Time in media - Conceptual statement

When we begun this project we were asked to research different methods of timekeeping, we chose psychological time and decided to develop it further. I find the idea of psychological time quite interesting because you don't even realize that it is happening and everyone has their own perception of time depending on their conditions.


My role for this project was focusing on programming the device and wiring the electronics, I also helped with the conceptual research and developing the idea further. Everybody's perception of time can be different even though time is going at a constant pace, there are many factors that contribute to this some examples are: age, health, and stress. Everyone experiences psychological time, even if they are unaware of it.
“The days of thinking of time as a river—evenly flowing, always advancing—are over. Time perception, just like vision, is a construction of the brain and is shockingly easy to manipulate” (Eagleman, D. 2009)
There have already been studies which show the effects of psychological
factors on the perception of time, In one experiment at UCLA, reported in 2007, scientists rang a bell after 53 seconds of silence. Healthy people estimated on average that 67 seconds had passed. Stimulant addicts guessed 91 seconds. Other drugs have the opposite effect on dopamine and compress the subjective experience of time. (“Time Perception: How The Brain Controls Time,” 2008)
This proves there is a definite relationship between time perception and emotional factors which differ from person to person. Interesting or new time periods seem to pass by quicker. For example, showing people 10 minutes of exciting video clips could feel much shorter that 10 minutes of routine work. One convincing explanation of this is that human beings remember major events of their life. (Bruss, T. 2009)


I have really enjoyed this project. I have learned a fair bit as well as some skills with electronics seeing as this was my first time using Arduino. I think the final device turned out nicely though I would have liked it to be smaller but that just wasn't possible with the components we were using. I still believe it is an effective way of reaching our goal of a “Psychological time watch”


References
Bruss, T. (2009). On The Perception of Time. Retrieved from
http://www.stochastik.unifreiburg.de/~rueschendorf/papers/BrussRueSep3:Geron.pdf Eagleman, D. (2009). Brain Time. Retrieved from http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/eagleman0/eagleman09_index.html
Frontiers in Bioscience. (1995). The Stopwatch of Brain; The Interval Timer. Retrieved from http://www.bioscience.org/news/scientis/biolcloc.htm
Krulwich, R. (2010, February 1). Why Does Time Fly By As You Get Older? [Web log comment]. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122322542
Monk, S. (2010). Arduino Projects for the Evil Genius. Retrieved from http://books.google.co.nz/books? id=pki5o3lU75gC&pg=PA73&lpg=PA73&dq=infrared+fingertip+arduino&source=bl&ots=U2RQ_b8NYA&sig=whPWaPY1O89l8lpr6NuKJTkF3oM&hl=en&ei=X8h_TtvLNcSfiAfneG_BA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
Scripps Research Institute (2004, August 19). New 'Clock Gene' Uncovered: Genome-wide Approach Yields Results. ScienceDaily. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/08/040819084416.htm
Time Perception: How The Brain Controls Time. (2008). Retrieved from http://4mind4life.com/blog/2008/07/23/time-perception-how-the-braincontrols-time/
TODAY. (2006, February 26). Does Your Heart Sense your Emotional State? Retrieved from http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/11023208/ns/todaytoday_health/t/does-your-heart-sense-your-emotional-state/#.TqiHl5ZAxOE