Time estimation and total subjective time.

Techniques for estimation of magnitude were used in a questionnaire given to 100 university students to test the hypothesis that the subjective duration of an interval of actual time decreases in proportion to total subjective time rather than total chronological age. The results supported the subjective time hypothesis for retrospective reports of perceived duration of a year at both one-half and one-quarter of the subject's present age. In both cases the subjective time hypothesis provided a better fit to the data than the chronological age model. The hypothesis of the subjective time model that subjective life-span is equal to the square root of the statistically expected life-span was also tested but was not confirmed.