Elucidating the Role of Attention and Emotion on Subjective Time Perception Zephrani, Zohar R creator 2013 xvi, 190 p. born digital Thesis (Ph.D. -- Brown University (2013) Church, Russell Director Martino, Elena Reader Welch, Leslie Reader Brown University. Psychology sponsor theses The ability to estimate time is vital for adaptation and orientation in the physical and social environment we live in. However, our subjective experience of time may deviate from objective clock time. We have all had experiences in which time seemed to fly by, and others in which time seemed to move in slow motion. Despite being commonly experienced, the mechanisms underlying these over- or under-estimated judgments of duration, relative to objective time, are poorly understood. The present thesis explores two important influences on time perception -- attention and emotional arousal. Attention allocated away from timing (e.g., performing a difficult task concurrently) often results in an underestimation of subjective time while increased arousal (e.g., a frightening event) frequently yields an overestimation of subjective time. On the other hand, to fully appreciate the influences of these two factors on time, their interaction becomes central. Accordingly, a dual task procedure was developed, combining a temporal bisection procedure with a non-temporal attention procedure (i.e., visual search task) using morphed facial expressions as stimuli. This procedure allows for the allocation of attention towards the emotionally-arousing facial expressions and thereby elucidates how the effects of emotional arousal on the different control networks that comprise attention (i.e., alerting, orienting and executive control) can influence time estimation. The findings presented herein support a strong role for attention on subjective timing. Specifically, increased attention to emotionally-arousing stimuli resulted in underestimation of subjective time. Therefore, attention seems to mediate the effects of emotional arousal on time and this interaction is essential to further understand our perception and experience of time. Time estimation Arousal Time perceptionAttentionEmotionsArousal (Physiology) RPB 20131218 engEnglish10.7301/Z0513WJ1In CopyrightCollection is open for research.dissertations