time perception - Encyclopedia Britannica

time perception, experience or awareness of the passage of time. The human experience of change is complex. One primary element clearly is that of a ... timeperception TableofContents timeperception IntroductionSequentialactivitiesAdaptationtosuccessiveeventsAdaptationtoperiodicchangePerceptionofsequenceanddurationThepsychologicalpresentPerceptionofsequencePerceiveddurationEstimatingdurationTypeofactivityLevelofmotivationPersonalitytraitsPhysiologicaleffects:drugsSensorydeprivationandhypnosis FastFacts RelatedContent More MoreArticlesOnThisTopic AdditionalReading Contributors ArticleHistory Home Health&Medicine Psychology&MentalHealth timeperception Actions Cite verifiedCite Whileeveryefforthasbeenmadetofollowcitationstylerules,theremaybesomediscrepancies. Pleaserefertotheappropriatestylemanualorothersourcesifyouhaveanyquestions. 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ExternalWebsites StanfordEncyclopediaofPhilosophy-TheExperienceandPerceptionofTime IslamiCity-ThePerceptionofTime By PaulFraisse SeeAll • EditHistory TableofContents RelatedTopics: time taueffect duration anticipation kappaeffect ...(Showmore) Seeallrelatedcontent→ timeperception,experienceorawarenessofthepassageoftime.Thehumanexperienceofchangeiscomplex.Oneprimaryelementclearlyisthatofasuccessionofevents,butdistinguishableeventsareseparatedbymoreorlesslengthyintervalsthatarecalleddurations.Thus,sequenceanddurationarefundamentalaspectsofwhatisperceivedinchange.Manifestly,durationisrelativetotheeventspeopleisolateinthesequencesthroughwhichtheylive:thedurationofakiss,ofameal,ofatrip.Agivenintervalalwayscanbesubdividedintoasequentialchaindelimitingbrieferdurations,aswiththeregularunitsthatprovideempiricalmeasuresoftime:thesecond,theday,theyear.Indeed,humanexperienceisnotsimplythatofonesingleseriesofevents,butofapluralityofoverlappingchanges.Thedurationofaradioprogram,forexample,cancombinewiththatofabreakfast,bothbeinginsertedwithinthelongerperiodofanoceanvoyage.Humansseemtobeunabletolivewithoutsomeconceptoftime.Ancientphilosophiessoughttorelatetheconceptoftimetosomeobjectiverealitytowhichitwouldcorrespond.RenéDescartes(1596–1650)inauguratedacriticaleraofphilosophybystressingtheancientproblemoftheoriginofideas,includingtheideaoftime.ImmanuelKant(1724–1804),providingaradicalanswertotheepistemologicalproblemoftime,wrotethatwedonotappreciatetimeobjectivelyasaphysicalthing;thatitissimplyapureformofsensibleintuition.Otherphilosophersofthe18thand19thcenturiessoughttoexplainthenotionoftimeasarisingfromassociationandmemoryofsuccessiveperceptions.Amovetoempiricalpsychologyemergedwiththegrowthofresearchontheintrospectivedataofexperience.Fromaboutmid-19thcentury,undertheinfluenceofthepsychophysicalnotionsofGustavTheodorFechner,psychologistsconductedexperimentstostudytherelationshipbetweentimeasperceivedandtimeasmeasuredinphysics.Theirworkwithadultsgraduallyspreadtothestudyofchildrenandofanimals.Thepsychologiststhenbroadenedtheirinvestigationsoftimetocoverallformsofadaptationtosequenceandduration. Sequentialactivities Adaptationtosuccessiveevents Onemayrespondtostimulationinanimmediateway(asinunconditionedreflexaction)withouttakingtheelementoftimeintoaccount.Stimulation,however,canalsosignalaneventtofollow;thenithasmeaningonlyaspartofthesequenceofwhichitisthefirstterm:bellannouncingdinner,aroadsign,oranapproachingdanger.Peoplereacttosuchstimuliwithanticipatorybehaviourthatisadaptedtoastimulusoractionthathasnotyetoccurred.Theprinciplesthatgovernsuchtime-bindingadaptationarenoneotherthanthoseofconditioning.Oneeventbecomesconditionedasthesignalforanotherstimulusthatistobesoughtoravoided. GetaBritannicaPremiumsubscriptionandgainaccesstoexclusivecontent. SubscribeNow Thebottle-fedinfantwhoinitiallyreactstothenippleonhislipswithasimplesuckingreflexisgraduallyconditionedtostopcryingwhenheseesthebottle(thesignalforfeeding).Laterhemaylearntoreacttoevenmoresecondarysignalsthatannouncethearrivalofthebottle;e.g.,beingliftedfromthecriborhearingthesoundsofhismotherwarmingthemilkinthekitchen.Hisbehaviourhascometoincorporatethetemporaldimensionoftheevents. Accordingtotheprinciplesofinstrumentalconditioning,onestimulusbecomesthesignalforanensuingeventonlyifthesecondstimuluselicitsanadaptivereaction(consummatoryoraversive)andonlyiftheorderofthesequenceisrepeated.Conditioningtendstobeestablishedmostrapidlywhentheintervalbetweenthesignal(conditionedstimulus)andtheunconditionedstimulusisquitebrief.IvanP.Pavlovestimatedthattheoptimumintervalforsuchasequencewas0.5second,whichcorrespondsapproximatelytotheintervalscharacteristicofsequencesthataremostaccuratelydiscriminableperceptually(seebelowPerceptionofsequenceandduration). Asidefromadaptingtheindividualtotheorderofasequence,conditioningalsoadaptstothedurationbetweensignalandimmediatelyeffectivestimulus.Responsetosignaltendstooccurafteraboutthesameintervalthatseparatedthetwostimuliduringconditioning.Thus,ananimalmaybetrainedtodelayaresponseforsometimeafterthesignal(delayedconditioning). Thisformofadaptationismostpervasiveinhumanbehaviour,permittingpeopletoanticipatesequencesofeventsintheirenvironmentsothattheycanpreparetocopeappropriatelywithwhatisyettohappen. Adaptationtoperiodicchange In1912oneofPavlov’sstudents(I.P.Feokritova)demonstratedthatadogaccustomedtobeingfedevery30minuteswouldbegintodrooltowardtheendofeachhalf-hourperiod.Itwasclearevidenceofconditioningtotime;thebetween-feedingsintervalitselfservedasaconditionedstimulus. Thatdiscoveryunderscorestheever-presentperiodicityofdailyliving,especiallyonthebiologicallevel:rhythmsofactivityandsleep,rhythmsofeatingandlovemaking.Asconditioningintervenes,anticipatoryexperiencesofhunger,fatigue,orarousalserveouradaptationtoecologicaldemands. Allowanceshouldalsobemadeforthedaily,orcircadian,rhythmsinmetabolicactivity(e.g.,dailycyclesoftemperaturechange).Thereisevidencethatthesefundamentalbiologicalfunctionscansynchronizewiththerhythmicphasesofenvironmental(exogenous)change.Thuswithinafewdaysafterafactoryworkerhasbeenassignedtothenightshift,highsandlowsofhisdailyfluctuationsoftemperaturewillbeinversed.Therhythmicchangesinbodytemperaturepersists,nevertheless,suggestinganinnate(endogenous)basisforcircadianphenomena.Suchahypothesiswouldmeanthatthegradualestablishmentofhumancircadianrhythmsofsleeportemperatureresultsfrommaturationofthenervoussystemratherthanfromconditioninginthestrictsense.Experimentsbegunin1962,inwhichmenlivedincavesorotherenclosuresformonthsdeprivedoftemporalcuesfromtheenvironment,alsodemonstratedtheenduringnatureofrhythmsinbodytemperatureandinsleep–wakefulness.Therhythmicperiods,however,sometimesexpanded,thesubjectbeginningtoliveonanapproximatelytwo-daycyclewithoutbeingawareofit. Throughconditioningtotimeandbywayofcircadianrhythms,humanphysiologyprovidesakindofbiologicalclockthatofferspointsofreferencefortemporalorientation.