Research Proposal for English 202C

How time perception is influenced when working on a

task individually versus in a group

Alexandra Digenakis, Alexis Dubin and Jordan Margolis

Submitted to
Stan Hunter Kranc
English 202C Professor
March 29, 2015

ABSTRACT
This study is an adaptation of the common myth time flies when youre having fun,
where researchers will perform an experiment testing whether time flies when working on tasks
in groups. Researchers hypothesized that participants will be more stimulated when completing
difficult tasks, more stimulated when completing tasks in groups, and will perceive time passing
faster when completing tasks in groups. Participants from two sections of English 202C classes
were randomly separated into eight groups of three students and 24 individual students, half of
each completing the same packet of six easy Find the Difference tasks on paper, and the
remaining half completing the same packet of six difficult Find the Difference tasks on paper.
Researchers allowed 10 minutes to pass, while keeping the student participants unaware of the
time. Upon completion of the tasks, a Likert-scale survey was administered to all participants to
evaluate overall satisfaction, task difficulty, task engagement, and perceived length of time
passing. Data Analysis will be completed with a two-sample independent t-test using MiniTab.
Future research implications include testing groups of friends versus groups of strangers, groups
of males versus groups of females, or using different tasks to test the same group types in this
experiment.
BACKGROUND
The study being proposed will look at how participants perceive time when working on a
task in a group versus individually. Fierro (2007) describes time perception as the more
discriminative aspects of cognitive time management such as perceiving temporal intervals and
the ability to estimate temporal delays. Ultimately, time perception is how an individual
interprets the amount of time that has passed over a temporal interval. An important concept
being investigated is prospective timing, which is when participants are informed prior to
performing a task that they are required to make a time-related judgment (Grondin, 2010).
Time perception can be influenced by many factors, for instance, attention of a
participant has been found to explain the perceived duration of intervals. Grondin (2010)
explained that when participants are placed in a dual-task scenario, such as a temporal and a nontemporal task, they would have decreased accuracy of time estimations when compared with a
single-task condition. This is important to the study being proposed because it suggests that
when participants work on a group in a task (dual-task scenario) they will be more likely to have
decreased accuracy of time perception compared to participants working on a task individually
(single-task scenario).
The perception of time is a complex process that occurs in three different regions of the
brain: cerebral cortex, cerebellum and basal ganglia. Harrington, Haaland and Knight (1998)
investigated regions of the brain to determine which areas play a role in the perception of time.
Prior research implicated that the basal ganglia and cerebellar systems played a role in time

perception. Therefore the focus of Harrington et al.s study was to determine the role, if any, that
the cerebral cortex had in time perception. Results from the study indicated that the right
hemisphere plays an important role in time perception, specifically within the frontal and parietal
cortices. Additionally, it was found that the left hemisphere does not play a large role in time
perception.
In addition to the basal ganglia and the cerebral cortex, it has been proven that the
cerebellum plays a direct role in time perception. The experiment by Fierro (2007) found strong
evidence to support that cerebellar activity plays a critical role in the processing of temporal
information. Additionally it was found that the lateral cerebellar hemispheres play a key role in,
cognitive or perceptual aspects of timing through their connections with the fronto-parietal
association cortex (Fierro, 2007).
From childhood into adulthood, social interaction becomes increasingly important.
Rather than moving through life solitarily with a single view of the world, people learn from an
early age that interacting with others leads to multiple interpretations of the same stimuli. As age
increases, the individual finds that they prefer to form similar interpretations as those
experiencing the same stimuli, especially when the interpretations may be compared to those of
his/her peers. Carpendale et al. (2004) reviewed multiple studies, stating that, as children grow
older and peer-group acceptance becomes an increasingly important goal, others beliefs must be
judged with regard not just to their informational content but also to their evaluative content.
The informational content and evaluative content are important for development of motives for
deceptive emotional displays, or avoiding embarrassment in the presence of peers (Carpendale,
2004, p. 98). These developmental factors may present themselves when working in groups
relating to school, athletic teams, or organizations, for example.
In Social Psychology, Myers (2013) defines a group as, two or more people who interact
and influence one another (Myers, 2013, p. 266). In such groups, members are found to be
positively influenced when they felt responsible for the task and could evaluate themselves,
increasing performance; this is called social facilitation. Myers describes that, arousal from
others presence strengthens dominant responses (Myers, 2013, p. 268). These dominant
responses are more correctly strengthened during easy or well-learned tasks rather than difficult
tasks. Simply, an innate arousal exists when in the presence of others. However, the concern that
others are evaluating the individual (evaluation apprehension) and the contest between paying
attention to the task and paying attention to the other people present also contribute to arousal in
groups.
Zeitun et al. (2013) published research on the relationship between student satisfaction
and group performance cross-culturally. Students at two universities from the US and Qatar were
divided into groups of three to seven to submit a written report and presentation, following which
they each completed a Likert-scale survey. Results showed a significant positive correlation
between group satisfaction and group performance (Zeitun, 2013). Thus, when groups members
enjoy completing tasks with their teams, the overall performance of the group increases.

Task difficulty affects how an individual perceives a task in terms of enjoyment, and
therefore affects his/her engagement in the task. A general understanding is that as task difficulty
increases, performance decreases. Rice et al. (2012) demonstrated this by performing three
experiments with increasing difficulty. Their research concluded that as a task becomes more
difficult, an individual will perform more randomly, and his/her overall performance accuracy
decreases (Rice et al., 2012, p. 14). However, there may also be a relationship between task
difficulty and hedonic value. According to OBrien and Pere (1985), individuals are most likely
to be satisfied when they are able to perceive that the task utilizes their abilities (OBrien &
Pere, 1985, p. 319). This does not mean that individuals will always enjoy a difficult task. In
order to enjoy it, they have to be confident in their abilities to perform the task at hand and feel
like they are being challenged.
Higgins (2006) reviewed the findings in past research on the relationship between
hedonic experience and engagement. He concluded that individuals hedonic experience and
their level of engagement during task completion affects their motivation to complete a task and
how they value the task. People will want to complete a task if they enjoy it, but individuals can
be highly engaged in a task that has a negative hedonic value. Higgins (2006) claims, there are
other sources of engagement strength that are independent of the value targets hedonic
properties (Higgins, 2006, p. 442). An example of an interfering force is the difficulty of a task.
When difficulty is opposed, the strength of engagement increases and if the value target is
positive to begin with, then difficulty will intensify its positivity; if the value target is negative,
then difficulty will intensify its negativity (Higgins, 2006, p. 444).
Higgins (2006) also describes that arousal level during an emotional experience could
involve the strength of engagement, although the relationship between the two is not confirmed.
Working on a task in a group increases arousal. If arousal is the variable of engagement strength,
then coaction will increase the strength of engagement and the value of the initial response to the
situation will also increase (Higgins, 2006, p. 453).
RATIONALE FOR OUR INVESTIGATION
The following questions are being investigated throughout the study:
1. Are people more stimulated during easy tasks or difficult tasks?
2. Are people more stimulated when working in groups or as individuals?
3. Do people perceive time as faster or slower when working on tasks individually
versus in a group?
Past studies have not confirmed the myth time flies when you are having fun. Sackett,
Meyvis, Nelson, Converse, and Sackett performed five studies on the relationship between time
perception and enjoyment, and published their findings in the Association for Psychological
Sciences journal, Psychological Science (Sackett et al., 2010). In study 1, they manipulated
time while participants performed a mundane task of reading and underlining words that have
double letters, like epigrammatic. Sackett et al. hypothesized that when participants are told that
a shorter amount of time has passed, they will rate the task as being more enjoyable.

In study 1 Sackett et al. conducted two different tests: manipulating actual duration
while holding alleged duration constant, and holding actual duration constant while
manipulating alleged duration (Sackett et al., 2010). They had university students individually
complete the same task in each test; there were 37 participants in study 1a and 79 participants in
study 1b. There was a time-flies and time-drags scenario in each study. In study 1a,
participants were told they would work on the task for 10 minutes, but in reality they either
worked for 5 minutes or 20 minutes. In study 1b, participants spent 10 minutes working on the
task, but were told that either 5 minutes or 20 minutes had passed by. Following both of the
scenarios for each test, participants took a survey where they rated the following categories on a
7 point scale: enjoyment, challenge, engagement, fun, skill required, excitement for a future
similar task, and how quick time seemed to progress with 1= time dragged, 4= pretty normal, and
7= time flew.
The results of study 1a and study 1b confirmed the hypothesis that in the time-flies
conditions, participants will report that time progressed faster and they will rate the task as being
more enjoyable. However, there is an issue with this study that prevents it from confirming the
myth that time flies when you are having fun. Sackett et al. (2010) only provided a mundane
task for participants to complete. A boring task may have a negative hedonic value for
participants since they might not find the task challenging. Research has shown that task
difficulty affects the level of engagement. Therefore, including an easy and difficult task would
provide more information about how time is perceived.
In other studies by Sackett et al. (2010), they researched the myth using a different
approach, such as when time flies, noises are less irritating, and when time flies, good songs get
better. They concluded in their research that the accelerated passage of time leads to feelings of
time distortion, which are then attributed to greater subjective enjoyment (Sackett et al., 2010 p.
113). However, the research focused more on individual experiences rather than comparing to
group settings during task completion.
Research performed by Zeitun et al. (2013) showed a relationship between group
satisfaction and group performance during task completion (Zeitun, 2013, p. 290). It is therefore
suggested by this proposal, that if group satisfaction and enjoyment leads to increased group
performance, accurate time perception may be altered. The research experiment outlined in this
proposal will use group facilitation to evaluate the validity of the myth time flies when you are
having fun.
After preliminary research on the questions that will be addressed in the study, the
following hypotheses were made:
1. Participants will be more stimulated when working on difficult tasks compared to
when working on easy tasks.
2. Participants will be more stimulated when working on a task in a group compared
to working on a task individually.
3. Participants working on a task in a group will perceive time as occurring faster
compared to participants working on a task individually.

PROCEDURE
To conduct the experiment, the following steps will be carried out:
1. Researchers will introduce the experiment to the student participants using a script (see
Appendix A). Cell phones and watches will be kept in backpacks and computer monitors
will be turned off to eliminate any indication of time.
2. Using two sections of 24 English 202C students each, the students in one section will be
randomly assigned to eight groups of three individuals, and the students in the other
section will remain as 24 individuals to avoid group discussion distracting individuals
during task completion.
a. Note: In the absence of time indicators, four groups and 12 individuals will
complete the same packet of six easy Find the Difference task on paper, while
the remaining four groups and 12 individuals will complete the same packet of six
difficult Find the Difference task on paper.
i.
The difficult Find the Difference tasks were taken from the following
website: http://www.spotthedifference.com/photogame.asp
ii.
The easy Find the Difference tasks were taken from the following
website: http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/find-the-difference
b. Note: The researchers will allow 10 minutes to pass before ending the tasks.
Student participants will not be aware of the time throughout the duration of the
experiment.
3. Upon completion of the tasks, each student will take a Likert-scale survey on paper to
evaluate overall satisfaction, task difficulty, task engagement, and perceived length of
time passing (see Appendix B).
4. Data Analysis will be completed with a two-sample independent t-test. The program
MiniTab will be used to complete the t-test. A p-value of 0.05 will be set as the
significance level to determine whether to accept or reject the null hypothesis.
CONCLUSION
As in any research experiment, possible complications may present themselves. In this
particular study, academic major, gender, and friendships could be sources of error. Friendships,
formed during enrollment in the same English 202C course, may affect the results of how
participants rate their satisfaction of working on a task in a group. Also, student participants may
dislike the task, affecting their ability to complete it and extending the perceived length of time
passed.
Future research experiments could be performed changing multiple variables. For
example, researchers could test groups of friends versus groups of strangers, as well as groups of
males vs. groups of females. Additionally, different tasks could be completed using the same
group types conducted in this experiment.

All reasonable safety precautions and necessary regulations will be observed.

Additionally, each participant in the study will be required to sign a consent form prior to
participation in the study, verifying that he/she is willing to participate in the study and will
allow the information obtained from participation in the study to be used within the final report
(see Appendix C). However, the participants will remain anonymous in the results.
REFERENCES
Carpendale, J. I. M., & Lewis, C. (2004). Constructing an understanding of mind: The
development of children's social understanding within social interaction. Behavioral and Brain
Sciences, 27(1), 79-96. doi:10.1017/S0140525X04000032
This research article was a compilation of multiple studies discussing the importance of social
interaction beginning in childhood. The section entitled The role of social experience in
advanced social understanding was particularly useful for the purposes of this research
proposal. Carpendale supports that from childhood to adulthood, peer interactions enhance selfpresentational behavior by involving the success and evaluation of the group as a whole.
Research by Banerjee (2002a) is mentioned to show that individuals consider the audience
during group settings to avoid shame or embarrassment.
Fierro, B., Palermo, A., Puma, A., Francolini, M., Panetta, M., Daniele, O., & Brighina, F.
(2007). Role of the cerebellum in time perception: A TMS study in normal subjects. Journal of
the Neurological Sciences, 263(1-2), 107-112. doi:10.1016/j.jns.2007.06.033
This source provided information on how time perception can be defined. It was important to
find a source that was able to provide a definition for time perception because that is the main
topic being investigated in the proposed study. The experiment in the article looked at how
lesions on certain areas of the brain impacted the perception of time. The results from the study
provided valuable information relating to the role that the cerebellum plays in perception of time.
Also the findings of Fierros research was related back to the findings in Harrington et, als
(1998) results through mentioning the connections with the fronto-parietal association cortex.
Grondin, S. (2010). Timing and time perception: A review of recent behavioral and neuroscience
findings and theoretical directions. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics,72(3), 561-582. doi:
10.3758/APP.72.3.561
This article was valuable in providing an example of how time perception could be influenced.
By looking at how attention could influence time perception it helped to create the hypothesis of
the proposed study that said Participants working on a task in a group will perceive time as
occurring faster compared to participants working on a task individually. The evidence within
the Grondin article allowed a relationship between the accuracy of time and working in a group
versus individually to be hypothesized. Although this scenario wasnt directly stated in the
Grondin article, it provided good background information relating to cognitive psychology.

Harrington, D. L., Haaland, K. Y., & Knight, R. T. (1998). Cortical networks underlying
mechanisms of time perception. Journal of Neuroscience, 18(3), 1085-1095. doi:02706474/98/181085-11$05.00/0
This article was able to provide an important understanding of the anatomy and physiology of
the brain, particularly the cerebral cortex. The article provided supporting evidence that time
perception was previously found to occur in the basal ganglia and cerebellar systems. The study
done by Harrington et al (1998) was a human study that used four test groups, which included:
right control, left control, right hemisphere damage and left hemisphere damage. Each of the
study participants completed the following tasks: duration perception task, frequency perception
task and an attention task. The results of the experiment were used in this research proposal
because they provided evidence that the cerebral cortex plays a significant role in time
perception.
Higgins, E. T. (2006). Value from hedonic experience and engagement. Psychological Review,
113(3), 439-460. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.113.3.439
This source provides information on how the value of the target, and the motivation to achieve
the target, is affected both by hedonic experience and strength of engagement. Higgins says there
are other sources of engagement strength, like opposing interfering forces such as difficulty. If
the task at hand is viewed positively, then difficulty will only intensify this. This source also
reveals a possible relationship between arousal level during an emotional experience and the
strength of engagement, but the interrelation is not confirmed. For the study proposed, working
on a task in a group may increase arousal level and therefore increase the strength of
engagement. In this situation, an individual who enjoys the task their group is working on would
have even more fun since they would be more engaged.
Myers, D. (2013). Group Influence. In Social Psychology (11th ed., p. 610). New York, New
York: McGraw-Hill.
This peer-reviewed textbook is utilized in the course Psychology 221 (Social Psychology) at
Penn State. Among the many chapters, chapter eight entitled Group Influence proved to be
most useful. In support of the research studies found using outside sources, this chapter provided
definitions approved by the field of Psychology necessary to encompass the background material
on group dynamics, group performance, and group interaction. Further, Myers included
summaries of many other research experiments done to further enhance the definitions and
theories described.

OBrien, G. E., & Pere, T. K. (1985). The Effects of Ability, Self-Esteem and Task Difficulty on
Performance and Task Satisfaction. Australian Journal of Psychology. 37(3), 309-323. doi:
10.1080/00049538508256408
This study used two different tasks: constructing chemical models referred to as a manipulative
task, and then the cognitive task type of anagrams. Each task type had a easy version and a

difficult version. The study reveals that a person is more likely to enjoy a task if they are able to
recognize that their skills are being utilized. This is helpful in determining what type of task
should be used for the easy and difficult task in our study being proposed. The task should be the
same type, except manipulated to make it harder.
Rice, S., Geels, K., Hackett, H. R., Trafimow, D., McCarley, J. S., Schwark, J., & Hunt, G.
(2012). The Harder the Task, the More Inconsistent the Performance: A PPT Analysis on Task
Difficulty. The Journal of General Psychology, 139(1), 1-18. doi:
10.1080/00221309.2011.619223
This source is useful to evaluate the effect that task difficulty has on performance. It also
demonstrates different ways to manipulate task difficulty. They kept the type of task the same,
using a visual task. Their research concluded that as a task becomes more difficult, an individual
will perform more randomly, and his/her overall performance accuracy decreases. Therefore, in
the experiment that will be conducted, it can be expected that individuals will be less successful
in completing the difficult version of the task.
Sackett, A. M., Meyvis, T., Nelson, L. D., Converse, B. A., & Sackett, A. L. (2010). Youre
Having Fun When Time Flies: The Hedonic Consequences of Subjective Time Progression.
Psychological Science, 21(1), 111-117. doi: 10.1177/0956797609354832
An analysis and evaluation of study 1 is helpful to the research for our proposed study
because it demonstrates a method of how to manipulate time effectively and how to measure the
results in terms of enjoyment. It also allows for brainstorming other methods to approach the
topic. The results of study 1a and study 1b confirmed the hypothesis that in the time-flies
conditions, participants will report that time progressed faster and they will rate the task as being
more enjoyable. However, there is an issue with this study that prevents it from confirming the
myth that time flies when you are having fun. Sackett et al. only provided a mundane task
for participants to complete. A boring task may have a negative hedonic value for participants
since they might not find the task challenging. Therefore, including an easy and difficult task
would provide more information about how time is perceived.
Zeitun, R. M., Abdulqader, K. S., & Alshare, K. A. (2013). Team satisfaction and student group
performance: A cross-cultural study. Journal of Education for Business, 88(5), 286-293. doi:
10.1080/08832323.2012.701243
This research studied the relationship between student satisfaction and group performance crossculturally. Researchers also looked at the effects of gender, employment, course level, and
course subjects. The central hypothesis was that there would be a positive correlation between
student satisfaction and group performance and a difference in satisfaction and performance
between American and Qatari students. Students at two universities from the US and Qatar were
divided into groups of three to seven to submit a written report and presentation, following which
they each completed a Likert-scale survey. Results showed a significant positive correlation
between group satisfaction and group performance. However, Qatari students had higher

satisfaction though American students had higher performance. The findings of this study are
important because they support the expectation that groups will enjoy tasks and have more
accurate completion than that of individuals, possibly leading to altered time perception.

APPENDIX A
Script to be read to participants working in groups
Researchers prior to the beginning of the study:
Thank you all for participating in this study. This study focuses on time perception; therefore, it
is vital that all participants are unaware of time throughout the duration of the study.
All computer monitors need to remain off, and watches and cell phones must be placed in your
backpacks. We will now divide you randomly into eight groups of three individuals.
During the study, you will be completing a Find the Difference task. We will provide each
group with two pictures that appear to be identical, and your task is to find as many differences
between the two pictures in the time that passes. Please talk amongst yourselves and work as a
group to complete this task. You may begin.
Researchers at the end of the study:
Time is up. We ask that you complete a survey relating to your experience throughout the study.
Please answer openly and honestly. When you are finished with the survey, we will collect them
with the task sheets. Thank you for your participation in this study.
Script to be read to participants working as individuals
Researchers prior to the beginning of the study:
Thank you all for participating in this study. This study focuses on time perception; therefore, it
is vital that all participants are unaware of time throughout the duration of the study. All
computer monitors need to remain off, and watches and cell phones must be placed in your
backpacks. During the study, you will work as individuals completing a Find the Difference
task. We will provide each group with two pictures that appear to be identical, and your task is
to find as many differences between the two pictures in the time that passes. You may now
begin.
Researchers at the end of the study:
Time is up. We ask that you complete a survey relating to your experience throughout the study.
Please answer openly and honestly. When you are finished with the survey, we will collect them
with the task sheets. Thank you for your participation in this study.

APPENDIX B
Survey to be administered to all study participants
How do you normally prefer to complete tasks/activities?
Always in
Sometimes in
Equally in groups
groups
groups
and individually
5
4
3

Sometimes
individually
2

Always
individually
1

How would you rate your interest in the task throughout its duration?
Very
interested
5

Somewhat
interested
4

Neutral
3

Not very
interested
2

Not at all
interested
1

How would you rate the difficulty of the task you completed?
Very
Difficult
5

Somewhat
difficult
4

Neutral
3

Not very
difficult
2

Not at all
difficult
1

How would you rate your level of satisfaction throughout the duration of the task?
Very
satisfied
5

Somewhat
satisfied
4

Neutral
3

Not very
satisfied
2

Not at all
satisfied
1

How would you rate your level of satisfaction while working in a group on this task?
(**Only applicable for those working in a group)
Very
satisfied
5

Somewhat
satisfied
4

Neutral
3

Not very
satisfied
2

Not at all
satisfied
1

Not very
interested
2

Not at all
interested
1

Would you be interested in participating in this study again?

Very
interested
5

Somewhat
interested
4

Neutral
3

How long do you think you were given to complete the task?
________________________________________________

APPENDIX C
Consent form for all study participants

I, ________________________________, hereby consent to participate in the time perception

study. I grant permission for all data obtained from this study to be presented in the researchers
English 202C report.

_______________________________________
Signature

_________________________
Date