Subjective time dilation as a result of entropy

Abstract

Subjective time dilation is an effect discovered using the oddball paradigm, where expanding visual stimuli, but not shrinking ones, induce a prolongation of subjective temporal perception compared to static stimuli. This disparity is often seen as another demonstration of humans' evolved reaction to approaching threats, since visual expansion resembles approaching potential threats and warrants extra attention. In this study, we show that by manipulating the relative sizes of stimuli, both expanding and shrinking stimuli can induce prolongation of subjective time in an oddball paradigm. We propose an alternative explanation based on information theory, linking subjective temporal perception to entropy, an objective property of stimulus that is information uncertainty. Temporal function as a logistic function thus serves as the framework inside which content functions like information processing are able to operate coherently.

Time represented in space: Bar better than ring while waiting

“…Visual representations of space have long been used to indicate time, such as with clocks. In various experimental paradigms to study temporal perception, static visual signals can be used to indicate the starting and ending of a duration (Zhang et al, 2023). While in daily life, especially in a digital setting, a dynamic visual representation of time is widely used to tell us the time we have been waiting, that is the progress indicator (Amer & Johnson, 2016).…”