Chronostasis

Chronostasis

Chronostasis (from Greek χρόνος, chrónos, 'time' and στάσις, stásis, 'standing') is a type of temporal illusion in which the first impression following the introduction of a new event or task-demand to the brain can appear to be extended in time. For example, chronostasis temporarily occurs when fixating on a target stimulus, immediately following a saccade (i.e., quick eye movement). This elicits an overestimation in the temporal duration for which that target stimulus (i.e., postsaccadic stimulus) was perceived. This effect can extend apparent durations by up to half a second and is consistent with the idea that the visual system models events prior to perception. A common occurrence of this illusion is known as the stopped-clock illusion, where the second hand of an analog clock appears to stay still for longer than normal when looking at it for the first time. This illusion can also occur in the auditory and tactile domain. For instance, a study suggests that when someone listens to a ringing tone through a telephone, while repetitively switching the receiver from one ear to the other, it causes the caller to overestimate the temporal duration between rings.

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