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Psychological time as information: the case of boredom(†)
The flow of time is experienced by humans although the exact nature of time is not well understood. The importance of time in humans’ life is not in dispute and is reflected by several dimensions like duration, which is best representing the naïve meaning of time. Psychological time serves several i...
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2014
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Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4140165/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25191296 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00917 |
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author | Zakay, Dan |
author_facet | Zakay, Dan |
author_sort | Zakay, Dan |
collection | PubMed |
description | The flow of time is experienced by humans although the exact nature of time is not well understood. The importance of time in humans’ life is not in dispute and is reflected by several dimensions like duration, which is best representing the naïve meaning of time. Psychological time serves several important functions which are essential for being able to act and survive in a dynamic environment. In the present paper we argue that psychological time in the form of sensing the pace of the flow of time provides important information to the executive system which control and monitor behavior. When information processing load is below an optimal level for a specific Individual a feeling of boredom is raised. Boredom is accompanied by a slowing of the felt pace of the flow of time. Boredom is a unique mental state which is linked with decreasing efficiency in cognitive and perceptual performance and is correlated with low job satisfaction and general well-being. As such, boredom poses a threat to normal functioning. We suggest that the felt slowing in the flow of time is a signal which, similarly to pain, is aimed at alerting the executive system that resources should be recruited in order to cope with the hazardous state. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-4140165 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2014 |
publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-41401652014-09-04 Psychological time as information: the case of boredom(†) Zakay, Dan Front Psychol Psychology The flow of time is experienced by humans although the exact nature of time is not well understood. The importance of time in humans’ life is not in dispute and is reflected by several dimensions like duration, which is best representing the naïve meaning of time. Psychological time serves several important functions which are essential for being able to act and survive in a dynamic environment. In the present paper we argue that psychological time in the form of sensing the pace of the flow of time provides important information to the executive system which control and monitor behavior. When information processing load is below an optimal level for a specific Individual a feeling of boredom is raised. Boredom is accompanied by a slowing of the felt pace of the flow of time. Boredom is a unique mental state which is linked with decreasing efficiency in cognitive and perceptual performance and is correlated with low job satisfaction and general well-being. As such, boredom poses a threat to normal functioning. We suggest that the felt slowing in the flow of time is a signal which, similarly to pain, is aimed at alerting the executive system that resources should be recruited in order to cope with the hazardous state. Frontiers Media S.A. 2014-08-21 /pmc/articles/PMC4140165/ /pubmed/25191296 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00917 Text en Copyright © 2014 Zakay. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. |
spellingShingle | Psychology Zakay, Dan Psychological time as information: the case of boredom(†) |
title | Psychological time as information: the case of boredom(†) |
title_full | Psychological time as information: the case of boredom(†) |
title_fullStr | Psychological time as information: the case of boredom(†) |
title_full_unstemmed | Psychological time as information: the case of boredom(†) |
title_short | Psychological time as information: the case of boredom(†) |
title_sort | psychological time as information: the case of boredom(†) |
topic | Psychology |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4140165/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25191296 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00917 |
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