Time Perception and the Feedback Principle

The psychology of time perception, which is increasingly attracting the attention of researchers, finds its explanation in Lenin's theory of reflection and in the Pavlovian concept of higher nervous activity, which is a confirmation in natural science of the Marxist theory of knowledge. Time exists objectively, and is represented to man — by means of time perception — as one of the fundamental forms of being. The essential features and laws of such perception are determined by the interaction of excitatory and inhibitory cortical processes. However, a number of mechanisms involved in carrying out this process of representation have, as yet, been little investigated. The feedback principle would appear to offer a fruitful approach in this regard. This principle, along with comparison theory, makes possible a new interpretation and generalization of the large amount of experimental data that has already been accumulated on the psychology of temporal perceptions.