Enjoyment and Inaccuracy of Time Perception - Essay Example

This quasi-experimental study tried to determine whether attention, particularly enjoyment, influences inaccuracy of time perception. The research was conducted among 45 participants, equally divided to be exposed to either ‘time flies’ (n = 15), normal (n = 15) or ‘time drags’ (n = 15) condition. This was done by telling the participants that they would be given 5 (time flies), 7. 5 (normal) or 10 (time drags) min., despite the actual duration being 7. 5 min. At the end of the task, they were asked to answer a questionnaire, which measured attention and time perception. Results showed that as in other studies, distortion of time perception was significantly influenced by the difference between actual and perceived time spent. However, the sample’s lack of variation in terms of attention might have hindered the study in reaching significant conclusions regarding the influence of attention on time distortion. It is thus recommended that increasing the sample size, objectively measuring attention, and modifying the conditions of the task be performed to come up with more valid and more informative studies in the future. Background Most people have heard or have lived by tenets. The fascination behind the saying ‘Time files when you’re having fun” stems from the fact that it enjoyment of an activity can be measured or even influenced by the time spent on the activity. A person can consciously make an unpleasant experience more tolerable by thinking that time is going fast, and it will all be over soon. Although drinking caffeinated drinks, rigorous exercise, and playing inappropriate background music have been suggested, the technique involves distracting people from actual time by removing timepieces, for example. Commercial establishments can make a client’s visit to their place more enjoyable by removing clocks from their walls and providing coffee (Sackett, et al., 2010). In addition, time perception is not just a mere reflection of the actual time duration. In fact, it has been suggested that events that occurred during the period can be used as markers for reconstructing time duration, such that those that remember more events, have a longer estimate of time elapsed. However, other studies argued that in accurately estimating time duration, more important than events recalled is the extent to which those events resulted to significant occurrences (Avni-Babad & Ritov, 2003). Evidences since 1962 have proven that our perception of how much time had elapsed depends on how we spent it. According to Sackett et al. (2009), the inaccuracy of estimated time elapsed during an activity is caused by the limitation of the working memory’s capacity to store memories of the experience. Many studies have already shown that time duration estimates are influenced by a variety of factors. This may be because the free memory is allotted to store other features of the experience, subconsciously decided to be more important than remembering how much time has elapsed. If such is true, then it means that the more interesting and memorable the experience is for the individual, the more likely these are remembered, and the less likely time spent is paid much attention to. So far, the studies by Sackett et al., one conducted in 2009 and the other in 2010, are the most extensive study yet regarding the adage that time flies when you’re having fun. Through five experiments, they used a range of stimuli and a variety of methods to influence that participants’ time perception. It was found that people have difficulty estimating how long experiences last, and time perception can also be influenced by enjoyment. In addition, it was also found that the idiom works the other way around, such that activities would be perceived to be more fun, if time was perceived to pass quickly. In the study by Sackett et al. (2010), participants who thought that time had flown by, by being informed of the amount of time spent that was actually less than the actual duration of the activity, rated the test as more enjoyable, challenging, engaging and fun than those who were fooled into thinking that time had dragged, by being told of the amount of time passed actually more than the actual time spent. In fact, if the task involved a non-enjoyable activity such as listening to noise, then those that were fooled that time flew by faster than the actual duration tolerated it more than those who were exposed to the ‘time drags’ condition. This was possible, because the saying had made humans think that all tasks in which time seem to pass so fast are enjoyable. The influence of the idiom on time perception had also been tested by one of Sackett’s experiments. Together with his colleagues, he tried to alter his participants’ beliefs by showing them an article that either supported or refuted the idiom “Time flies when you’re having fun”. When they repeated the experiment, the relation between time and enjoyment was more significant to those who read the supportive article than those who were exposed to the refuting one. Meanwhile, some participants were given an alternative explanation for the passage of time: wearing earplugs can make the perception of time inaccurate, by asking these individuals to fill out a survey with leading questions designed to suggest that earplugs can make time fly or drag. The relationship of time perception and enjoyment was less established among these participants. RESEARCH QUESTION, HYPOTHESES AND OBJECTIVES For the research question of our own study, we ask, “Do time condition, being given more or less than what was allotted, and/or enjoyment of the task influence the accuracy of estimated time elapsed during an activity?” Based on the findings of previous studies, we hypothesize that enjoyment of the activity would influence time perception, with greater enjoyment leading to shorter time perceptions. Given this, we also predict that attention, caused by the task being enjoyable, challenging, etc., would affect time perception, but this was a bidirectional hypothesis. The general objective of this experiment was to establish the relationship between time condition and time perception, as well as between enjoyment and time perception. To do this, we specifically aimed to 1) measure time perception from participants exposed to different time conditions, 2) determine the attention of the participants to the task, 3) statistically analyze the relations of these variables, and 3) identify other factors that can affect time perception. METHODS Study design This is a quasi-experimental research to determine whether time condition and/or attention would affect time perception. The methods were based on the experiment conducted by Sackett et al. (2010). Participants 45 participants, age ranging from 24 – 54 years and 23 of which were males, were recruited using opportunity sampling method. They were distributed equally to conduct the test at flying, normal or dragging time condition. Procedure Researchers read the script describing ‘word recognition task’. Participants were asked to complete the word search, containing 54 words, specifically 18 nouns, 18 verbs and 18 adjectives, with the time allotted. Although the actual duration was 7. 5 min., those assigned to time drags, normal time, and time flies groups were told that they would be given 5, 7. 5, and 10 min, respectively. After the time had passed, participants completed a questionnaire composed of ten questions regarding the level of engagement, enjoyment and challenge from the task (Part 1), a question on time perception, and nine questions to determine presence of inattentive traits (Part 3). Each question was answerable using a seven-point Likert scale. A copy of the questionnaire was attached as Appendix 1. The data were then analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) to determine differences between groups in terms of level of motivation to do task, time perception and attention. Factor analysis was also conducted to identify the specific factors that represent all variables with minimal loss of information. These can be further studied in future analyses. RESULTS Based on the ANOVA of the time perception questionnaire results, there was a significant difference among the three time condition groups, ‘time flies’, normal, and ‘time drags’, in terms of time perception (p = 0.000). Those in the ‘time flies’ group felt the least time progression, scoring it at 6.5 ± 0.9 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 6.0 – 7.0), which is “time flew” according to the Likert scale used. On the other hand, the normal time condition group measured their time perception an average of 5.7 ± 1.1 (95% CI: 5.1 – 6.3). Although they were exposed to normal time condition, they still felt that time flew a bit fast. On the other hand, the “time drags” group perceived time to drag a bit slower than normal (3.6 ±1.8 [95% CI: 0.47 – 2.6]). However, no significant between group difference was found in terms of perception of the activity and level of attention (p < 0.05). According to the factor analysis of the participants’ response to the questionnaires, task enjoyment, challenge of the task, skill requirement of the task, previous exposure to similar tasks, sustenance of attention, motivation to finish tasks and organizational skills represent all variables with only 12% loss of information. DISCUSSION Although the findings of the present study validated previous findings of time condition affecting time perception, it was not able to identify attention, and subsequent enjoyment, as the reason behind the alteration of time perception, since there was not enough significance of the data to suggest that attention is determined by time condition, or is influencing time perception. This might be due to the fact that while some participants had inattentive traits, none were above inattentive threshold on questionnaire, and so all participants had more or less normal attention. Still, while some of our results were significant, they should be interpreted with caution, since their significance was marginal. In addition, the small sample size might have hindered us in obtaining more significant outcomes. In lieu of attention, results showed that time perception was influenced by factors such as people’s desire to complete, or do well, on the task. This might be the reason why ‘challenge of task’, together with ‘fun during task’, was found to be one of the main reasons of time distortion. In analyzing this finding, it must be noted that attention given to a task is either due to enjoyment or challenge obtained from it, and so it is likely that indeed attention determines distortion in time perception, despite what was indicated in the results. However, it must be noted that not all positive feelings elicit the same changes in time perception. In particular, it is the feeling of desire or excitement, those that are high in the so-called approach motivation, that pushes an individual to do and achieve, as well as makes one feel like time has passed so fast. Meanwhile, although positive, feelings of contentment and serenity are low in approach motivation. It is suggested that feelings high in approach motivation make us feel like time flies, because they narrow our memory and attention processes, helping us to shut out irrelevant thoughts and feelings, such as time spent in the activity. In addition, the perceived shortening of time may help us to maintain for longer periods of time the pursuit of more important adaptive goals, such as basic needs (food and water) and company (Gable & Poole, 2012). In one study, feelings that are high and low approach motivation were compared in terms of their influence in time perception. They hypothesized that activities that result to feelings of high approach motivation make time perception less than that actually allotted. Participants pre-trained to distinguish between short and long periods of time were made to look at pictures. Some were assigned to view either 1) geometric shapes, considered not to produce any positive or negative feeling, 2) flowers, which is low in approach motivation, or 3) desserts, which is high in approach motivation. They were then asked whether the picture assigned to them was shown for a short (400 ms) or long period time (1600 ms). After the experiment was conducted, it was found that participants who viewed the desserts felt that they were shown the picture for a significantly shorter period of time, compared to those shown either the shapes or flowers. Moreover, those that had not eaten the day of the experiment felt that they had lesser time with the dessert picture as compared to those who were shown the same picture but had eaten that day. The authors then concluded that the inaccuracy of estimated time elapsed, particularly the feeling that time spent is short, is caused particularly by the desire to approach or achieve something, not just a mere general effect of increased attention or physiological stimulation (Gable & Poole, 2012). Moreover, perceived time spent is longer when subjects used different kinds of cognitive processes. Based on the contextual change hypothesis, events can be used as segmentation markers to serve as scaffolding for reconstructing duration. In a study done previously, it was found that the time it took to go through a word list was estimated to be longer when markers were spread out the list than when the same markers were clustered together (Avni-Babad & Ritov, 2003). When activity becomes a routine, despite its events becoming segmentation markers, a repetitive activity shortens perceived time spent. As confirmed using a study, time perception was notably shorter in those performing routine conditions than in non-routine ones. However, this trend was reversed in participants who were informed beforehand of the duration-judgment task (Avni-Babad & Ritov, 2003). The perceived elapsed time is at times defined as psychological time. The elasticity of psychological time is easily demonstrable in usual living conditions. When a person is in a party, watching a good movie, or eating dinner, hours of actual time may seem like a few minutes. On the other hand, a day spent at work seemed longer than a day of recreation. Music can also seem to increase or decrease psychological time, depending on whether the music is regarded as noise or not. When one is asleep, in anesthesia or meditating, the thought of time disappears altogether (Adams, 2010). It is suggested that the difficulty in estimating time duration results from the difference between psychological and scientific time, which follows all clocks and calendars track. The scientific clock also has order, causality, repeatability, prediction, persistence, memory, infinity, and history. Although psychological time is also characterized by repeatability, no experience is repeated exactly, such that the memory of a past experience is not identical to what actually did happen, not the same in case a similar experience happens in the future. Psychological time is also characterized to have qualities of continuity, duration, simultaneity, direction, and flow (Adams, 2010). Indeed, the uniformly divisible scientific time does not come close to the continuous elasticity of psychological time, because of its dependence on the circumstances of experiences. Despite this, scientific clock time is what is used to coordinate lives, possible to provide structure to the elastic psychological time. However, despite the advancements in technology, scientific time is not precise enough to identify and to fully describe the features of the experience. This is why conformation to scientific time is at times not comfortable (Adams, 2010). In fact, brain scans show that brain patterns change depending on how the individual focuses on task. There is also a different brain pattern, particularly the cortico-striatal being activated, when the person concentrates on time passing. This corresponds to the cognitive process that leads to him or her thinking that the clock is ticking more slowly. In contrast, when the brain is bust focusing on a task, brain processes are spread throughout the brain. Aside from estimating time, the cortico-striatal area is also responsible in controlling movement and preparing for action. It is thus suggested that brain make sense of time as movement intervals, the same way that a musician taps the foot to mark the tempo (‘Why having fun makes time speed’, 2004). Given the findings of this research, it is thus advised that in future studies, the experiment be conducted on a greater number of participants, in order to achieve more statistical significance in the results. The sample size is important, especially in experiments relying heavily on questionnaires as source of data. In addition, a more objective and valid measure of attention can be used instead of the subjective questionnaires. Measurement of heart rate and pupil dilation can be used hand in hand with the questionnaires in determining attention to task. Brain images can also be taken while the experiment is being conducted to determine patterns of brain activity. Motivation and anxiety can likewise be measured from the participants, in case they confound the results of the study. Differences in attention can also be added into the study design by assigning the participants to do either word puzzles or counting sheep, which is less enjoyable than the former. Activities that elicit different levels of approach motivation can be used as well. Also, since attention might have an effect in determining the accuracy of time perception, identifying which between challenge and enjoyment has a greater influence on time perception. In studying this, the participants should be divided equally to do either a challenging task, such as doing a word puzzle, or enjoyable task, such as watching a short movie. Determining the effect of the type of task in the distortion of time perception can be explored. Other directions of future research include having participants gage their perception of time, so that it can be determined how much individuals are aware of how accurate they perceive time. On the other hand, making the test conditions more representing of actual, real-life situations can make the findings of these studies more externally valid and applicable to most. For example, imbedding manipulated task in other tasks can mimic the usual life situations of doing a task, while being aware of other tasks still to be finished. Alteration of task to create external motivations can likewise be an option for future studies. CONCLUSION In this study conducted on 45 participants regarding the effect of attention and time condition to the accuracy of time perception, it was found that as in other studies, distortion of time perception was significantly influenced by the difference between actual and perceived time spent. However, the sample’s lack of variation in terms of attention might have hindered the study in reaching significant conclusions regarding the influence of attention on time distortion. It is thus recommended that increasing the sample size, objectively measuring attention, and modifying the conditions of the task be performed to come up with more valid and more informative studies in the future. REFERENCES Adams, W. A. (2010). Why Time Flies When You’re Having Fun. Journal of Consciousness Exploration and Research, 1, 490-500. Avni-Babad, D. & Ritov, I. (2003). Routine and the Perception of Time. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 132, 543-550. Gable, P. A. & Poole, B. D. (2012). Time Flies When You’re Having Approach-Motivated Fun Effects of Motivational Intensity on Time Perception. Psychological Science, 23, 879-886. Sackett, A. M., Meyvis, T., Nelson, L. D., Converse, B. A., & Sackett, A. L (2010). You're Having Fun When Time Flies: The Hedonic Consequences of Subjective Time Progression. Psychological Science, 21, 111-117. Why having fun makes time speed. (2004). Retrieved from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3532195.stm Read More