Sensory Deprivation, Memory and Smell, and Death Anxiety. Three design concepts that are informed by psychology articles and experiments and that demonstrate their findings.

1. Design Psychology
Concepts

10. 1. Sensory Deprivation and the Cognitive Clock
In 1966, the University of Rochester conducted an experiment to test the effects sensory deprivation had on one’s suggestibility on
their cognitive performance. Subjects were placed in a soundproof room with half ping-pong balls taped to their eyes and were
asked to lie down and stay still. Once two hours passed, they were brought out of the room and were told to listen to a series of
noises that related to or told a short story. Their responses were recorded and compared with a control group who weren’t held in
isolation.
The subjects each differently interpreted the series of sounds presented to them. These responses were categorised into four
groups, ranging from a coherent visualisation of the series of sounds, to a significantly disjointed association with the series. The
conclusion was therefore drawn that sensory deprivation interferes with cognitive functioning.
Additional research has indicated to me that impairment of cognitive function can affect our cognitive clock (or internal clock). An
experiment to observe how a reduction in sensory input and impaired cognitive function affects our sense, orientation, and
perception of time was carried out by Banks and Cappon in 1962. Results indicated that subjects who were exposed to these
physiological environments had a distorted perception of time, experiencing time to pass much slower than the perception
observed by the control subjects.
Based on the results of these experiments on sensory impairment and deprivation, I intend to design a sensory impairment
chamber in which people are invited to experience a perceived decrease in the passage of time.
References for Sensory Deprivation and The Cognigitve Clock
Banks, R., Cappon, D. (1962). Effect of Reduced Sensory Input on Time Perception. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 14(74). Southern Universities Press,
Toronto.
Blumenthal, A. L. (1977). The Process of Cognition. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc.
Blumenthal, A. L. (1977). The Process of Cognition. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc.
Glicksohn, J. (2001). Temporal Cognition and the Phenomenology of Time: A Multiplicative Function for Apparent Duration. Consciousness and
Cognition, 10(1), p1-25.
Kubzansky, P., Mendelson, J., Leiderman, P., Solomon, P,. Trumbull, R., Wexler, D. (1961). Sensory Deprivation. Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
Malner, J. M., Vodvarka, F. (2004). Sensory Design. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Mueller, C. G., (1965). Sensory Psychology. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
Turrell, J. (2001). The Other Horizon. Germany: Hatje Cantz Publishers.

11. 2. Memory and Smell
In 2006, Johan Willander conducted and experiment to explore how olfactory-evoked memories and memories cued by words or
pictures differed in age distribution and experiential quality. 93 men and women were separated into three groups: verbal, visual,
and odour. Each of the people were either told, shown, or made to smell 20 recognisable objects, respective to their group name.
Examples of these objects were tar, cinnamon, black currents, and chlorine. The subjects were then asked a series of questions to
determine responses relevant to detail, emotional qualities, positivity/negativity, pleasantness, intensity, and importance of the
memory, if any at all was stimulated.
Results showed that olfactory-evoked memories were much older than memories cued verbally or visually, most of which were
located to the first ten years of life (0 – 10). Comparatively, the memories evoked by words or pictures peaked in early adulthood
(11 – 20). Additionally, stronger feelings of being brought back in time were induced through odour-evoked memories. These
memories had also been thought about much less often than memories evoked through the other sensory cues.
On the basis of the results found by this experiment, indicating that memories evoked by odour differ from other memory
experiences, I have designed an experience that offers an opportunity for participants to smell specific odours to evoke memories
from their early childhood.
Participants will journey through a series of large spaces devoid as much as possible of all senses, excluding the sense of smell. Each
space will house a distinctive scent with the purpose of evoking memories formed at a young age.
References for Memory and Smell
Malner, J. M., Vodvarka, F. (2004). Sensory Design. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Murphy, D. F. (1966). Sensory Deprivation, Suggestion, Field Dependence, and Perceptual Regression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
4(3), p289–294.
Turrell, J. (2001). The Other Horizon. Germany: Hatje Cantz Publishers.
Whitehead, A. (2009). Memory: The New Critical Idiom. Oxon: Routledge.
Willander, J., Larsson, M. (2006). Smell Your Way Back To Childhood: Autobiographical Odor Memory. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 13(2),
p240-244.

12. 3. Death Anxiety
Two notable psychologists have done extensive research in the field of thanatology (the study of death) and the psychology
surrounding it - Herman Feifel and Elizabeth Kübler-Ross. They each share a common goal: to increase comprehension of how death
and serve life.
Through empirical findings, their research suggests that our attitudes towards ‘death challenges,’ including death anxiety, play a
major part in our views and decisions we make that are relevant to a variety of social issues and destructive behaviours. These
include issues such as abortion and euthanasia, and behaviours such as drug abuse and acts of violence. Feifel suggests that people,
particularly children, are becoming far more capable of withstanding stresses brought on by the lack of understanding of death than
by its implied abandonment and its mystery. Additionally, both Kübler-Ross and Feifel have suggested that a greater understanding
and acceptance of death and the notion of finiteness contributes to a psychological progression into adulthood. This is one of many
ways we can start to see how death and all it entails can serve life.
I intend to design an experience, either through product or through a spacial experience which informs the user or participant of
death and the notions of finiteness through use of spacial experience or user interactivity.
1. Experience
The experience will inform the participant of the notions of finiteness through the infinite as a response to death and all it entails.
I intend to use mirrors and sensory impairment as a method of evoking feelings of these notions, which will reflect ideas in
thanatology and death anxiety. The participants are offered knowledge and understanding through visceral experience and
empirical influence.
2. Product
The product will reflect notions of finiteness through kinetic illusion or tactile misperception. These experiences will be combined
with material sentimentalism and timelessness that will relate to the user on a personal level, offering an intimate connection with
the product. I will manipulate this connection in order to introduce or correlate a feeling of finiteness as a representation of death,
similar to the effect of the experience above.

13. References for Death Anxiety
Dougherty, K. (1986). Psychological States in Terminal Cancer Patients as Measured Over Time. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 33(3), p357-359.
Feifel, H. (1990). Psychology and Death: Meaningful Discovery. American Psychologist, 45(4), p537-543.
Green, B. R., Irish, D. P. (ed.) (1971). Death Education: Preparation for Living. Massachusetts, USA: Schenkman Publishing
Kleinig, J. (1991). Valuing Life. Oxford, UK: Princeton University Press.
Kübler-Ross, E. (1981). Living with Death and Dying. New York, USA: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc.
Kübler-Ross, E. (1995). Death if of Vital Importance. New York, USA: Station Hill Press Inc.
Punzo, V., Meara, N. (1993). The Virtues of a Psychology of Peronsal Morality. Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, 13(1), p25-39.
Turrell, J. (2001). The Other Horizon. Germany: Hatje Cantz Publishers.
I think this has a lot of potential to develop into a highly interesting project. With more time and thought I could explore many
more possibilities and with a better understanding of the psychology of death and thanatology, create a successful project that
responds to these subjects – something that I believe to be highly relevant to everyday life as it arguably shadows over everything
we do as a living being.

14. Mark Wilson
DSDN251 Design Psychology
20 August 2014
markwilsondsdn.tumblr.com