Scientists: People lose track of time when they look someone in the eye
People are unable to correctly assess timing when making eye contact with another person. This conclusion was made by Swiss scientists as a result of the study, writes ScienceDirect .
A curious effect is explained by the fact that a person is embraced by emotions, and this leads to a slowdown in time. However, if you do not look directly in the eyes, but focus on the gaze, it will seem that time is passing faster.
The participants in the experiment were divided into three groups. Everybody was shown videos, but of different content: the first – with people rolling their eyes; the second – with static photographs of people; the third – with people talking in medical masks. They were tasked with determining how long the video was.
The participants of the first and third groups coped worse than the representatives of the second group. Later, for reliability, scientists conducted a second test, but this time in an online format. The conclusions remained the same: the videos, where the eyes were visible or the gaze was traced, misled the subjects.
It is noted that the experiment was conducted with adults. In the near future, it is planned to involve children and the elderly in the test.
Scientists have previously learned from pupil size to identify heart patients at increased risk of death.
