Every woman knows that color has an effect on the apparent size of
objects; that of her dress on her figure.[2] It is not as well known
that color affects our judgments of time. Our next experiment examines
this matter.
[2] In the diagram on the preceding page the white squares show
plainly larger than the black squares.
[Illustration: REVOLVING CHAIR FOR STUDYING LOCALIZATIONS OF SOUNDS.]
Upon a cylinder, slowly revolving by fine clockwork, strips of
different colored cardboard are fastened, and observed through a hole
in a screen. (See illustration on the preceding page.) The time of
each rotation is measured precisely. By observation it is found that
the period of rotation _seems_ to vary with the colors on the
cylinder. By combining colors differently through a long and tedious
series of investigations on many people, it is being determined what
part this sort of influence plays in mental processes. "When things
look gay, time seems short." Psychology seeks the laws of such
happenings.