ABSTRACT
Early research into the elasticity of time involved the ‘method of verbal estimation’ and the ‘method of production’; both produce huge individual differences. A detailed analysis of the techniques used in Hitchcock's film Rope reveals a significant discrepancy between clock time and mind time. Interval timing theory is supported by studies involving Parkinson's patients and drugs (including marijuana and adrenaline) which all affect dopamine levels: reduced dopamine levels disrupt the interval timer (IT). Clive Wearing's loss of time awareness demonstrates the fundamental importance of memory – in particular, episodic memory (EM), a form of autobiographical memory (AM) – to our sense of identity and social functioning. Psychotic patients often display a distorted sense of time, such as time discontinuity; this helps explain their response to the ‘tickle test’. Libet's findings that brain activity precedes participants’ awareness of having made the decision to perform a particular action seriously challenge belief in free will. Time Expansion Experiences (TEEs) refer to the feeling of time slowing down and expanding; these are associated with potentially life-threatening situations. TEEs have been described as altered states of consciousness and the loss of the sense of self. Three major explanations for the speeding up of time with age are telescopy, reminiscence, and physiological (brain-related) changes. Déjà vu has been dramatically portrayed in Groundhog Day.
