Image of Prof Ruth Ogden

Prof Ruth Ogden

School of Psychology

Faculty of Health

Ruth Ogden is Professor of the Psychology of Time. She was awarded a PhD from the University of Manchester in 2008 and started working as a Lecturer in Psychology at LJMU in 2009. Ruth's research focuses on how humans perceive the passage of time. She is particularly interested in how our actions, experiences and emotions influence our experience of the speed of time.

Ruth is currently PI on TIMED, a 1.7million Euro EU CHANSE funded project, to explore experiences of time and temporality in Europe's digital age. This multinational interdisciplinary project, based in Czechia, Germany, Poland, Spain, Switzerland and the UK, uses mixed methodological approaches including semi structured interviews, real-time behaviour analysis, online questionnaires and psychophysiological analysis, to establish how increasing digital technology use is affecting individual and societal experiences of time.

Ruth is currently Co-I on After the end: lived experiences and aftermaths of diseases, disasters, and drugs in global health. This £6.5m Wellcome Trust Discovery Award led by Patricia Kingori at University of Oxford will investigate lived experiences of time and endings in global health crises. The project will ask questions such as; when is a global outbreak or crisis ‘over’ and how do such declarations of ‘the end’ shape our use of resources, our ethics and our ongoing care? What effect do these declarations have on counter-narratives and who decides what happens afterwards, what will be forgotten and what endure? Together, the team will identify the moral and ethical duties of global healthcare to prioritise and put in place broader ideas of temporal legitimacy.

Ruth is also partnered with the European Space Agency and the Argentinian Antarctic Institute to explore how extreme isolation and confinement affect our experience of time. This research will be used to develop mission schedules which promote a faster passage of time.

Ruth's previous research has been funded by UKRI, The Nuffield Foundation, BA Leverhulme, Bial and the Experimental Psychology Society. Her recent work on temporal distortions during the pandemic was included in the World Economic Forum.

Ruth's work is regularly featured in the media. She has discussed temporal experience on BBC Radio, Netflix Explained, Fox News, CNN, RTE, ABC Australia, NPR and CBS. Interviews with Ruth have also featured in Wired, New Yorker, Daily Mail, The World, LA Times and Fortune.

Degrees

2008, University of Manchester, United Kingdom, PhD
2005, University of Manchester, United Kingdom, BSc Hons First Class Psychology

Journal article

Fairclough S, Baker C, Ogden R, Barnes R, Toothill J. 2024. Distortions to Passage of Time Judgements (POTJ) due to virtual threat are predicted by autonomic activation PLoS One, 19 DOI Publisher Url Public Url

Ogden R, Alatrany SSJ, Muwafa Falaiyah A, ALi Sayyid ALdrraji H, Musa H, Alatrany ASS, Al-Jumeily D. 2024. Distortions to the passage of time for annual events: exploring why Christmas and Ramadan feel like they come around more quickly each year PLoS One, 19 DOI Author Url Publisher Url Public Url

Borot L, Ogden R, Bennett SJ. 2024. Prefrontal cortex activity and functional organisation in dual-task ocular pursuit is affected by concurrent upper limb movement Scientific Reports, 14 DOI Author Url Publisher Url Public Url

Baker C, Fairclough S, Ogden RS, Barnes R, Tootill J. 2024. Trait impulsivity influences behavioural and physiological responses to threat in a virtual environment Jones A. Scientific Reports, 14 DOI Author Url Publisher Url Public Url

Ogden R, Moore DJ, Piovesan A, Poole H. 2023. Distortions to the passage of time during chronic pain: a mixed method study European Journal of Pain, DOI Author Url Publisher Url Public Url

Alatrany SSJ, Falaiyah AM, Zuhairawi RHM, Ogden R, ALdrraji HAS, Alatrany ASS, Al-Jumeily D. 2023. A cross-sectional analysis of the predictors of COVID-19 vaccine uptake and vaccine hesitancy in Iraq Lounis M. PLoS One, 18 DOI Author Url Publisher Url Public Url

Ogden RS, Dobbins C, Slade K, McIntyre JC, Fairclough SH. 2022. The psychophysiological mechanisms of real-world time experience Scientific Reports, 12 DOI Author Url Publisher Url Public Url

Ogden RS, Piovesan A. 2022. How long was it for you? Memories of the duration of the UK covid-19 lockdown PLOS ONE, 17 DOI Author Url Publisher Url Public Url

Alatrany SSJ, Ogden R, Falaiyah AM, ALdrraji HAS, Alatrany ASS. 2022. The passage of time in Iraq during the covid-19 pandemic PLoS One, 17 DOI Author Url Publisher Url Public Url

Ogden RS, Faulkner J. 2022. The influence of recreational drug use on experiences of the passage of time SUCHT, 68 :65-74 DOI Publisher Url Public Url

Brenlla ME, Germano G, Seivane M, Fernández da Lama R, Ogden R. 2022. Experiences of distortions to the passage of time during the Argentinian Covid-19 pandemic. PLoS One, 17 DOI Author Url Publisher Url Public Url

Wearden JH, Ogden RS. 2021. Filled-duration illusions Timing and Time Perception, 10 :97-121 DOI Publisher Url Public Url

Ogden R, Turner F, Pawling R. 2021. Exploring the role of overt attention allocation during time estimation: an eye-movement study Timing and Time Perception, 10 :17-39 DOI Publisher Url Public Url

Ogden R. 2021. Distortions to the passage of time during England’s second national lockdown: a role for depression PLoS One, 16 DOI Author Url Publisher Url Public Url

Piovesan A, Mirams LR, Poole H, Ogden R. 2021. The effect of pain on reference memory for duration Psychological Research: an international journal of perception, attention, memory and action, DOI Author Url Publisher Url Public Url

Ogden R. 2021. Why Covid-19 might be making us lose our sense of time… The Cognitive Psychology Bulletin, 6 Author Url Publisher Url Public Url

Ogden R, Turner F, Pawling R. 2021. An absence of a relationship between overt attention and emotional distortions to time: an eye-movement study Timing and Time Perception, DOI Publisher Url Public Url

Ogden RS, Simmons FR, Wearden JH. 2020. Verbal estimation of the magnitude of time, number, and length Psychological Research, 85 :3048-3060 DOI Author Url Publisher Url Public Url

Ogden R. 2020. The passage of time during the UK Covid-19 lockdown PLoS One, 15 DOI Author Url Publisher Url Public Url

Ogden R, Henderson J, Slade K, McGlone FP, Richter M. 2019. The effect of increased parasympathetic activity on perceived duration Consciousness and Cognition, 76 DOI Author Url Publisher Url Public Url

Ogden RS, Henderson J, McGlone F, Richter M. 2019. Time distortion under threat: Sympathetic arousal predicts time distortion only in the context of negative, highly arousing stimuli PLoS ONE, 14 :e0216704-e0216704 DOI Author Url Publisher Url Public Url

Simmons FR, Gallagher-Mitchell T, Ogden R. 2019. Response-irrelevant number, duration and extent information triggers the SQARC effect: Evidence from an implicit paradigm Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 72 :2261-2271 DOI Author Url Publisher Url Public Url

Piovesan A, Mirams LR, Poole H, Moore DJ, Ogden R. 2018. The relationship between pain induced autonomic arousal and perceived duration Emotion, 19 :1148-1161 DOI Author Url Publisher Url Public Url

Ogden RS, MacKenzie-Phelan1 R, Montgomery C, Fisk J, Wearden J. 2018. Executive processes and timing: comparing timing with and without reference memory. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, DOI Author Url Publisher Url Public Url

Ogden RS, Makin ADJ, Palumbo L, Bertamini M. 2016. Symmetry lasts longer than random, but only for brief presentations. i-Perception, 7 DOI Author Url Publisher Url Public Url

Jones LA, Ogden RS. 2016. Vibrotactile timing: Are vibrotactile judgements of duration affected by repetitive stimulation? Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 69 :75-88 DOI Publisher Url

Palumbo L, Ogden R, Makin ADJ, Bertamini M. 2015. Does Preference for Abstract Patterns Relate to Information Processing and Perceived Duration? i-Perception, 6 DOI Author Url Publisher Url Public Url

Ogden RS, Moore D, Redfern L, McGlone F. 2015. Stroke me for longer this touch feels too short: the effect of pleasant touch on temporal perception Consciousness and Cognition, :306-313 DOI Author Url Publisher Url

Ogden RS, Moore D, Redfern L, McGlone F. 2015. The effect of pain and the anticipation of pain on temporal perception: a role for attention and arousal Cognition and Emotion, DOI Author Url Publisher Url

Palumbo L, Ogden RS, Makin ADJ, Bertamini M. 2014. Examining visual complexity and its influence on perceived duration Journal of Vision, DOI Author Url Publisher Url

Ogden RS, Wearden JH, Montgomery C. 2014. The differential contribution of executive functions to temporal generalization, reproduction and verbal estimation. Acta Psychologica, 152 :84-94 DOI

Ulrich R, Rattat AC, Ogden RS, Van Rijn H, Bratzke D. 2014. Cognitive representation of time and duration Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, :21-23 DOI Publisher Url

Brown GDA, Wood AM, Ogden RS, Maltby J. 2014. Do student evaluations of university reflect inaccurate beliefs or actual experience? A relative rank model Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, DOI Author Url Publisher Url

Ogden RS. 2013. The effect of facial attractiveness on temporal perception Cognition and Emotion, DOI Author Url Publisher Url

Ogden R, Montgomery C. 2012. High time PSYCHOLOGIST, 25 Author Url Publisher Url Public Url

Ogden RS, Wearden JH, Gallagher DT, Montgomery C. 2011. The effect of alcohol administration on human timing: a comparison of prospective timing, retrospective timing and passage of time judgements. Acta psychologica, 138 :254-262 DOI Author Url

Ogden RS, Salominaite E, Jones LA, Fisk JE, Montgomery C. 2011. The role of executive functions in human prospective interval timing. Acta Psychol (Amst), 137 :352-358 DOI Author Url Publisher Url

Ogden RS, Jones LA. 2011. Modality effects in memory for basic stimulus attributes: a temporal and non-temporal comparison Q J Exp Psychol, DOI Author Url Publisher Url

Ogden RS, Wearden JH, Gallagher DT, Montgomery C. 2011. The effect of alcohol administration on human timing: a comparison of prospective timing, retrospective timing and passage of time judgements. Acta Psychologica, DOI Author Url Publisher Url

Ogden RS, Wearden JH, Jones LA. 2010. Are memories for duration modality specific? Q J Exp Psychol (Hove), 63 :65-80 DOI Author Url Publisher Url

Montgomery C, Hatton NP, Fisk JE, Ogden RS, Jansari A. 2010. Assessing the functional significance of ecstasy-related memory deficits using a virtual paradigm. Hum Psychopharmacol, 25 :318-325 DOI Author Url Publisher Url Public Url

Ogden RS, Jones LA. 2009. More is still not better: testing the perturbation model of temporal reference memory across different modalities and tasks. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove), 62 :909-924 DOI Author Url Publisher Url

Ogden RS, Wearden JH, Jones LA. 2008. The remembrance of times past: interference in temporal reference memory. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform, 34 :1524-1544 DOI Author Url Publisher Url

Ogden RS, Samuels M, Simmons F, Wearden J, Montgomery C. The Differential Recruitment of Short-Term Memory and Executive Functions during Time, Number, and Length Perception: An Individual Differences Approach Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, :17470218.2016.1-17470218.2016.1 DOI Author Url Publisher Url Public Url

Piovesan ANDREA, Mirams LAURA, Poole HELEN, Ogden RUTH. The effect of mindfulness meditation on the perceived duration of pain Journal of Cognitive Psychology, DOI Publisher Url

Ogden R, Wearden J, Jones L. Current Perspectives on Distortions to Time Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology,

Editorial/letter to the editor

Diniz D, Brito L, Griner A, Kingori P, Ogden R. 2024. Additional lessons to prepare for rapid research response to possible vertical transmission of Oropouche virus in Brazil The Lancet Infectious Diseases, DOI Publisher Url

Ogden R, Wearden J, Jones L. 2024. Editorial: Current perspectives on distortions to time Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 77 :1797-1799 DOI Author Url Publisher Url

Ogden R, Moore D, Piovesan A. 2022. Pain assessment in autistic people British Journal of General Practice, Publisher Url

Dataset

Fairclough S, Ogden R, Baker C. 2024. Passage of Time Judgements and Psychophysiology during Virtual Threat DOI Public Url

Ogden R. 2024. Distortions to the passage of time for annual events: exploring why Christmas and Ramadan feel like they come around more quickly each year. DOI Public Url

Internet publication

Ogden R, Thompson J. 2024. How nature can alter our sense of time Author Url Publisher Url

Ogden R, Witowska J, Černohorská V. 2023. Technology is stealing your time in ways you may not realise – here’s what you can do about it Author Url Publisher Url

Ogden R. 2023. Why the future might not be where you think it is. Author Url Publisher Url

Ogden R. 2023. I've researched time for 15 years - here's how my perception of it has changed. Author Url Publisher Url

Ogden R, Montgomery C. 2023. How drugs can warp your sense of time Publisher Url

Ogden R. 2022. Are we nearly there yet? why long car journeys are so excruciating for your kids Publisher Url Public Url

Ogden R, Kingori P. 2022. Who gets to decide when the pandemic is over? Publisher Url

Ogden R. 2020. A year of blursdays: how coronavirus distorted our sense of time in 2020 Publisher Url

preprint

Baker C, Fairclough S, Ogden R, Barnes R, Tootill J. 2023. Trait Impulsivity Influences Behavioural and Physiological Responses to Threat in a Virtual Environment Research Square Platform LLC DOI Publisher Url

Chapters

Wearden JH, O'Donoghue A, Ogden RS, Montgomery CA. 2014. Subjective duration in the laboratory and the world outside. Arstila V, Lloyd D. Subjective time: The philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience of temporality. MIT press 978-0-262-01994-1

Wearden JH, O'Donoghue A, Ogden RS, Montgomery C. 2014. Subjective duration in the laboratory and the world outside. Arstila V, Lloyd D. Subjective time: The philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience of temporality MIT Press 9780262019941

Conference publication

Williams E, Ogden R, Stewart A, Jones L. Temporal difference thresholds and repetitive stimulation: Can click trains improve temporal sensitivity? Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, Experimental Psychology Society

Ogden R, Slade K, McIntyre J, Dobbins C, Fairclough S. The psychophysiological mechanisms of real-world time experience. Experimental Psychology Society

Media Coverage:

HuffPost: Feel Like Your Life's Moving Too Fast? Here's 1 Way To Slow Down Time. 2024

Daily Mail: Why the moon needs its own timezone: Scientists call for the creation of a 'Coordinated Lunar Time' as they reveal time moves 58.7 microseconds quicker on our lunar satellite than on Earth 2024

Dubai Eye Radio: Pandemic Time Warps 2024

Financial Times: Covid still warps our sense of time 2024

Radar: What constitutes a good use of time? 2024

BBC Science Focus: How to get more time 2024

Scientific American 2024

ABC Australia: Time Perception 2023

BBC Radio Scotland: Time and aging 2023

Financial Times Next 5: Its about time, the future of watches 2023

Somerset House Podcast: Soft Life 2023

CBC Sunday: The role of time pressure in baseball 2023

BBC 5Live: Time and aging 2023

The New York Times: Heartbeat may shape our perception of time, study shows 2023

Covid and Time Experience 2023

TIME Magazine: Our Relationship With Time Is Changing—Maybe for the Better 2023

NPR: To reignite the joy of childhood, learn to live on 'toddler time' 2023

The 1A: Covid is changing how our brains tell time. 2023

How did COVID warp our sense of time? It's a matter of perception 2022

Cape Talk: Children's Car Journeys 2022

BBC Radio 4: Does time move faster as we get older? 2022

‘Are we nearly there yet?’: why long car journeys are so excruciating for your kids 2022

The Sun: ARE WE THERE YET? I’m a psychologist and here’s the unusual reason kids cry on long car rides – and how to prevent it 2022

Why are long car journeys so excruciating for kids? 2022

The Times: When your pulse races, time isn't far behind 2022

The Daily Mail: Time flies…when your heart rate increases! Changes to sympathetic nervous system influence how quickly we experience the passage of time, study reveals 2022

Why does time fly when you're having fun 2022

Brains On! Why does time fly when you're having fun? 2022

Huffington Post: The Pandemic Warped Our Sense Of Time. Here's How To Gain It Back. 2022

Ruth appeared on the BrainsOn.org podcast series discussing time in the lockdown. 2020

Ruth appeared on the breakfast show for BBC Radio Leeds talking about time experience. 2020

Ruth was interviewed by Vega Magazine Brazil about time experience in the pandemic. 2020

Ruth appeared on NPR’s Wisconsin National Radio discussing my research on time distortion during covid-19 2020

Ruth appeared on Deutschland Radio discussing her research examining time experience during lockdown. 2020

Ruth was interviewed by Canada's CTV News about her research into time experience in lockdown. 2020

Ruth was interviewed by Yahoo Lifestyle about her research examining time experience during lockdown. 2020

Ruth appeared on Fox News Global Pandemic podcast discussing time experience in lockdown. 2020

Ruth appeared on NPR discussing dyschronometrica and time experience in lockdown. 2020

Ruth was interviewed by WIRED about the experience of time during Covid-19 2020

Dr Ogden was interviewed by BBC Radio Scotland about her research examining time perception during the lockdown. 2020

Dr Ogden was interviewed by Emma Barnett on BBC Radio 5 Live about experiences of time during lockdown. 2020

USA Today published extras from an interview with Ruth discussing how Covid-19 lockdown influences time perception. 2020

Medium.com interviewed Ruth about how to use time productively. 2019

An interview with Ruth was covered in New York Magazine's The Cut 2017

Esquire published extract from an interview with Ruth about time perception. 2017

Public engagement:

Public talk or lecture, Primary School Children, Guest Speaker, Oswald Road Primary School, British Science Week: What is a Scientist. 2024

Public talk or lecture, Academics and the public, Invited Speaker, Liverpool Neuroscience Group: A time to celebrate. 2023

Research Grants Awarded:

British Academy, Exploring non-academic stakeholder perspectives on time pressure and availability as barriers to sustainability transitions, Grant value (£): 10000.00, Duration of research project: 12 months. 2024

The British Academy, The Times of a Just Transition, PI Keri Facer & Nomi Claire Lazar, Grant value (£): 1500000, Duration of research project: 3 years. 2023

Wellcome Trust, After the end: lived experiences and aftermaths of diseases, disasters, and drugs in global health, Patricia Kingori (PI) University of Oxford, Laura Salisbury University of Exeter, Dora Vargha University of Exeter, Sharifa Sekalala University of Warwick, Deborah Dinis University Brasilia, Haja Wurie University Sierra Leone, Emily Chan Chinese University Hong Kong, Grant value (£): 6,500,000, Duration of research project: 8 years. 2022

EU CHANSE, Time Experience in Europes Digital Age: TIMED, Marc Wittman, Joanna Witowska, Chantal Martin-Soelch, Nuria Codina, Filip Vostal & Omar Abou Khaled, Grant value (£): 1738432 Euro, Duration of research project: 36 months. 2022

The Experimental Psychology Society, The psychophysiological underpinnings of real-world time distortion under extreme threat: a virtual reality study., Grant value (£): 3500. 2021

The Experimental Psychology Society, Understanding real-world distortions to time: who, what, why and when?, Grant value (£): 4500. 2021

The British Academy/Leverhulme Foundation, Establishing why time distorts during day-to-day life, Chelsea Dobbins, Grant value (£): 8291, Duration of research project: 12 months. 2018

DTA3/COFUND Marie Skłodowska-Curie PhD Fellowship programme, Now where was I? The changing role of prefrontal and motor cortices as a function of healthy ageing, Simon Bennett LJMU, Mathew Andrew LJMU, Grant value (£): 66000, Duration of research project: 3 years. 2018

The Experimental Psychology Society, Understanding attention allocation during time perception: an eye-movement study., Ralph Pawling, Grant value (£): 3500. 2018

Bial Foundation, Arousal effects on time perception and timed behaviour, Dr. Ruth Ogden, Prof. Francis McGlone, Grant value (£): 38219, Duration of research project: 1 year. 2016

Experimental Psychology Society, Modularity in time perception and timed behaviour, Alexis Makin University of Liverpool, Grant value (£): 3500, Duration of research project: 1. 2016

Experimental Psychology Society, The role of executive functions in timing with and without long-term memory., Grant value (£): 2500.00, Duration of research project: 1. 2015

Experimental Psychology Society, Emotional touch and timing, Grant value (£): 2000.00, Duration of research project: 1 year. 2013

Experimental Psychology Society, Can we shrink the attentional blink? An exploration of the effects of repetitive stimulation on target and probe identification., Grant value (£): 2500.00, Duration of research project: 1 year. 2010

The Nuffield Foundation, The effect of alcohol on prospective and retrospective timing., Grant value (£): 1500.00. 2009

Editorial boards:

PLOS ONE, Academic Editor. 2022

Frontiers in Cognitive Psychology, Review Editor. 2015

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, Guest Editor.

Conference organisation:

“Understanding real-world distortions to time: who, what, why and when?”. 2022

Modularity in time perception and timed behaviour: an EPS workshop, Conference organiser, https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/conferences/eps-workshop/programme. 2017

Prague ECR Spring School: Interdisciplinarity in Digitech Research.

External PGR examinations performed:

University of Essex, PhD, Timing the senses ans sensing the time: individual differences iin subjective duration. 2019

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