaxation and perception of time, a significant correlation was found between relaxation and the subjective experience of the intensity of time. The current results are discussed in the context of the embodied experience of time, and the Sphere Model of Consciousness.

Towards a psychological framework on time perception in patients with chronic tinnitus.

Although disabling tinnitus is a chronic auditory phantom sensation, current knowledge on time perception (i.e., subjective time) in sufferers is limited and unsystematic. This theoretical analysis provides a first approach to this topic, highlighting the heterogeneity of time perception in humans as shown in various research areas. This heterogeneity is inherently related to goal attainment. Our immediate perception of time is restricted to present moment and recent past, whereas our sense of time is mostly future-oriented and represented as our past in a mental time line. The heterogeneity of time translates into a tension between anticipated changes one wants to see happen and full commitment that is required to goal attainment. Tinnitus sufferers are intensely aware of this tension in their self-perception. Their most compelling desire is that they no longer perceive tinnitus, but they get closer to this goal only by avoiding to put all their thoughts into it. Our analysis provides new perspectives on acceptance of tinnitus in relation to this time paradox. Building on the Tolerance model and the role of self-awareness in time perception, we contend that the main way for patients to gain long-term self-confidence is to engage in the present moment. Attention to this attitude is obscured in chronic sufferers by worries and ruminations associated with the ongoing presence of tinnitus. We provide arguments that time perception is a social perception, emphasizing the role of rewarding interactions in helping sufferers to overcome the feeling of being prevented from living in the moment. In the course of improvement towards acceptance, different changes in time perception are hypothesized that promote individuals' disengagement from unattainable goal (i.e., tinnitus suppression). A framework for future research is proposed, which distinguishes individuals' behaviors and associated emotions in relation to the time paradox.

Choices about whether to wait: Changes in delay discounting without changes in time perception

Delay discounting occurs when the present, subjective value of a reward decreases as a function of delay. Delay discounting is steeper when individuals must wait during the delay, and delay discounting rates for decisions about waiting are not strongly correlated with those for decisions about postponing without waiting. We examined whether changes in delay discounting in choices about waiting are linked to changes in subjective time perception. In Experiment 1, participants completed an experiential waiting task twice. We established that delay discounting was steeper later in the session. In Experiment 2 participants again completed the delay discounting task twice, and we also tracked time perception across the session using the temporal bisection task. Once again, participants demonstrated steeper discounting during the second discounting task, but time perception did not differ significantly. Additionally, discounting rates were not correlated with subjective time perception. Changes in delay discounting across the session might be understood in terms of context or reference effects.

How Does Emotion Influence Time Perception? A Review of Evidence Linking Emotional Motivation and Time Processing.

Emotions have a strong influence on how we experience time passing. The body of research investigating the role of emotion on time perception has steadily increased in the past twenty years. Several affective mechanisms have been proposed to influence the passing of time. The current review focuses on how three dimensions of affect—valence, arousal, and motivation—are related to time perception. The valence-based model of time perception predicts that all positive affects hasten the perception of time and all negative affects slow the perception of time. Arousal is thought to intensify the effects of the influence of valence on time perception. In much of this past work, motivational direction has been confounded with valence, whereas motivational intensity has been confounded with arousal. Research investigating the role of motivation in time perception has found that approach-motivated positive and negative affects hasten the perception of time, but withdrawal-motivated affects slow the perception of time. Perceiving time passing quickly while experiencing approach-motivated states may provide significant advantages related to goal pursuit. In contrast, perceiving time passing slowly while experiencing withdrawal-motivated states may increase avoidance actions. Below, we review evidence supporting that approach motivation hastens the passing of time, whereas withdrawal motivation slows the passing of time. These results suggest that motivational direction, rather than affective valence and arousal, drive emotional changes in time perception.

Educating Through Attentional States of Consciousness, an Effective Way to Develop Creative Potential?

Researchers have recently turned their focus to a specific area: the links between altered states of consciousness and creativity. A spectrum of attentional states of consciousness exists, from hypnagogia and mind wandering to mindfulness and flow. These attentional states of consciousness are present during a variety of activities (e.g., sports, music, painting, writing, video games, theater, and meditation) as well as in situations characterized by boredom. They are also present in many professional fields and practices (e.g., education and teaching). Moreover, researchers and educators focus sometimes on only one state of consciousness (such as mind wandering) or only on attention, and do not question relationships with others (such as mindfulness or flow) or the links with intention, the different levels of consciousness involved and the changes in perception of time, self and space. Additionally, as we know that a state of consciousness rarely occurs alone or that it can have two forms (such as spontaneous and deliberate mind wandering), we propose a global approach allowing to grasp the stakes and perspectives of what we call attentional states of consciousness. Thus, to our knowledge, this is the first theoretical review highlighting the historical, empirical, theorical and conceptual relationships between creativity, attention, mind wandering, mindfulness and flow by offering concrete and empirical avenues and bases for reflection about educating for creativity and developing creative potential.

Чувство времени у детей-подростков после травмы головного мозга

Relevance. This study is important for understanding the children’s recovery process after brain damage and it also sets the stage for further research on the time perception in states of reduced or depressed consciousness. Goal. This article is devoted to the study of changes in time perception (сhronoception) among adolescent children after they have got moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury. Method. The data obtained on children who have experienced post-traumatic state of mental confusion while recovering from brain injuries (n = 19) were compared with two control groups: adolescents with no brain damage (n = 25) and young people (n = 14). Results. Based on the data obtained it can be inferred that after having had brain injuries, children experience significant difficulties both in assessing the current time and in subjective timing of the minute interval. When restoring the psychological status after brain injuries, the formation of spatio-temporal connections, the ability to interiorise external eventfulness and the emergence of a correspondence between perceptual and conceptual times, are required due to the actualization of internal senses. It is suggested that the restoration of chronoception depends not only on the level of recovery of the child’s consciousness after a brain injury.

Longshot or Favorite: The Ending Effect in Investment Decisions.

The ending effect describes the phenomenon that at the end of a series of repeated risky decision-making tasks, participants become more likely to engage in risk-taking behavior. Past research has suggested that the ending effect might be caused by a motivational shift induced by changes in time perception. Previous studies mainly tested this phenomenon in a binary decision-making setting (e.g., a decision-making task usually includes two alternatives). However, none of these prior studies included safe options and risky options that differed in risk levels. To address this knowledge gap, the present study replicated the ending effect in a repeated decision-making task that included both a safe option and risky options that differed in risk levels (N = 104). We found that at the end of the decision-making task, participants became more likely to engage in risk-taking and to favor the option with the highest risk. Further, we found that the investment likelihood and investment amount of high-risk options both increased significantly at the ending. In addition, a shift in favoring the safe option emerged in the noninformed condition at the end. We also found that the emotional motivation in the last round could predict the increased preference for high-risk at the ending. This study extended previous findings on the ending effect by adopting a more complex decision-making scenario and, more broadly, helped further our understanding of the psychological consequences of perceived endings.

Disrupting times in the wake of the pandemic: Dispositional time attitudes, time perception and temporal focus.

IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has majorly disrupted many aspects of people’s lives, provoking psychosocial distress among students. People’s positive and negative attitudes towards the past, present and future were a dispositional pre–COVID-19 reality. Faced with a pandemic, people have reported disruptions in the speed of passing time. People can shift their attention more towards the past, present or future when major changes in society occur. These aspects of psychological time would be key to understanding the quality of psychosocial adjustment to the pandemic. We hypothesized that dispositional time attitudes impact psychosocial distress because they would trigger situational changes in our time perception and temporal focus.MethodsOne hundred and forty-four university students in Uruguay responded to self-report questionnaires online while in-person classes were cancelled. Students reported on shifts in temporal focus, changes in time awareness and dispositional time attitudes. Reactive psychological, social and learning environment distress were reported.ResultsStudents reported substantial changes in time perception and temporal focus. A correlation matrix showed significant relationships between time attitudes, focus and awareness. For example, psychological distress was correlated with negative time attitudes, slower passage of time, boredom, blurred sense of time and shifting focus to the past. Mediation models were derived. The indirect effect of time attitudes on psychological distress was significant through past focus.DiscussionDispositional time attitudes would impact students’ capacity to cope with the pandemic. Situational shifts in temporal focus and perception were prevalent and can be viewed as temporal coping mechanisms in the wake of powerful societal change. Our mediation models showed that those with negative time attitudes experienced more psychological distress because they shifted their attention to the past. Future directions for research and practical implications are discussed.

Age-related changes in time perception: The impact of naturalistic environments and retrospective judgements on timing performance.

Reduced timing abilities have been reported in older adults and are associated with pathological cognitive decline. However, time perception experiments often lack ecological validity. Especially the reduced complexity of experimental stimuli and the participants’ awareness of the time-related nature of the task can influence lab-assessed timing performance and thereby conceal age-related differences. An approximation of more naturalistic paradigms can provide important information about age-related changes in timing abilities. To determine the impact of higher ecological validity on timing experiments, we implemented a paradigm that allowed us to test (1) the effect of embedding the to-be-timed stimuli within a naturalistic visual scene and (2) the effect of retrospective time judgements, which are more common in real life than prospective judgements. The results show that compared with out-of-context stimuli, younger adults benefit from a naturalistic embedding of stimuli (reflected in higher precision and less errors), whereas the performance of older adults is reduced when confronted with naturalistic stimuli. Differences between retrospective and prospective time judgements were not modulated by age. We conclude that, potentially driven by difficulties in suppressing temporally irrelevant environmental information, the contextual embedding of naturalistic stimuli can affect the degree to which age influences the performance in time perception tasks.

Mindfulness for musicians: A mixed methods study investigating the effects of 8-week mindfulness courses on music students at a leading conservatoire

Mindfulness courses are beneficial in clinical domains for anxiety and depression and are becoming more prevalent as interventions in education. However, little is known about what effects mindfulness might have on musicians. In an exploratory study, 25 music students, who completed one of four 8-week MBSR/MBCT mindfulness courses adapted for musicians at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, completed the validated Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire and a bespoke Mindfulness for Musicians questionnaire pre- and post-intervention. Twenty-one music students also took part in a post-intervention one-to-one semi-structured interview. Post-intervention mindfulness scores for both questionnaires increased significantly in comparison to pre-intervention scores. In interviews, participants were reportedly more aware and focused in instrumental lessons, were less self-critical, and developed increased body awareness, which improved their learning of instrumental technique. Participants also described enhanced teacher/pupil communication. In instrumental practice sessions, participants reported more efficient, effective and creative practice, and said that mindfulness exercises helped them deal with problems experienced while practising. Participants also described enhanced listening skills and improved socio-collaboration in ensemble rehearsals. They reported that mindfulness strategies had positive effects on music performance anxiety and described changes in time perception, enhanced expressivity, and positive post-performance effects. Future researchers could adopt a more robust methodology, such as a randomised controlled trial, and incorporate further design elements, such as longitudinal follow-up. Providing more systematic evidence of the beneficial role of mindfulness for conservatoire music students as learners and performers may encourage greater provision of such opportunities in musical settings in the future.

Time perception and timed decision task performance during passive heat stress

ABSTRACT This study investigates the hypotheses that during passive heat stress, the change in perception of time and change in accuracy of a timed decision task relate to changes in thermophysiological variables gastrointestinal temperature and heart rate (HR), as well as subjective measures of cognitive load and thermal perception. Young adult males (N = 29) participated in two 60-min head-out water immersion conditions (36.5°C-neutral and 38.0°C-warm). Cognitive task measurements included accuracy (judgment task), response time (judgment ask), and time estimation (interval timing task). Physiological measurements included gastrointestinal temperature and heart rate. Subjective measurements included cognitive task load (NASA-TLX), rate of perceived exertion, thermal sensation, and thermal comfort. Gastrointestinal temperature and HR were significantly higher in warm versus neutral condition (gastrointestinal temperature: 38.4 ± 0.2°C vs. 37.2 ± 0.2°C, p < 0.01; HR: 105 ± 8 BPM vs. 83 ± 9 BPM, p < 0.01). The change in accuracy was significantly associated with the change in gastrointestinal temperature, and attenuated by change in thermal sensation and change in HR (r2=0.40, p< 0.01). Change in response time was significantly associated with the change in gastrointestinal temperature (r2=0.26, p< 0.002), and change in time estimation was best explained by a change in thermal discomfort (r2=0.18, p< 0.01). Changes in cognitive performance during passive thermal stress are significantly associated with changes in thermophysiological variables and thermal perception. Although explained variance is low (<50%), decreased accuracy is attributed to increased gastrointestinal temperature, yet is attenuated by increased arousal (expressed as increased HR and warmth thermal sensation).

It's about time: How integral affect increases impatience.

Affect is integral to most decisions involving temptation. For instance, people may have difficulty saving for a house because they keep spending money on enjoyable, but more immediate items and events (e.g., fancy dinners). Little is known about how affect influences these types of intertemporal decisions. On the one hand, studies investigating the influence of incidental affect (i.e., affect that is unrelated to a decision, such as a person's mood) suggest that positive affect leads to increased impatience. On the other hand, studies on the role of integral affect (i.e., affect that is caused by the decision itself) in risky choice suggest a stronger focus on outcomes, which would result in increased patience. This investigation uses a delay discounting task to test whether integral affect is related to impatient behavior. In addition, it examines how affect impacts time perception. In a within-subjects design, choices between options with relatively affect-rich and relatively affect-poor outcomes were compared. Participants also completed a future time judgment task. Across 2 studies (N = 23 and N = 56), findings consistently showed that positive affect leads to changes in time perception. Participants judged future durations to be longer when considering options associated with high positive affect than when considering options with lower positive affect. In addition, in the second study we found evidence that affect impacts time attribute weighting. Importantly, our results suggest that changes in future time judgment may influence the propensity to make impatient choices without changing discounting per se. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Core body temperature speeds up temporal processing and choice behavior under deadlines

Evidence suggests that human timing ability is compromised by heat. In particular, some studies suggest that increasing body temperature speeds up an internal clock, resulting in faster time perception. However, the consequences of this speed-up for other cognitive processes remain unknown. In the current study, we rigorously tested the speed-up hypothesis by inducing passive hyperthermia through immersion of participants in warm water. In addition, we tested how a change in time perception affects performance in decision making under deadline stress. We found that participants underestimate a prelearned temporal interval when body temperature increases, and that their performance in a two-alternative forced-choice task displays signatures of increased time pressure. These results show not only that timing plays an important role in decision-making, but also that this relationship is mediated by temperature. The consequences for decision-making in job environments that are demanding due to changes in body temperature may be considerable.

P63-F Time perception and reactivity to photo- and phono-stimulation in patients with chronic vascular ischemia

The process of normal aging is usually accompanied by the expected changes in time perception that could be modified in patients with chronic vascular ischemia (CVI). The EEG of the investigated group of patients sometimes could be hardly differentiated with the normal EEG and requires provoking techniques. We presented the 2, 4, 8 and 16 Hz photo- and phono-stimulation during EEG recording, accompanied by the cognitive testing of time perception, to 3 groups of healthy subjects: young, middle-aged and old, and to patients with chronic vascular ischemia. We found that in healthy elderly subjects compared to younger individuals had higher reactivity to phono-stimulation, which correlated with the underestimating of 10-s intervals. The patients with the CVI had higher reactivity to 2 and 4 Hz photo-stimulation compared to other groups. Meanwhile, the reactivity to 8 and 16 Hz photo-stimulation was higher only in patients with CVI who overestimated 10-s intervals.

Motivated to Gain: Awareness of an Impending Ending and the Ending Effect.

The ending effect describes the phenomenon that individuals are more risk-taking during the final round of a series of risky decision tasks. Previous research suggests that the ending effect might be caused by a motivational shift induced by changes in time perception. However, none of the existing research directly tested the motivational state immediately before the last round of a series of risky decision tasks. To fill in this gap of knowledge, the present study tested whether this motivational shift indeed occurs immediately before the last round. All participants worked on 11 rounds of risky decision tasks, half of them knew that the decision tasks included 11 rounds, whereas the other half did not know. Before the last round of the risky decision tasks, all participants completed a visual reaction time task. It was found that, compared with participants who were not aware of the impending ending, those who knew they were approaching the last round responded to peripherally located character strings appearing immediately after gain-related words slower than those appearing after loss-related words, suggesting that perceived endings lead participants to be more motivated toward gaining rewards. This work provides critical evidence which supports the motivational account of the ending effect proposed in previous research. Such a finding would represent a next step in unpacking the psychological consequences of perceived endings in everyday life.