Distortions of perceived event time: investigating characteristics of duration perception

Abstract

One of the great mysteries of our universe is time; it is also one of the great mysteries of our brain. Gaining insight into the perception of time and the role of attention therein is what this article aims to achieve. By executing a duration reproduction experiment involving two consecutive stimuli that are the same or different on varying levels physical, semantic, or both) we aimed to determine the influence of these properties on the distortion of perceived event time. An overall debut effect (Pariyadath & Eagleman, 2007) was found as well as insight into the processing of stimuli that differ semantically or physically. This experiment has provided some insight into the way we perceive time and the methodology used to measure it and has opened a door for future research.