Arousal contribution on valence-driven affective modulations of time perception

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Psychology

Background:

• Emotional stimuli are known to distort time perception.
• The precise roles of emotional arousal versus valence in these distortions are not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how emotional valence and physiological arousal influence time perception across different tasks and timescales.
• To differentiate between arousal-driven and valence-specific effects on temporal processing.

Main Methods:

• Two experiments utilized emotional video clips (positive, negative, neutral) with physiological recordings (electrocardiography, electrodermal activity).
• Participants completed three timing tasks: finger tapping (sub-second), time production (one minute), and retrospective duration judgment (minutes).
• Within-subjects (N=41) and between-subjects (N=38) designs were employed.

Main Results:

• Emotional videos accelerated motor timing in finger tapping irrespective of valence.
• Valence-specific effects (positive shortening, negative lengthening duration) were observed in time production under specific conditions.
• Retrospective duration judgments were largely unaffected by emotional stimuli.
• Skin conductance showed sustained activation, while heart rate changes were inconsistent.

Conclusions:

• Emotional influences on time perception are selective, task-dependent, and sensitive to contextual factors like stimulus order.
• Findings challenge purely arousal-driven models, suggesting dynamic interactions between emotion, attention, and motor readiness.
• The dissociation between prospective and retrospective timing underscores the role of attention in emotion-induced temporal distortions.