Data Investigation : Reaction Time

Baer, D. M., Wofl, M. M., & Risley, T. R. (2015, 11 5). Some Current Dimensions of Applied Behavior Analysis. Retrieved from ncbi.nlm.nih.gov: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13109980/pdf/jaba00083-0089.pdf

Thesis Statement: “Drivers who have been drinking are more probable than calm drivers to be included in accidents. Response times of an intoxicated driver may be lessened by up to 10%–30%, vision

Reflexes are the body's reaction something, reflexes are signals that are sent from your neurans to your brain and your brain processes the information then responds. To test if the difference between voluntary and involuntary effects the reaction time. In this lab the voluntary reaction time was the time between when the hammer hit the table and when the leg moved. The involuntary reaction time in this lab was the time between the time when the hammer hit the knee and the time where the leg moved.

The third test showed; At 35 miles an hour, Mr. Alterman’s average reaction time was .57 seconds, but while texting it rose to 1.36 seconds, more than twice his average reaction time of .64 seconds while under the influence. Mr. Brown fared better, but his average reaction time of .45 seconds rose to .52 seconds while texting, worse than his average time of .46 seconds while driving drunk. The results of the tests at 70 miles an hour were better in terms of reaction times. But at highway speeds, the extra distance traveled before coming to a complete stop was much greater. For example, Mr. Alterman traveled an average of four feet farther while driving drunk and an average of 70 feet farther while texting(“Chang“).

In order to know whether the evidence of research studies are accurate, one must be able to have a fundamental understanding in statistical analyses to determine if such descriptions and findings within manuscripts and articles are presented correctly and explicitly (Sullivan, 2012). Proper use of statistics begins with the understanding of both descriptive and inferential statistics. Correct organization and description of data characteristics from the population sample being studied leads the researcher to identify a hypothesis and formulate inferences about such characteristics. It is with inferential statistics that researchers conduct appropriate tests of significance and determine whether to accept or reject the identified null

The participants for this study were recruited from a Spring 2013 Experimental Psychology Undergraduate Course at Queens College, City University of New York. The research study was IRB approved and the participants for this study were not compensated. However, by remaining in the course, the students gave consent to participate in all studies. There were a total of 22 participants, 20 being females and two males. The participants consisted of 21 right-handed individuals and one left-handed. The mean age was 21.09 years, and the standard deviation for age was 1.02.

Abrupt appearance of an object within peripheral visual fields are sudden onset distractors (SOD) and they can have effects on attention and reaction times. Attentional capture occurs when a distractor stimulus appears in a field of vision and pulls focus away from the task at hand. This has the effect of increasing reaction times as it diverts a subject’s attention while the brain registers and processes the new information. When the brain is focussed upon a specific task the distractor captures attention and thus can increase reaction time through this visual processing mechanism. This demonstrates automaticity, a reflex which is both not inhibited by increasing cognitive load (load-insensitivity criterion) and not voluntarily controlled (intentionality criterion). The attentional

The two independent variables were luminant cue patches (light cue, dark cue and equiluminant cue) and location of the cue and target (valid side with cue and target on same side and invalid side with cue and target on opposite sides). The dependent variable was participants’ reaction time in millisecond.

| Based on explicit knowledge and this can be easy and fast to capture and analyse.Results can be generalised to larger populationsCan be repeated – therefore good test re-test reliability and validityStatistical analyses and interpretation are

When he consumed the 12 oz of coffee, his average reaction time decreased to 344+-60 milliseconds. It is quite apparent from the graphs that the average reaction time for every “case” for each test subject decreased when absorbing caffeine into their system. Test subjects also consumed the “right” amount of caffine, 160mg, which allowed the subject to shorten their reaction time, while the wrong dosage could impair it. We can also draw from the graphs the relation that the younger the test subjects are, the quicker their reaction time will be. Also, we can also conclude from the results that males tend to have a quicker reaction time than females (Daniel’s reaction times were faster than Jazmine’s, and Keon’s were faster than Mi’s).

Donder’s decision-making experiment was very simple. He measured the relationship between the presentation of the stimulus and the subject’s response to the stimulus using reaction time. The experiment showed that reaction time was relative to the required task. It was evident that when the request was simple, the participants' reactions were sudden, but when it was complex, the participants' reactions were much slower. Additionally, another aspect to this experiment introduced several stimuli and the participant’s had to

According to the types of reaction times, there are many factors that may affect reaction time such as gender, age, race, right vs. left hand, vision, types of stimuli, stimulus intensity, number of stimuli, practice and error, finger tremors, breathing cycle, disease, sobriety, experience, health, personality, timing available, and body temperature. Among those factors, gender is known as the common factor for many scientists and researchers use in their experiment. They want to know which group of people responds faster. There are many different features between men and women even though men they have no difference in the brain’s structure or cognitive abilities. They are very different in many other aspects such as: the toys they play with, the clothes wear, or the colors they like. Men focus on the problem more than women do, or men want to do it better than women such as push harder, jump higher (Deary, 2006). Therefore, there may be an expectation about the difference between men and women in response time. Based on the measurement, Zajdel and Nowak (2007) state that in response to all stimuli there is statistically significantly shorter reaction time in men than in women. Thus I decide to test the rate of men’s vs. women’s reaction time. The recording time will tell me which the faster group of people is. My hypothesis is that there is a significant difference between men and

It must be noted that cars are dangerous vehicles which can cause fatal damage. Individuals responsible for a vehicle are expected to be more alert than pedestrians walking down the street or crossing the road, this is known as “destructive disparity”. This

The reaction time (RT) of students was measured in the experiment to determine whether light or sound stimulus initiates a quicker response time. The question of whether or not RT was related to movement time (MT) was also challenged. Each student performed two test in random order; one testing the reaction time of a red light stimulus, or visual reaction time (VRT); and the other testing the reaction time of a “beeping” sound stimulus, or auditory reaction time (ART). The student completed the VRT trial by simply receiving the stimulus and pressing a button. The student placing and holding their hand on a button starts the ART trial. Once the student receives the stimulus (beep) they press the adjacent button as fast as they can. The ART trial does not only include the data of the RT, but also the data from the MT. Having previous knowledge that light travels faster than sound; one can predict that VRT is faster than ART. The prediction that MT is independent upon RT can be made with the thought that there are so many opposing variables that could affect the MT of an individual unrelated RT such as old age

To find out what happens to a subject’s reaction time when different independent variables are applied.