Does time really slow down during a frightening event?
Level 3 - non-randomized controlled study
Non-randomized experimental cohort study measuring human perceptual performance
PubMed 18074019 · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0001295
What was done
Participants experienced a 31-meter free fall into a safety net while using a hand-held device to measure the speed of visual perception (temporal resolution). Participants' visual perceptual speed during the fall was assessed, and they retrospectively estimated the duration of their own fall compared to the falls of others.
What was found
Participants showed no evidence of increased visual temporal resolution during the fall. However, participants retrospectively estimated their own fall to last 36% longer than others' falls.
Why it matters
This study provides evidence that time-dilation during frightening events is an illusion of retrospective memory encoding rather than an actual increase in real-time perceptual processing speed.
Limits
The abstract does not state the sample size, participant characteristics, exact variance or confidence intervals, or statistical test values. A controlled amusement or experimental free fall may not fully capture unexpected, genuine life-threatening trauma.