sense of time this is the ability to correctly estimate the time, to have time to meet the previously allotted time. Everyone has it, but the degree of its development is different for everyone. Let's say I know how much I will walk my pet for, and how quickly I will take the child to kindergarten I know how long it takes me to get to work. But it's not always mine internal clock work flawlessly, sometimes they fail. And if for me this is not critical, say 1-5 minutes (and very rarely), then for someone inaccurate timing is a big problem.
Here we are not talking about punctuality, although the topics are intertwined and mutually complement each other. A non-punctual person is often late because of his absent-mindedness, frivolity, irresponsibility and indiscipline. He can keep track of time and his internal clock can be well set.
WHY DOES A MAN NEED A SENSE OF TIME
The sense of time helps to plan the working day correctly. When we make a plan, we allocate a certain amount of time for each meeting, task, event. If we significantly exceed the time limit on a particular item, we can jeopardize the entire plan.
Having developed this feeling in yourself, you will never lose track of time either on the road, or at a boring work meeting, or at a fun corporate party ...
The sense of time not only helps us to have time to do what we have planned, it gives us the opportunity to do it without fuss, haste and nervousness, that is, more efficiently and productively.
The internal clock will help (albeit approximately) to determine the time in a situation where it is not possible to quickly look at the clock.
In order to improve the accuracy of your internal clock, start developing it by doing the following: exercises to develop a sense of time and soon you will feel the result.
HOW TO DEVELOP A SENSE OF TIME
Calibration
Having decided to do something, mentally “estimate” how long it will take you to complete this task, and then compare the time spent with the predicted one. The main thing is not to underestimate or overestimate the time required for implementation. Well, if the discrepancy between them will not be more than 1-5 minutes (we are not talking about a 10-20 minute matter). The further you go beyond 5 minutes, the worse the accuracy of your internal clock.
This exercise can be practiced anywhere and anytime. You only need two things: a watch and some business. With regular practice, you will learn to feel the time and plan all things with maximum accuracy.
Of course, in some cases it is impossible to calculate how much time will have to be spent, but we are not stupid people and we understand that it is wrong to drive ourselves into the framework by engaging in some kind of creative process. But nevertheless, knowing the account of time (for matters not related to creativity) is useful for an artist, a writer, and a composer.
Timing
During the day, mark on paper how long it took you to complete this or that task. Thus, you unload memory. The goal is to develop a sense of time, and not to remember what and when we did, but by recording, we transfer the focus of our attention to time.
Around the third week, you will better begin to feel a change in the internal clock settings (the passage of time) and change your time spending policy. The main thing here is not to overdo it at the very beginning. It is better to start with 2-3 days of timekeeping per week. Then it's better to take a break. Then spend the timing of 5 working days. Break again. Like muscles, our sense of time needs to be exercised slowly but regularly.
What time is it now
Before looking at the clock, every time, try to guess what time it will show. The more often you do this exercise, the more accurate your guesses will be.
By learning to guess accurately, you can complicate this exercise in developing a sense of time. Before falling asleep, tell yourself to wake up without an alarm at a certain hour, not immediately, but after a while you will succeed.
These exercises, in order to learn to feel the time well, should be enough for those who usually “do not watch the clock”, and even more so for those who already plan their work time. By learning to feel the time, you will provide yourself with years of stable and successful life, so do not delay, but start doing these easy exercises right now.
To learn to feel the time is to make big step in self-development, personal growth and self-knowledge.
METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO RESEARCH
HUMAN SENSES OF TIME
HE. Kuznetsov, A.N. ALEKHIN, T.V. SAMOKHINA, N.I. MOISEEVA
The adequacy of the reflection of real time in the human mind is a necessary prerequisite for successful adaptation to the conditions of a changing environment. The study of the reflection of time in the psychological plan has so far been mainly limited to the study of the perception of time, affecting relatively little other mental processes and socio-psychological aspects of the reflection of time.
The assessment of the accuracy of reproduction of time intervals in each specific period of the development of the subject's personality is the result of his life experience and genetically determined biorhythmological individuality, based on the dynamic characteristics of somatic and nervous functioning. Differential psychological features and maturity of the concepts of "present, past and future", "fast" and "slow", the ability to assess a person and an object in relation to personal time, an emotional attitude to the speed of the reaction of others are associated not only with the level of perception, but also with intellectual-conceptual, emotional and volitional development of the personality as a subject of knowledge. The genetically determining significance of reflecting the features of the time of the objective world in the formation of an adequate image of the surrounding reality necessitates the development of a systematic approach to the methods of studying the psychology of time, organically integrating the study of the interaction of perception, thinking, speech and emotions when orienting in a time-varying environment.
A group of authors, having united their efforts in developing a unified physiological and psychological methodological approach to the study of "mental time" in normal and pathological adaptation to changing conditions of existence in the process of personality development, came to the need for a significant addition and modification of classical research methods. We have tried to use the most promising psychological methods for these purposes (pictogram, projective tests, semantic differential, etc.) to study time. Simultaneous study of various aspects of the perception and understanding of time in the same person allows an integrative assessment of the level of development of the reflection of time, as well as its connection with personality traits and mental processes. The battery construction principle used in the approach increases the validity of the proposed complex for assessing the degree of development of the sense of time as an indicator of adaptability.
The study of time perception also led to the emergence of appropriate tests. For this, we used: a test for determining the duration of an individual minute, a study of the perception of shorter time intervals - 7, 10 and 30 s in the form of a verbal assessment of the presented time intervals, playing them and measuring specified interval time.
I. Determining the duration of an "individual minute"
The subject is asked to determine a time interval of 1 minute, while he can count up to 60. The researcher fixes the time with a stopwatch, takes into account the degree of accuracy in determining the duration of a given time interval and the frequency and value of underestimations or overestimations of this duration.
1. Verbal assessment of short time intervals presented. By clicking the stopwatch or in another way (flashing of the lamp), time intervals of various durations (7, 10 and 30 s) are set, the subject verbally evaluates their duration.
2. Measuring a given time interval. The researcher names some period of time (7, 10 and 30 s), and the subject measures it by clicking a stopwatch or knocking. The number of specified intervals and their range depend on the problem being solved. Tests 2 and 3 are interconnected. Those persons who overestimate the given time intervals, as a rule, underestimate them, and vice versa, the tendency to underestimate corresponds to the tendency to overmeasure the time intervals , , .
3.Playback of the presented time interval. The researcher offers the subject with the click of a stopwatch
or knocking, repeat the previously played segment of time (7, 10 and 30 s).
4. Frankenhuese test p . The subject reads a list of random numbers in order to pronounce one number in 1 second. He is suddenly stopped and asked to estimate how much time has passed. The subjective perception of time is compared with the objectively past, the number of actually occurring events is additionally taken into account: the number of digits read.
The methods reflecting the time scale of the individual include, in addition: assessment of a long simple motor reaction - VAR , ; assessment of the accuracy of tracking a moving object - RDO. These methods are very informative, but the examinations are quite lengthy, and therefore they are used separately, and not in conjunction with other tests.
Of the tests of non-hardware evaluation of an individual time scale, tests 1 and 2 are most convenient.
5. Research of own arbitrary rhythm of motor activity per unit of time. For the study, any recording device is needed, on (which is transmitted using a key, air transmission (Marey capsule) or using conventional microphones physical activity. The subject is asked to evenly tap on the sensor in a rhythm that is pleasant for him. The speed and duration of the recording depends on the task. We recorded the number of strokes in 1 min. The test can be made more difficult: highlight the average frequency of tapping, rhythmic groupings, and accentuated movements on the recording. It is desirable to isolate hidden, slow-wave components of the rhythm, which can be done both by methods of periodogram analysis using a computer, and by means of coherent optics.
In our work, the analysis of a paper record at a very low speed of 2 mm per minute, after it was retaken onto a conventional photographic film, began to be carried out using the OPTAN laser facility.
A study was made of the ability to reproduce the rhythm set by the metronome both in the conditions of listening to it and after turning off the metronome. This test can be varied by creating noise conditions or by setting a variable rhythm. The results are evaluated in the same way as in test 1.
II. Methodology for the study of human ideas about the properties of time
Test of visual representation of concepts of time (pictogram of ideas about the speed of time). The subject is asked to draw pictures denoting the concepts of "fast" and "slow". Two fundamentally different approaches have been identified:
a) Designation using common symbols (rocket, racing horse, etc. for the concept of "fast" and a turtle for the concept of "slow").
b) Designation through the action program (image of processes where speed is required and, conversely, where it is impossible to rush - reading, for example, etc.). Girl S., 9 years old student III class, depicted what she does quickly and slowly during the day.
The evaluation of pictograms takes into account the presence and degree of differentiation of the given concepts:
1) The subject may not differentiate concepts at all, depicting, for example, a clock and believing that everything has been exhausted by this. Differentiation is scored by 1.
2) A weak attempt at differentiation - for example, a standing TV or a person is drawn (scored by 2).
3) A reflection of one of the concepts has been formed: for example, the flight of a bird reflects “fast”, but the reflection of the concept “slow” was not found (score 3).
4) Reflection of the concept of "fast" and "slow" through respectively fast and slow own actions (score 4).
5) Reflection of concepts through other people's actions (score 5). For example, a slowly walking person or a speeding car is drawn.
6) Reflection of concepts using universally valid symbols that are practically identical to the language (score 6), for example, the image of a rocket and a turtle.
III. Test of semantic associative links in determining the concepts of the present, past and future
The subject is asked to name 5 or more words related to the concepts of the present, past and future. As an example, we give the answers of S.
Table 1
The form of the technique "semantic differential"
|
Year. . . . . . |
Month. . . . . . |
Day. . . . . |
||
|
Hour. . . . |
birth |
|||
|
Date of. . . . |
Hour. . . . |
Min. . . . . |
research |
|
|
Defined concept |
future, |
past, |
present time |
|
|
long |
Instant |
|||
|
Active |
passive |
|||
|
tense |
Relaxed |
|||
|
Joyful |
sad |
|||
|
Swift |
frozen |
|||
|
dense |
empty |
|||
|
Bright |
dim |
|||
|
understandable |
incomprehensible |
|||
|
big |
small |
|||
|
Indivisible |
Dividend |
|||
|
alarming |
Calm |
|||
|
color |
Gray |
|||
|
Volumetric |
flat |
|||
|
wide |
narrow |
|||
|
distant |
close |
|||
|
continuous |
Discontinuous |
|||
|
Real |
apparent |
|||
|
Private |
General |
|||
|
Permanent |
changeable |
|||
|
Deep |
petty |
|||
|
Perceived |
imperceptible |
|||
|
Light |
Dark |
|||
|
Closed |
open |
|||
|
reversible |
irreversible |
|||
|
Rhythmic |
Irhythmic |
|||
The present is now, at this moment, at this time, today it is being done. The past is long, past, what happened, happened, it was done. The future is tomorrow, it will be, I will do it.
Evaluation criteria for the semantic associations test:
1) how many words are suggested for each of the concepts;
2) the use of parts of speech: verbs denoting action, pronouns denoting temporal relations, and nouns reflecting the categories of time. The predominance of certain parts of speech (Table 1).
IV. Test semantic differential
The technique consists in the fact that the subject evaluates the concepts - present, past and future time according to the 25 scales we have proposed. Each scale is a segment of a straight line with 7 divisions, the polar points of which are represented by adjectives - antonyms that characterize time. Estimating the meaning of a concept on SD scales makes it possible to place it at a point in the semantic space, to highlight the main dimensions of which factor analysis was used. With the help of SD, one can estimate the coordinates of a point in the SP (semantic space), the distances between the meanings of various concepts, the conceptual structures of the subjects. The semantic differential reflects, according to its creators, "the affective components of meaning". When using it, the significance that this phenomenon has for a person is assessed depending on his individual experience (a SD test form; questionnaire is provided).
table 2
Characteristics of the "present tense" in healthy subjects in the factor analysis of the DM technique
|
Scale No. |
Factors |
||||
|
0,736 |
|||||
|
0,697 |
|||||
|
0,655 |
0,295 |
||||
|
0,572 |
|||||
|
0,730 |
|||||
|
0,307 |
0,665 |
||||
|
0,462 |
0,620 |
||||
|
0,289 |
0,564 |
0,279 |
0,351 |
||
|
0,489 |
0,507 |
||||
|
0,719 |
|||||
|
0,697 |
0,321 |
||||
|
0,545 |
|||||
|
0,803 |
|||||
|
0,687 |
0,388 |
||||
|
0,726 |
|||||
|
0,443 |
0,546 |
||||
|
0,257 |
|||||
|
0,263 |
|||||
|
0,294 |
0,342 |
||||
|
0,497 |
0,273 |
||||
|
0,303 |
0,472 |
0,304 |
|||
|
0,332 |
0,289 |
||||
|
0,419 |
0,328 |
||||
|
0,318 |
0,464 |
0,262 |
|||
|
Sum of squares of elements |
3,085 |
2,989 |
1,869 |
1,683 |
1,599 |
In table. Figure 2 shows the factorization data of the DM technique carried out in healthy subjects - 138 examinations (cadets of the VMOLA, athletes, employees
Research Institute, etc.), the concept of "present tense" is considered.
Factor analysis of the scales was carried out separately for each concept and revealed generally identical factor structures. Tab. 2 is ordered in such a way that the factors are in descending order of variance. In the rows, factor loadings less than 0.250 are replaced by dashes.
Already after the work was submitted for publication, we became aware that the questionnaire (10 questions) was compiled according to the same principle in the monograph by E.I. Golovakhi and A.A. Kronika, who, unlike us, distinguish not 5, but 3 factors, of which 2 (emotional factor and tension factor) coincide with those identified by us, and the third - “continuity - discreteness” refers as a more particular case to our factor “structure of time” ( Golovakha E.I., Kronik A.A.. Psychological time of personality. - Kyiv, 1984).
Factor 1 (in descending order of factor load): joyful-sad, bright-dim, light-dark, etc. Factor 2: tense-relaxed, anxious-calm, fast-frozen, active-passive, etc. Factor 3: infinite-instantaneous, constant-changing, distant-near. Factor 4: indivisible-divisible, continuous-discontinuous. Factor 5: real-seeming, reversible-irreversible.
The first three factors of the above are, like Ostud's, evaluation, activity, and magnitude factors. It can be assumed that factors 4 and 5 reflect the specifics of the experience of mental time - the degree of sensation of its reality, irreversibility and a combination of sequence and simultaneity.
When analyzing SD, we were interested in: the content of factors, the features of the perception of three points in time, the identification of which of the time categories (present, past and future) is the most updated.
Thus, specially designed scales for the SD methodology, characterizing the present, past and future time, make it possible to assess individual differences in the experience of temporal aspects of reality.
V. Test of social perception of personality temporal characteristics
The test of social-intuitive perception of the dynamics of behavior was developed and introduced to study the differential characteristics of the prediction of the time of behavioral reactions in the range of "fast - slow" according to the facial expression of a perceived person. The test is included as a supplement to the social-perceptual intuitive test, compiled by us on the basis of the stimulus material of the Zondi test. The stimulus groups of mental patients selected by Zondi in the remission-rehabilitation period of the disease most clearly revealed the specifics of communication programs (manic, depressive, paranoid, catatonic, epileptic, hysterical, aggressive, confrontational). Depressive faces, catatonics, epileptics are largely opposite to manic, aggressive, paranoid ones in terms of such dynamic characteristics of behavior as "quickly - slowly." At the first stage of the study, the traditional affective choice of preferred and rejected persons for communication is revealed and fixed in the graph. At the second stage, the subject is asked to distribute all the photographs into groups according to the "fast - slow" parameters. Such an instruction makes it possible to reveal the ability to perceive subtle differences in the dynamic-temporal characteristics of a person. When deciphering, the accuracy of perception of the speed of behavioral reactions is analyzed in relation to the groups that differ most in terms of the “quick-slow” parameter and the emotional attitude to the speed and slowness of behavioral reactions predicted for communication.
According to preliminary data, the most adaptable persons have a sufficiently high accuracy of perception of the time of behavioral reactions of the intended communication partners, they prefer to positively evaluate the quickly responding persons. In the state of unstable adaptation and maladjustment, the accuracy of perception is significantly impaired, paradoxical perception is characteristic (the slowest faces belong to the fast ones, and vice versa). We met the preference for slow faces in the most maladapted subjects.
In conclusion, it should be emphasized that the sense of time as a characteristic of a person is an important integrative indicator of the level of development of cognitive processes and emotionality. The complex methodical approach we propose to study the sense of time is the first attempt at an integrative physiological and psychological study of the perception and reflection of time in humans.
From this point of view, we have carried out research
sense of time in children with different levels of mental development, in athletes, in practically healthy people (listeners of the VMOLA, employees of research institutes, etc.), in people experiencing crisis states (suicides).
A comprehensive study of perception, the concept of emotional and personal relationships in relation to time from a medical and psychological point of view is clinically more informative than individual indicators, which allows you to directly use the results obtained in practice (in psychotherapy, in psychological counseling). It would be premature to give exact quality criteria reliability and validity. However, experience shows sufficient reliability of the method when repeated testing.
The consistency of the general level of development of the sense of time in various tests, the qualitative-quantitative study of the sense of time determines the general direction of studying the validity of the proposed complex. Further meaningful, general psychological enrichment of the concept of a sense of time and statistical studies of various groups will make it possible to determine the criteria and limits of validity.
1. Belyaeva-Kakzemplyarskaya S. P. On the experimental study of the subjective counting of time by a person. - Q. psychol. 1965. No. 5. S. 59-70.
2. Lisenkova V.P. On the features of the reflection of space and time by man. - Psychol. magazine 1981. V. 2. No. 1. S. 113-119.
3. Loskutova T. D. Grade functional state central nervous system a person according to the parameters of a simple motor reaction. - Physiological journal of the USSR. 1975. No. 1. S. 3-12.
4. Loskutova T. D. Reaction time as a psychophysiological method for assessing the functional state of the nervous system. - In the book. Neurophysiological studies in the examination of disability / Ed. A.M. Zimina, V.I. Klimova-Cherkasova. L., 1978. S. 165-194.
5 Mitina L. M. Influence of stimulus intensity on the evaluation and measurement of time intervals of different duration. - Q. psychol. 1977. No. 1. S. 64-73.
6 Tochilov K.S. Workshop on the physiology of labor. - M., 1970. - 214 p.
7. Filippovich A. I., Lapina I. A. Mathematical processing of biological signals of coherent optics. - In the book: Application of mathematical methods and digital computers in biomedical research. L., 1982. Part 1. S. 119-120.
8. Fedorova T. L. The technique of semantic differential and the possibility of its application in clinical psychology. - Sat. Psychological studies of personality in the clinic. L., 1978. S. 80-81.
9. Kuznetsov O. N., Lebedev A. V., Lukichev N. A. Methods for quantitative assessment of impaired perception of a person as a person in a pathopsychological study. - Sat: Systems approach in the use of methods of psychological research in solving scientific and practical problems. Penza, 1983. S . 39-40.
10. Osgood Ch. E., Suici G. J., Tannenbaum P. H. The measurement of meaning. Urbana: Univ. of Illinois Press, 1957.
ReceivedVeditorial22.XI1983 G.
What is the sense of time, and what is its significance for modern man is a question that occupies the minds of everyone who seeks to increase the productivity of their work and get rid of the habit of always and everywhere being late.
Here is the meaning of the sense of time:
- Providing the opportunity to plan their actions. Have you made a plan, having thought through every item to the smallest detail, but still didn’t manage to do anything? This means that your plan was unrealistic, and the main problem is the lack or weak expression of a sense of time. Without knowing how long it will take to do something, you will not be able to make an accurate plan. And without a plan, your dreams of productive work will never turn into the category of real achievements.
- Provides self-direction at work. For example, you thought you could prepare a contract in two hours, and 40 minutes have passed, and you have only done a tenth of the work? You were let down by the sense of time, you could not soberly assess your capabilities and the complexity of the task.
- Workload control and, as a result, stress control. Mistakes in scheduling affairs in time lead to time pressure, time pressure - to delays in work, delays - to the following errors. There is a kind of vicious circle, and now you are already living in a state of constant stress.
Thus, it becomes clear that the quality of your life directly depends on how developed your sense of time is. Everyone has a sense of time, but everyone can also develop it. Let's get to the real advice.
Methods for developing a sense of time
Exercise number 1 "Calibration": think of a certain task, look at the clock, set yourself the amount of time needed to complete this task. The main condition is not to deceive yourself, set realistic deadlines. We complete the task, check the clock. If you completed the work for 20 minutes with a deviation of +/- 1 minute, you have an excellent sense of time. If you are wrong by 2 minutes or more, you should work on your sense of time. If you perform the exercise regularly and honestly, then you can observe the first results in three days.
Exercise number 2 "Timekeeping": we take a sheet of paper and draw a table with the columns “Beginning”, “Ending”, “The essence of the matter”. During the day, write down all the things that you did on a tablet. Writing on paper will help you free up unnecessary information, which will give you more energy. By the way, paying attention every time to the clock, you additionally contribute to the development of a sense of time.
To reduce the time it takes to complete the table, mark cases with icons. What? You will understand this in a couple of days after the start of the exercise. Do not immediately try to make a table for a whole month. Everything must be done gradually. First, clock 1-2 days a week, take a break, then write down things for 5 days, break again. After that, you can spend 14 days for continuous timing. Although, as a rule, good results can be obtained even before the expiration of these 2 weeks.
It has been proven that timekeeping, carried out for 4-6 weeks, gives an increase in the accuracy of the internal clock up to 80%. For prevention, it is recommended to arrange timing once a year for a duration of 2 weeks.
As you can see, the exercises are simple. All that is required of you is patience and thoroughness, and believe me, the result will not be long in coming. By learning to feel the time, you can achieve tangible results in managing your life. The costs of performing these exercises are fully consistent with the results that you get. Agree, a quickly tangible effect is already enough motivation to start acting.
The human body inherited a lot from its distant ancestors, who led a wild lifestyle. Their habitat was limited to the cave and the surrounding area, which was inhabited by a wide variety of animal species. Ancient people hunted them and, in essence, differed little from predatory animals. In those days, there were no calendars or clocks. However, the cave dwellers were perfectly oriented by the sun and knew when to get up, have lunch or dinner. That is, they possessed such a gift as a sense of time.
In our days, civilization has nullified very many animal instincts, but has not been able to eradicate from people the hours that are in their heads. Everyone can program themselves to wake up at exactly 7 o'clock in the morning without any alarm clock. This alarm clock "sits" in his head from birth. It is especially evident under hypnosis. A person is euthanized and given the setting to wake up exactly 20 minutes later. The specified time interval passes, and the sleeper's eyes open. All this happens thanks to the subconscious, which is inextricably linked with nature and the cosmos.
Among geeks are widely known clock people. For example, Jean Chevalier, who lived in Switzerland in the 18th century. At any time of the day, he could be asked what time it is. And the curious immediately heard the exact time. The secret of the child prodigy was extremely simple and at the same time amazing. Chevalier spent his whole life counting seconds, minutes and hours in his mind. He ate, read, wrote, talked, but it did not bring him down.
This gift looked fantastic. With a child prodigy, they sometimes started arguing or asked to solve a difficult mathematical problem in order to knock him off the bill. But no one succeeded. When people suddenly asked a question about time, a clear and absolutely correct answer immediately followed.
Also known is the peasant Ivan Zykov, who lived on Far East. At haymaking or grain harvesting, the villagers would ask him: "Vanya, what time is it there?" Zykov looked in front of him for a few seconds, and then said: "One hour and 15 minutes." He was never wrong. There were many checks, everyone was interested, but Ivan always turned out to be on top. This peasant, who possessed a unique gift, died in the First world war. He took the secret of timing with him to his grave. So no one found out how Zykov managed to accurately name the hours and minutes.
But a person's sense of time cannot be compared with a similar gift in plants and animals. If we talk about plants, then during the day they open their leaves and flower petals, then close them. This happens at regular intervals.
Experts decided to test this ability of plant organisms. They placed in absolutely dark room peas and clover. Under normal natural conditions, they lower their leaves down at night, and straighten them out at sunrise. And how did the plants behave when they were in absolute darkness? Similar. This experience proved that plant organisms have some kind of internal time regulators. They do not depend on external conditions and sunlight.
As for animals, here the sense of time is also excellently developed. Let's take cats as an example. The Swedish naturalist Gustav Eckstein told a lot of interesting things about them. He had a cat named Willy. She always came home after night walks at 8:20 sharp. But that's not all. Every Tuesday at 7:35 p.m., she showed up at the local hospital to watch the doctors play bingo and hear them yell "Bingo." The animal has never made a mistake, day or hour.
The English zoologist William Beach also made a rather interesting observation related to donkeys. Traveling around California, the researcher visited a farm whose owner used these animals for field work. At noon, as soon as the hands of the clock stopped at the number XII, the donkeys stopped working without any signal. And no power could make them do otherwise.
What are these fabulous mechanisms hidden in living organisms? In an incomprehensible way, they make you feel minutes and hours. To date, there is no clear and precise answer explaining this phenomenon. But without any doubt, there is a connection between nature and cosmic forces, on which all living things on Earth depend.
Time exists objectively, continuously one minute follows another, one day follows another, months, years, centuries pass. But, despite the fact that the course of time all over the world obeys the same laws, for each individual person the same period of objectively elapsed time may appear shorter or longer than it actually was. For different people the same period of time can have completely various meanings. For one person, a week “stretches” like a month, for another, a week “flies” like a couple of days.
It is known that the perception of time depends on many factors. Ekaterina Voronova answers questions on the perception of time.
1) Why in childhood, when we sit at a school desk, it stretches slowly, but in adult life there is always not enough time for something, and in old age the days fly by like one moment?
One possible explanation for this phenomenon is that people of different ages have a different “measure of time” in comparison with their whole life. In the first years of a person's life, periods are measured in months and half a year, but in the future, there is a kind of “stretching” of time. Time is no longer measured in years, but in decades “One year for a five-year-old child, equal to 1/5 of his life, seems to be 10 times longer than one year for a fifty-year-old person, equal to 1/50 of his life.
Another explanation is this:
The course of psychological time slows down if a person lives in the process of perceiving information. In childhood, a child absorbs new knowledge like a sponge and every day is filled with impressions. As a person grows up, he acts more automatically, learns the world less and absorbs information. Therefore, over the years, we feel the acceleration of the passage of time. If a person day after day performs the same familiar actions or is carried away by only one thought or idea, then, having grown old, he shrugged his hands: “How quickly the years allotted to me flew by, how much I did not have time to do.”
Conducted a study on the perception of time at different ages. Participants in the study were asked the question: “How much has your perception of time changed now compared to childhood?” Young people from 10 to 20 years old answered: about 1.2 times. For 20–30-year-olds, the acceleration factor reached 1.5. For 30-40-year-olds - two. Participants who reached the age of 40-50 admitted that the course of their lives accelerated by 4-5 times. Older people named numbers in the range of 10–25! A person ages the faster, the more he feels that time is slipping away from him.
2) Why, when we do something important or participate in an interesting event, time flies by unnoticed, and when you are looking forward to something and nervously look at the clock, time drags on for a very long time?
In these cases, we do not perceive the duration of the entire given period of time from its beginning to the end, but judge it by the direct perception of its "density" (fullness of events) at each given brief moment.
During some exciting action, our attention switches from stimulus to stimulus, which in interesting event so many. These elements merge into a single complex "present moment", which lasts a long period of time, but is perceived as one whole. And when attention has nothing to cling to (for example, during tedious waiting), then it focuses on the flow of time itself (tracking the hands of a clock, for example), and is divided into small intervals, the sequence and uniformity of which creates the illusion of “time stretching”.
At the same time, there is an opposite effect when remembering interesting and boring moments of life: We attribute bright events to long time, because a lot of details pop up in memory, and inaction flies by for us like a moment, since there is nothing to cling to attention.
This phenomenon can also be explained from the point of view of physiology. The perception of time is based on the rhythmic change of excitation and inhibition in the cerebral hemispheres. When excitation processes predominate in the cerebral cortex, the metabolism increases, therefore, time “flies” faster. In the case of inhibition, it “stretches” slowly, due to a slowdown in metabolism.
3) Is the perception of time different for people of different professions?
There are a number of professions in which special attention is paid to the accuracy of perception of time. So in the operator's activity (during the interaction between a person and a machine), the life and well-being of other people can depend on the orientation in time. The lack of accuracy and speed of reactions of the driver on the road can lead to traffic accidents, and the operator on nuclear power plant- to radiation contamination of the surrounding areas. People with a highly developed "sense of time" are often found among the military, railway workers, lecturers, teachers, athletes.
4) Does the perception of time depend on religion, national characteristics?
If we consider the culture of the peoples of the West and the East, we can find different models of time perception.
In the West, there are such values as: planning, responsibility, commitment, creation. Therefore, it is important to see time in the present and the future, to perceive it at large intervals in order to respond in time and properly dispose of it. Here, time is considered as if "in breadth" with aspiration to the future. For the Western mentality, time is of the highest value. This is more than a limited resource. It can be “irretrievably lost”, “lost”, “squandered”, “killed”, etc., having lost, missed and wasted a lot of opportunities and money along with it. Therefore, in order not to lose time, you must always keep up with it. Gain in time - the most important factor competitive struggle. Those who move slowly fall behind and lose the market. In these countries, it is not customary to be late either for business negotiations or for friendly meetings. Here it is good practice to come a little earlier than the scheduled time.
In the East, the joy of life and the present moment, in-depth perception, intuitiveness, and the ability for inner spiritual search are more valued. Therefore, the depth of perception of the moment “here and now” and getting pleasure from it is important here. Being late for 20-30-40 minutes, under certain circumstances, becomes quite acceptable here. The attitude towards time is expressed in the well-known Arabic proverb, which says: "When God created time, He created enough of it." Unlike the West, the East is always more drawn to the past, to history and traditions. Here, even business negotiations take much more time, since a significant part of them is connected not with the discussion of specific goals and objectives, but with building friendly and trusting relations, with studying the general context of events.
5) Does the perception of time differ from what space you are in, for example, in a small dark room or a light spacious room?
This information is not known to me.
6) Does the perception of time affect the emotional and physical state?
Affects. Precise experimental studies have established that a person experiencing positive emotions underestimates time intervals, i.e., his subjective flow of time accelerates; with negative emotional experiences, the time intervals are overestimated, i.e., there is a subjective slowdown in the flow of time. For example, the waiting time for a desired event in direct experience is painfully lengthened, while an undesirable event is painfully reduced.
The phenomenon of changing the time scale in stressful situations is widely known, when, on the one hand, people have time to incredibly short term make a decision and perform the necessary amount of actions (time seems to be “stretched” for them), and on the other hand, there is a reassessment of the flowing time, and people do not have time to do the necessary - time in this case seems to “compress”.
There are other factors that affect the perception of time: environment(noise shortens subjective duration), the task facing the subject (the more difficult the task, the shorter the duration seems), concentration (every time we pay attention to the flow of time, it seems to us longer), etc. It has also been proven that time at the moment of movement seems shorter than at rest.
7) Are there diseases associated with impaired perception of time?
Yes, some people with schizophrenia say that time seems to have stopped for them. They understand with their mind that time moves, but do not "feel" its flow. Violation of the perception of time is noted in focal lesions of the brain. With damage to the frontal lobes of the cerebral cortex, a person loses the ability to plan actions in time.