Time perception in persons with high and low anxiety sensitivity in conditions of hyperventilation induced arousal

Bagarić, Branka. (2012). Time perception in persons with high and low anxiety sensitivity in conditions of hyperventilation induced arousal. Diploma Thesis. Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu, Department of Psychology. [mentor Jokić-Begić, Nataša].

PDF (Croatian) - Registered users only Download (651kB) | Request a copy

Abstract

Internal-clock models explain the deviation of subjective time experience from the objective time by the effects of arousal and attention. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of hyperventilation induced arousal on time perception in subjects with high and low anxiety sensitivity. The 45 high and 36 low anxiety sensitive students were chosen based on their prior results in the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI). Within the retrospective paradigm, participants estimated how long they had endured in the hyperventilation exercise. Within the prospective paradigm, they estimated the duration of the time interval which had objectively lasted 10 seconds, in both relaxed and aroused situation. The aroused situation followed right after the hyperventilation which elicits discomforting body sensations, while the estimations for the relaxed situation were given randomly, at the beginning or at the end of the experiment. High anxiety sensitive participants estimated that the exercise performing lasted longer than the low anxiety sensitive participants did, which was explained by the greater number of contextual changes for high anxiety sensitive participants during hyperventilation. Low anxiety sensitive participants have more often estimated time correctly in aroused situation than the high anxiety sensitive participants did. All participants estimated the interval in the relaxed situation as significantly longer than the one in the aroused situation, which was explained by the effects of attention and arousal on the internal clock. Taken together, results indicate that the anxiety sensitivity affects the experience of time, but is moderated by the paradigm and conditions in which time is being estimated.

Actions (login required)

View Item