Ledyit, Allen D
1.62 MB of textual records (PDF)
Audience: Undergraduate. -- Dissertation: Thesis (B. A.). -- Algoma University, 1997. -- Submitted in partial fulfillment of course requirements for PSYC 4105. -- Includes figures and tables. -- Contents: Literature review / Thesis.
The experimenter set out to determine whether internet users are influenced by screen color when judging the duration of their internet activities. Past research indicates that color can affect time perception. This interaction may involve the latent variable of arousal. Forty-five undergraduate students were randomly assigned to groups of three and asked to participate in a discussion on a simulated internet chat line. Each subject was assigned to a separate room and used a standard personal computer terminal to discuss a number of ethical dilemmas for 13.5 minutes with the other two subjects in the group. Each of the three computer monitors displayed a different color (red, blue, or gray). Immediately after the final dilemma, each subject was asked to estimate how much time the discussion had taken. Two-tailed t-Tests were performed on the data. As predicted, subjects using a red screen made estimates which were significantly larger than the subjects using a blue screen (p=0.0444), and their estimates were significantly shorter than the actual duration of the experiment (p=0.0007). Results are discussed in terms of the cognitive timer theory and practical applications.
