On The Experience Of Time

By Robert Ornstein

How do we experience time? What do we use to experience it?In a series of remarkable experiments, Robert Ornstein shows that it is difficult to maintain an "inner clock" explanation of the experience of time and postulates a cognitive, information-processing approach. This approach alone makes sense out of the very different data of the experience of time and in particular of the experience of duration--the lengthening of duration under LSD, for example, or the effects of an experience felt to be a success rather than a failure, time in sensory deprivation, the time-order effect, or the influence of the administration of a sedative or stimulant drug.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 081333442X
• ISBN13: 9780813334424
• Release Date: September 1997
• Publisher: Westview Press
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.8" x 0.5" x 5.8"

Customer Reviews

one of FEW quick-to-read books available on time perception

So I finally chanced upon a book that I wish I found 2 years ago when I was so emo over the book's topic. It addressed ALL the major ambiguities with time perception research - especially the lexical paradox where "speeding up" can mean THE TWO OPPOSITE SCENARIOS- one where you ultimately wish that there were more seconds in a minute, and the other where you wish that there were fewer seconds in a minute - all without much academic jargon. It also adequately dealt with the issues of retroactive memory (e.g. perceived duration of time WELL after the event) and immediate perception (e.g. perceived duration of time RIGHT after the event). Why was it so successful? Because it had a strong, concrete, and TESTABLE hypothesis - the hypothesis that you perceive MORE per unit of time when there is MORE INFORMATION to be perceived. Man, this is one of the moments in time where I'm so excited cuz I finally found what I wanted to find - years after wasting HOURS trying (but failing) to find it.