Reaction time
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[edit] Types
- Simple reaction time is the time it takes to react to stimuli. The average human's reaction time falls somewhere between 200 and 270 milliseconds, although athletes and others who train themselves can achieve reaction times approaching 150 milliseconds.
- Complex reaction time is the latency between a variable stimulus and a respectively variable response. Some examples of common reaction time tasks are:
- Go/NoGo (also called Recognition) reaction time tasks, in which participants respond to one particular event but are instructed to ignore other events
- Choice reaction time tasks, in which participants respond differentially to two stimuli by pressing one key for event A and a separate key for event B
[edit] Factors
The major factors affecting reaction time are:
- Recognition
- Choice
- Number of stimuli
- Number Type Of Stimuli
- Type of stimulus
- Stimulus intensity
- Diseases
- Distractions
- Fatigue
There are many other factors that can also affect reaction time:
- Trial and error
- Gender
- Age
- Race (Tubman, 1993)
- Finger Tremors (Brebner and Welford, 1980)
- Right vs. left hand (Dane and Erzurumluoğlu, 2003)
- Vision (Direct vs. Peripheral) (Brebner and Welford, 1980)
- Sobriety
- Breathing Cycle (Buchsbaum and Calloway, 1965)
- Stimulant Drugs (Caffeine) (Lorist and Snel, 1997)
- Psychological Stability
- Music/sounds
Complex reaction time is linearly related to response probability. The slope of reaction time versus response probability is related to the meaningfulness of the stimulus (Tarnow, 2007). [1]
[edit] History of the field
Physical scientists such as Archimedes and philosophers such as Aristotle conducted many observations involving aspects of chronometric measurement; however the tools or impetus to measure cognitive reaction time apparently was not developed, or simply has not left a significant traceable thread in the literature. The literature in other fields, e.g., epigraphical evidence, remnants of papyri, sherds, and other source material is uncertain and warrants additional investigation. Understanding of physical reaction time is critical for fields such as ballistics, archery, athletics, and the physical sciences in order to estimate and measure.
