Introduction
We hear sounds, see colors and even feel textures. Every aspect of the world is always perceived using a particular sense. Other aspects such as shape are definitely perceived using more than one sense. The question is, what part of or sense or senses do we use to perceive time. It is obvious that we can see time passing, neither can we touch it or smell it. What is obvious is that time, just like shape is perceived by more than just one sense. Even if, for a moment we can stop all our senses, we can always notice letter that time has passed. This can be as a result of changing pattern in in our thoughts. Maybe we have a special faculty apart from the five senses which we also use in perceiving time. If not so, then we must be noticing the change of time by our perception of things. The question is, how do we perceive time? And what are the other environmental factors which influence our perception of time.
Time perception is a branch of psychology which deals with deals with subjective perception of life. Time is always measured by an individual’s perception on the duration which is influenced both by the environmental factors and the activities undertaken during that specific time. An individual’s perception of time can never be understood with objectivity but can only be studied by use of psychological experiments. Time and events re two different things. We cannot perceive time just the way it is, but rather, we can use the events or changes to establish how we perceive time. Event is an important aspect in time perception. The kind of event we are undergoing will, to some extent, determine our perception of time. Time used to do a specific duty may be perceived differently from time used in another duty. In other words, what we do with our time will always determine how we perceive time.
Purpose and Hypothesis
As discussed above, our perception of time greatly depends on what we are doing with our time. This, therefore means that as we vary our activities, our perception of time changes. Putting all other factors constant, a change in the use of time will make an individual feel that they had more time or less time, while the duration was kept constant. The purpose of this experiment is, therefore, to establish the effect of what we do on our perception of time. The experiment will be done by subjecting various individuals to undertake different duties within a constant duration and then establishing their perception of the amount of time they have used. The duties which will be used in this experiment will include: doing something for others, i.e charity work; doing something for yourself; and doing nothing. Under all these instances, the duration will be kept constant and the subject will be asked on their perception on the amount of time they have used in undertaking these activities. My hypothesis is that: When somebody does nothing or something that they perceive useless, they tend to feel that the time taken is very long; when somebody does something for others they feel they have more time but not as much as when they are doing nothing; and when someone is doing nothing, they feel that they have very little time.
Experiment I
Procedure
A group of ten students were used in this experiment. On day one, they were given two hours and were asked to use that time to write an encouragement letter to a sick child in the hospital. On the second day, at the same time of the day, the same students were two hours and were asked to use that time in counting letter “e” in Greek. During all those time, the students were not made aware of the duration of the experiment. At the end of every experiment, they were asked to estimate the amount of time they have taken.
Result
The average perceived amount of time for the students when they were writing the encouragement letter to the sick child was 2 hour 10 minutes. On the other hand, when the same students were made to count letter “e” in Greek, they estimated the time to be 2 hours 30 minutes. In other words, the students perceived that they had more time while counting letter “e” in Greek than when writing an encouragement letter to a sick child.
Experiment II
Procedure
In the second experiment, I used another groups of ten students. On Friday evening, I asked the student what they are planning to do during their weekend. I then asked them to take try and to something completely different from what they had planned to do during the weekend. They were also asked not to time themselves whenever they are doing whatever they have decided to do. On Monday they were asked to state what they did and the perceived amount of time they took doing whatever they did.
Result
The students did variety of duties which can be grouped into two main categories. The first category of the students took a better part of their weekend helping other. Some went to charity homes, while some went to hospitals to visit the sick. Another group of students took a better part of the weekend doing something which is beneficial to themselves. Some students from this group went to attend house parties while others spent their time playing various games. The students who used they time in helping others reported a general perception of more time than those who spend the weekend doing things for their own good. In other words, those who spent most of their weekend helping other reported that the weekend seemed longer than those who spent their time having fun.
Experiment III
Procedure
A group of ten students were called upon to help the local day school students with their essays. This happened during free time for the students. Only five essay papers were available. This means that only five students were given the essay papers to correct. The remaining five students were told that there were no more papers to correct so they can have their own free time. At the end of exactly one hour the students from both the groups were called upon to record the estimated time they thought might have elapsed.
Result
The average result for the students who helped in correcting the essay was 2 hours 15 minutes. On the other hand, the students who were given free time to do their own stuff recorded an average of 1 hour 45 minutes. In other words, students who spent their time helping in correcting the essay perceived a longer period than those who spent time doing things which were beneficial to them.
Discussion
In experiment two, we realize that those who spent those who spent their weekend helping others had a feeling that they had a loner weekend than those who spent their time doing their personal duties. In experiment three we also realized that those who spent their time helping high school students in correcting their essay felt that they had longer time than those who spent their time doing their personal duties. The two experiments were comparing two scenarios; a scenario where an individual spends their time helping others and a scenario where an individual spends their time doing their personal duties. The result was that those who spent their time helping others felt that they had more time than those who spent their time pursuing their own interests. Helping others is a virtue. Anybody helping others feel that they are doing something worthwhile. They feel that they are in control of something. They feel that they are in control the universe as well as time. As a result, they feel that they have more time than the actual available time. When an individual spends their time pursuing their personal interests, they develop a feeling that they should continue doing so. Humans are naturally selfish, and as a result, they will want to take more time pursuing their own interests. As a result, they will always feel that the available time was inadequate, hence the perception of less time.
Conclusion
The results can, therefore, be concluded that: when you are doing something for yourself, you feel that you have less time. When you are doing something for others, you feel that you have more time. When you are doing nothing you feel that you have even more time than when you are doing something for others. It, therefore, means that the availability of time depends on of what you are doing with that time (Viera 46). The reason for the first case can be that, people like doing things that benefit them. Naturally humans are selfish, so when they are doing something to their benefit, they just want to do it forever. But there is no forever in life, and that is why they will feel cut short with time. When we do things for others, we feel a boost in our self-esteem. We feel as though we are in control, and as a result, we get the feeling that we have more time.
References
Viera, Anthony J. "Managing Your Time." Management and Leadership Skills for Medical Faculty. Springer International Publishing, 2016. 43-51.
