<p>It seems that there is a research literature on the topic of the relationship between body temperature and time perception. </p>

<p><strong>Weardon and Penon-Voak (1995)</strong> present a literature review of the topic which would be worth reading if this interests you. The following quotes their abstract:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Experiments investigating timing behaviour in humans under conditions
  where body temperature was raised or (much more rarely) lowered,
  dating from 1927 to 1993, were reviewed. These tested the hypothesis
  that humans possess a temperature-sensitive chemical or bio!g,gical
  internal clock. <strong>Most studies used conditions in which subjects
  produced or estimated durations less than 100 sec long</strong>, probably using
  chronometric counting, but other experimental paradigms were sometimes
  employed. Data from each study were expressed in a uniform fashion, as
  plots of changes in the rate of subjective time (estimated from
  changes in timing behaviour) against changes in body temperature. <strong>In
  almost all cases, rate of subjective time increased when body
  temperature increased above normal, and decreased when body
  temperature was lowered below normal</strong>, although observations of the
  latter type were rare. <strong>The data also suggested a parametric effect of
  body temperature, with higher temperatures generally producing faster
  subjective time.</strong> Some possible mechanisms for the effects obtained
  were discussed, with the most promising explanation probably being
  that the temperature manipulation produces changes in arousal.</p>
</blockquote>

<p><strong>Aschoff  (1998)</strong> also summarises some of this literature and highlights the important distinction between time frames of time perception:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>From the point of view of a chronobiologist, human time perception can
  be divided into 2 distinct classes that differ in their interaction
  with the circadian system: short time intervals in the range of
  seconds (up to about 2 min) ... [and]... long time intervals, such as 1 h... 
  The <strong>production of short intervals shows a negative correlation with
  body temperature</strong> and a positive correlation with the intensity of
  illumination, while the <strong>1-h intervals are independent of both these
  variables</strong>. For the short time intervals, the negative correlation
  with body temperature has often been documented (Aschoff and Daan,
  1997; Francois, 1927; Hancock, 1993; Hoagland, 1933; Pfaff, 1968;
  Wearden and Penton-Voak, 1995), and 2 publications give strong
  evidence for a positive correlation with light intensity (Aschoff and
  Daan, 1997; Pöppel and Giedke, 1970). With regard to the 1-h
  intervals, an independence of light intensity is well supported
  (Aschoff and Daan, 1997).</p>
</blockquote>

<p><strong>Hancock (1993)</strong> summarised the literature and discussed the proposed mechanism:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>The general notion of a temperature influence on time perception may
  be traced to Pieron (1923,1945)[1] who suggested that "if the speed of
  organic processes are modified, by variation and temperature for
  instance, mental time will increase or decrease proportionally." It
  was Pieron's student Francois (1927 a, b), however, who conducted the
  original empirical evaluations of the proposition. Yet, it is Hoagland
  who is associated most frequently with this general effect, mainly
  because of his postulate of a chemical clock to control estimates of
  duration. Using both his own data and those previously collected by
  Francois, Hoagland (1933) proposed that estimates of duration were
  directly dependent on internal body temperature. He described this
  relationship through the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrhenius_equation" rel="noreferrer">Van't Hoff-Arrhenius equation</a>, which
  describes the speed of a chemical reaction in relationship to its
  temperature in degrees Kelvin. In observing that the collective data
  provided a unitary slope value within this equation, Hoagland (1933)
  concluded that our judgments of time depend upon "an underlying
  chemical master reaction, implying an irreversible chemical mechanism
  controlling the consciousness of duration."</p>
</blockquote>

<h3>References</h3>

<ul>
<li>Aschoff J (1985) On the perception of time during prolonged
temporal isolation. Human Neurobiol 4:41-52.</li>
<li>Aschoff J and Daan S (1997) Human time perception in
temporal isolation: Effects of illumination intensity.
Chronobiol Internat 14:585-596.</li>
<li>Aschoff, J. (1998). Human perception of short and long time intervals: its correlation with body temperature and the duration of wake time. Journal of biological rhythms, 13, 437-442.</li>
<li>Francois, M. (1927a). Contribution a l'etude du sens du temps. La temperature inteme comme facteur de variation de l'appreciation subjective des durees. Annee Psychologie, 28,186-204.</li>
<li>Francois, M. (1927b). Influence de la temperature inteme sur notre appreciation du temps. C. R. Soc Biology, 108, 201-203.</li>
<li>Hancock, P.A. (1993). Body temperature influence on time perception. The Journal of general psychology, 120, 197-216. <a href="http://peterhancock.cos.ucf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Hancock_Body-temperature-influence-on-time-perception_1993.pdf" rel="noreferrer">PDF</a></li>
<li>Hoagland, H. (1933). The physiological control of judgments of duration: Evidence of a chemical clock. Journal of General Psychology, 9, 267-287.</li>
<li>Pieron, H. (1923). Les problemes psychophysiologiques de la perception du temps. Annee Psychologie, 24, 1-25.</li>
<li>Pieron, H. (1945). The sensations: Their functions, processes and mechanisms. London: Muller.</li>
<li>Pfaff D (1968) Effects of temperature and time of day on time
judgments. J Experimental Psychol 76:419-422.</li>
<li>Pöppel E and Giedke H (1970) Diurnal variation of time
perception. Psychol Forschg 34:182-198.</li>
<li>Wearden JH and Penton-Voak IS (1995) Feeling the heat:
Body temperature and the rate of subjective time, revis-
ited. Quart J Exper Psychol 488:129-141</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-10-12T03:33:59.583Z
2012-10-12T03:33:59.583Z
Jeromy Anglim
<p>Does raising or lowering one's body temperature lead to different perceptions of time? And does this then control the virtual length of positive or negative emotions?</p>

<p>For example, individuals might drink cold beverages while watching a horror movie or sip hot tea while coding or making a plane model. </p>

<p>Do people drink different temperature beverages while doing certain things just because of their preference or unconsciously because it helps to get more of that certain feeling they're after?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-10-09T22:16:50.137Z
From where do you get the notion that people in general drink cold beverages during a horror movie and warm drinks while coding?
Steven Jeuris
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-10-09T23:46:53.620Z
I can only agree those are some bad examples, I just hope it's clear enough what I'm after.
user1306322
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-10-10T06:45:14.253Z
I understand the question, but for it to be taken seriously it at least has to be framed as a real question and not just any possible hypothesis. Look for _any_ references which lead you to asking this question. E.g. _"Does the average intelligence of a bunny increase when drinking soup on a daily basis?"_ is also a 'clear' question.
Steven Jeuris
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-10-10T15:25:59.363Z
I'd like to know about fever too, but I guess that really is a different question. As for this question, it just occurred to me that body temperature and time perception could be related. I do understand that many of my questions don't look serious, and I'm sorry I can't support them with studies and research. I'm already at that level of curiosity.
user1306322
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-10-10T19:37:08.683Z
@user1306322: Looks like my edits were too radical and did not get approved. I was wondering that myself. 
Anyway, for the first question,  I'd recommend looking/googling  for correlational studies between body temperature vs duration judgement tasks.
 As for the second question(emotions vs hot/cold beverages). i think this is even more conflated.So i'll just throw keywords like affect, arousal level, body temperature, and of course duration judgement.
Software Mechanic
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-10-10T22:53:19.443Z
see also question about [fever time perception relationship](http://cogsci.stackexchange.com/questions/1737/how-does-fever-affect-time-perception)
Jeromy Anglim
<emotion><physiology><arousal><time>
How does body temperature affect perception of time?
user1306322
# How does body temperature affect perception of time?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2012-10-09)

Does raising or lowering one's body temperature lead to different perceptions of time? And does this then control the virtual length of positive or negative emotions?

For example, individuals might drink cold beverages while watching a horror movie or sip hot tea while coding or making a plane model.

Do people drink different temperature beverages while doing certain things just because of their preference or unconsciously because it helps to get more of that certain feeling they're after?

**Tags:** emotion, physiology, arousal, time

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: From where do you get the notion that people in general drink cold beverages during a horror movie and warm drinks while coding?  
> **username_0**: I can only agree those are some bad examples, I just hope it's clear enough what I'm after.  
> **username_1**: I understand the question, but for it to be taken seriously it at least has to be framed as a real question and not just any possible hypothesis. Look for _any_ references which lead you to asking this question. E.g. _"Does the average intelligence of a bunny increase when drinking soup on a daily basis?"_ is also a 'clear' question.  
> **username_0**: I'd like to know about fever too, but I guess that really is a different question. As for this question, it just occurred to me that body temperature and time perception could be related. I do understand that many of my questions don't look serious, and I'm sorry I can't support them with studies and research. I'm already at that level of curiosity.  
> **username_2**: @username_0: Looks like my edits were too radical and did not get approved. I was wondering that myself.  Anyway, for the first question,  I'd recommend looking/googling  for correlational studies between body temperature vs duration judgement tasks.  As for the second question(emotions vs hot/cold beverages). i think this is even more conflated.So i'll just throw keywords like affect, arousal level, body temperature, and of course duration judgement.  
> **username_3**: see also question about [fever time perception relationship](http://cogsci.stackexchange.com/questions/1737/how-does-fever-affect-time-perception)  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2012-10-12. Score: 5

It seems that there is a research literature on the topic of the relationship between body temperature and time perception.

**Weardon and Penon-Voak (1995)** present a literature review of the topic which would be worth reading if this interests you. The following quotes their abstract:

> Experiments investigating timing behaviour in humans under conditions
> where body temperature was raised or (much more rarely) lowered,
> dating from 1927 to 1993, were reviewed. These tested the hypothesis
> that humans possess a temperature-sensitive chemical or bio!g,gical
> internal clock. **Most studies used conditions in which subjects
> produced or estimated durations less than 100 sec long**, probably using
> chronometric counting, but other experimental paradigms were sometimes
> employed. Data from each study were expressed in a uniform fashion, as
> plots of changes in the rate of subjective time (estimated from
> changes in timing behaviour) against changes in body temperature. **In
> almost all cases, rate of subjective time increased when body
> temperature increased above normal, and decreased when body
> temperature was lowered below normal**, although observations of the
> latter type were rare. **The data also suggested a parametric effect of
> body temperature, with higher temperatures generally producing faster
> subjective time.** Some possible mechanisms for the effects obtained
> were discussed, with the most promising explanation probably being
> that the temperature manipulation produces changes in arousal.

**Aschoff  (1998)** also summarises some of this literature and highlights the important distinction between time frames of time perception:

> From the point of view of a chronobiologist, human time perception can
> be divided into 2 distinct classes that differ in their interaction
> with the circadian system: short time intervals in the range of
> seconds (up to about 2 min) ... [and]... long time intervals, such as 1 h... 
> The **production of short intervals shows a negative correlation with
> body temperature** and a positive correlation with the intensity of
> illumination, while the **1-h intervals are independent of both these
> variables**. For the short time intervals, the negative correlation
> with body temperature has often been documented (Aschoff and Daan,
> 1997; Francois, 1927; Hancock, 1993; Hoagland, 1933; Pfaff, 1968;
> Wearden and Penton-Voak, 1995), and 2 publications give strong
> evidence for a positive correlation with light intensity (Aschoff and
> Daan, 1997; Pöppel and Giedke, 1970). With regard to the 1-h
> intervals, an independence of light intensity is well supported
> (Aschoff and Daan, 1997).

**Hancock (1993)** summarised the literature and discussed the proposed mechanism:

> The general notion of a temperature influence on time perception may
> be traced to Pieron (1923,1945)[1] who suggested that "if the speed of
> organic processes are modified, by variation and temperature for
> instance, mental time will increase or decrease proportionally." It
> was Pieron's student Francois (1927 a, b), however, who conducted the
> original empirical evaluations of the proposition. Yet, it is Hoagland
> who is associated most frequently with this general effect, mainly
> because of his postulate of a chemical clock to control estimates of
> duration. Using both his own data and those previously collected by
> Francois, Hoagland (1933) proposed that estimates of duration were
> directly dependent on internal body temperature. He described this
> relationship through the [Van't Hoff-Arrhenius equation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrhenius_equation), which
> describes the speed of a chemical reaction in relationship to its
> temperature in degrees Kelvin. In observing that the collective data
> provided a unitary slope value within this equation, Hoagland (1933)
> concluded that our judgments of time depend upon "an underlying
> chemical master reaction, implying an irreversible chemical mechanism
> controlling the consciousness of duration."

### References

* Aschoff J (1985) On the perception of time during prolonged
  temporal isolation. Human Neurobiol 4:41-52.
* Aschoff J and Daan S (1997) Human time perception in
  temporal isolation: Effects of illumination intensity.
  Chronobiol Internat 14:585-596.
* Aschoff, J. (1998). Human perception of short and long time intervals: its correlation with body temperature and the duration of wake time. Journal of biological rhythms, 13, 437-442.
* Francois, M. (1927a). Contribution a l'etude du sens du temps. La temperature inteme comme facteur de variation de l'appreciation subjective des durees. Annee Psychologie, 28,186-204.
* Francois, M. (1927b). Influence de la temperature inteme sur notre appreciation du temps. C. R. Soc Biology, 108, 201-203.
* Hancock, P.A. (1993). Body temperature influence on time perception. The Journal of general psychology, 120, 197-216. [PDF](http://peterhancock.cos.ucf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Hancock_Body-temperature-influence-on-time-perception_1993.pdf)
* Hoagland, H. (1933). The physiological control of judgments of duration: Evidence of a chemical clock. Journal of General Psychology, 9, 267-287.
* Pieron, H. (1923). Les problemes psychophysiologiques de la perception du temps. Annee Psychologie, 24, 1-25.
* Pieron, H. (1945). The sensations: Their functions, processes and mechanisms. London: Muller.
* Pfaff D (1968) Effects of temperature and time of day on time
  judgments. J Experimental Psychol 76:419-422.
* Pöppel E and Giedke H (1970) Diurnal variation of time
  perception. Psychol Forschg 34:182-198.
* Wearden JH and Penton-Voak IS (1995) Feeling the heat:
  Body temperature and the rate of subjective time, revis-
  ited. Quart J Exper Psychol 488:129-141


---

