Some people can watch a two-hour movie without ever wondering how much time remains. Others glance at the progress bar whenever the story slows down, after a major plot development or when they become curious about how the ending will fit into the remaining minutes. It may seem like a tiny viewing habit, but psychology suggests that attention to time can change the way people experience duration and anticipate what is coming next. Research on time perception shows that subjective duration is influenced by attention, memory and the amount of cognitive processing taking place. Meanwhile, research on temporal attention shows that the brain uses information about when events are likely to happen to prepare perception and action. So when someone repeatedly checks a movie's remaining time, they may not simply be impatient. They may be orienting themselves toward the future, turning an unfolding story into something that can be mentally measured, predicted and anticipated.
