Recent research published in journals brain and behavior An interesting aspect of human psychology has been revealed. That is, our perception of time can change through physical exercise. Specifically, when you are exercising, you tend to feel that time passes more slowly than when you are resting or after you have finished exercising. This study is pioneering in its approach, using a standardized test to measure time perception during self-paced maximal exercise, which rigorously assesses actual athletic performance. This is a scenario that is reflected in
The concept that psychological time can be different from chronological time was famously illustrated by Albert Einstein’s metaphor about sitting with a pretty girl and sitting over a hot stove. it was done. Previous research has shown that physical activity can distort our sense of time, making it seem like time is moving more slowly. It has been observed that this phenomenon can potentially affect athletes who need to pace themselves with time and competitors.
However, previous research has been limited to fixed-intensity exercise and did not take into account the self-paced intensity efforts found in competitive sports. This gap in research led to the current study aimed at understanding how time perception is affected during exercise reflective of a competitive environment.
“I have long been interested in how people perceive the passage of time and whether this is influenced by certain events. In the case of exercise, time seems slower in some situations. But in other situations it goes very quickly. I was intrigued to find out the impact this had on performance and whether this had an impact on both outcomes and compliance.” Canterbury Christ・Professor and Dean of the Department of Psychology and Life Sciences at Church University, psychopath.
The study involved 33 participants, a combination of moderately to highly active people who were not professional cyclists but were in good health and able to participate in physical experiments. They completed a series of cycling trials on a Velotron cycling ergometer, designed to simulate a four-kilometer race. During these trials, participants’ time perception was assessed at multiple time points before, during, and after exercise, and at specific distance intervals during exercise.
Participants performed a time perception task by estimating how long 30- and 60-s intervals last, without feedback on accuracy to prevent bias in subsequent tests. Cycling trials included a variety of conditions, including solo trials, trials with a passive companion avatar, and competitive trials with an active opponent avatar.
The researchers found that participants felt time passed more slowly during physical activity than before and after exercise. This result was consistent regardless of the specific moment during the exercise at which perception was measured (early or late in the session).
The results showed that time perception delay was not affected by the three different conditions. This suggests that the presence of competitors or the nature of the competitive environment does not change the perception of time during exercise, and emphasizes that it is the act of exercise itself that primarily influences time perception. I am.
“The message from this study is that our perception of time is indeed influenced by exercise,” Edwards told SciPost. “This could be useful information in terms of precisely pacing sports and exercise activities, including devising strategies to reduce periods of time that can be prolonged and discouraging. ”
Another notable aspect of the study results is the lack of correlation between perceived exertion (RPE) and time perception. This is particularly interesting because it suggests that the subjective intensity of exercise does not change the perception of time. This contradicts some previous hypotheses that argued that more intense physical activity may increase distortions in time perception.
“While our study showed that exercise itself affects time perception, this experiment differentiated between different stages of exercise, such as when you feel refreshed and when you feel tired. “We did not. Our previous research seems to indicate that this is the case, but further work is needed to clarify the context,” Edwards said.
This study advances our understanding of psychological time during exercise while also highlighting several areas for future research. One of the limitations is the use of non-professional cyclists. This may affect the generalizability of the study results to professional athletes or people accustomed to high-intensity competitive sports.
“This is a study of only one exercise mode in recreationally active participants, so the results should be considered in the context of that activity/population,” Edwards explains. did. “Further research is needed to see if this applies broadly.”
Future research could also investigate how manipulating awareness and concentration during exercise affects time perception. This could have practical applications not only for athletes, but also in clinical settings where exercise is used as part of treatment and rehabilitation.
“The main pillars of the research will be looking at how to encourage people to participate in physical activity and how to avoid/reduce negative associations with time appearing to move slowly,” Edwards said. Ta. “We are also interested in strategies to improve performance through external reinforcement and pacing to correct time distortions.”
“We hope people enjoy this study and look forward to further research in this area, including those in professional sports.”
the study, “Perception of time slows down in response to exercise, and the effect is not exacerbated by competitors: behavioral effects on exercise and health” authors are Andrew Mark Edwards, Stein Gerrit Paul Menting, Marije Titia Elferink-Gemsser, and Florentina Johanna Hettinga.
