Apr 05, 2023 08:00:00

What is the mechanism of people who tend to be late?

Everyone is unavoidably late for appointments or appointments at a fixed time, but there are also people who tend to be late all the time. According to

Hugo Spears, a professor of cognitive neuroscience at University College London , people who tend to be late are thought to have a 'tardiness mechanism' in their brains. In addition, Live Science summarizes multiple studies on the mechanism of people who tend to be late.

Why are some people always late? | Live Science
https://www.livescience.com/why-are-some-people-always-late

Spears points out that the hippocampus , known as the region of the brain responsible for memory and spatial learning abilities, also processes some aspects of time, such as remembering when and when to do something. A paper published in Nature Reviews Neuroscience shows that the hippocampus contains neurons that act as 'temporal cells' that contribute to the recognition and memory of events we experience. Therefore, it is highly likely that the hippocampus' ``time-grabbing function'' is responsible for being late, but why do some people underestimate that it is not important because they cannot grasp time well? or the reason is unknown.

Spears cites `` familiarity with space '' as `` the cause of the hippocampus underestimating time '' in a study conducted in 2017. Mr. Spears asks 20 students who have newly moved to London to sketch a map of the university district as shown on the left of the image below, and compares it with the actual map to clarify the ``area they know''. We then asked each student to estimate the travel time to various destinations. If the students knew the area well, they could broaden their spatial awareness and draw a more accurate map. is. Similarly, even for the same student, the arrival time was estimated to be shorter in a familiar area than in an unfamiliar area. Spears concludes this, ``When you're very familiar with a space, you start to underestimate how much effort it will take.''

Another possible cause of frequent lateness is that people who are often late do not give enough time to complete tasks that are not directly related to travel time, such as getting dressed in the morning. According to a 2007 paper published in the journal Memory & Cognition by a team of researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , we usually base our time estimates on how long we think a task has taken us in the past. , Since memory and recognition are not always accurate, there will be a difference between the assumption and the actual time it takes.

Similarly, Emily Woldham, adjunct professor at Campbell University , says, ``If you have a lot of experience doing a task, you tend to underestimate how long it will take.'' In his own research, Waldham conducted an experiment in which he estimated the length of a general knowledge task based on the number of songs playing in the background, and found that 'environmental factors such as music distorts the sense of time”. According to this study, time estimates tended to be greater when listening to four short songs than two long songs. It should be noted that the deviation of time estimation due to music tended to be seen only in young people, and it was said that there was no effect on the time recognition of the elderly.

Another cause of lateness is 'congestion'. This is not an unavoidable delay due to traffic jams, but it is thought that there is a possibility that the sense of time will shift when it is crowded. Participants who were asked to estimate the length of their subway commute felt 10% longer during a crowded commute and described it as an unpleasant experience.

Waldham also said that personality traits such as low conscientious feelings that lead people to forget pre-planned tasks and whether they tend to multitask are also factors that influence tardiness. pointing out. A study published in the journal Advances in Cognitive Psychology found that multitasking people can forget about schedule delays because the load of task processing prevents them from anticipating appropriate future situations. I know it's high quality. ``Sometimes, even with the most detailed planning, you just don't have enough attention left to make it work,'' says Woldham. For the same reason, previous studies have pointed out that people with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have difficulty processing and estimating the passage of time.

Grace Pacey, a time business consultant and author of Late!: A Timebender's Guide to Why We Are Late and How We Can Change, says, 'The difficulty of the task The main difference between procrastination and being late is that procrastination often costs you, while being late often affects your relationships with others. I will give you, ”he said, saying that it is important to ``avoid being perceived as a person who is always late.'' In his book, Percy suggests tactics such as setting alarms, reminders, and detailed deadlines.