Investigation of Reaction Time in Humans

INTRODUCTION
As people age, many changes seem to develop for example our reaction time. On
average adults’ reaction time decreases at the rate of 2-6 ms per decade. This
clarifies the reason why many adults respond to stimuli significantly more slowly
than teenagers, particularly individuals in their late 40s, 50s, and 60s. Because
teenagers' minds have yet to fully develop, they react much slower than those in
their 20s and 30s. The brain is completely matured by age 24, therefore
individuals in this age group should have faster reflexes. In this experiment, I will
be investigating how our age influences our reaction time, this would be
experimenting with people of different age groups and testing out their reaction
time. Throughout this experiment, I will be observing how long it one to catch the
ruler. Later, with the data I would collect, I would create a graph that would
present my data in an organized way that would explain the growing age and the
delay in their reaction time.

RESEARCH QUESTION

“How does an individual’s age influence their response speed?”

HYPOTHESIS
I hypothesize that people who are older would have a slower reaction time.
“Reaction times do slow with age. Physical changes in nerve fibers slow the speed of
conduction as one age, although this normal change does not usually cause any
problems. And the parts of the brain involved in motor control lose cells over time
(“A Quick Look at Reflexes - Health Encyclopedia - University of Rochester Medical
Center”)”. This would mean that people like my parents or any other individual
with a similar age group would have a much slower reaction time than teens. This
is due to the negative correlation between age and the negative reaction time,
resulting in an individual’s age, their response time tends to decrease. I also
predict that are their age increases, there will be an increase in their reaction time
rather than a decrease.

VARIABLES
What How Why
IV Age of the individual In this experiment, I will
- 13 years have participants of
- 25 years different age groups (e.g.,
- 37 years teens, middle-aged adults,
- 49 years and elderly)
- 61 years
- 73 years
DV Reaction time- to calculate
This variable would how
the reaction time by usingquickly individuals respond
the formula t = 0.045 *(√d)
to how fast the ruler
falling.
CV1 Location condition (e.g., This is to maintain fair
height from where the testing since if the
examiner would drop the experiment is happening in
ruler) various locations, then the
reaction time may vary
because in some places the
length from where the
ruler would drop might be
different from the other
location.

CV2 The hand that the The use of the dominant

participant use hand ensures consistency
among participants.

CV3 Gender By doing the experiment

on the same gender which
in my case would be
females and not having any
participant as males.

MATERIALS;
 - 30 cm metal ruler
- Pencil/ Pen
- Data table- paper or laptop

METHOD:

1) Starting with setting up with the material listed above in an area where the
experiment would be conducted.
2) Have the participant stand in a comfortable position with their non-
dominant hand hanging by their side.
3) Inform the participants about the purpose of the experiment along with
explaining to them that they will catch a ruler.
4) Show the participant a quick demonstration of how to perform in the
experiment.
5) Hold the top of the ruler (with the side starting at zero). Make sure to only
hold on the tip of the ruler. Whilst the participant places their hand
approximately 3cm below the ruler. Keep in mind that the participant must
look at the top of the ruler where the examiner's hand is.
6) Without a warning, suddenly release the ruler and the participant must
attempt to catch it as fast as possible.
7) Throughout the experiment, record the measurements on the ruler where
the participant caught it. The number that would be the closest to the
finger would be the measurement.
8) Repeating multiple trials of each group would help ensure accuracy.
9) After recording the measurements for each of the trials, calculate the
average reaction time of each participant in seconds.

Using this image below as a reference on how the examiner would hold the top of
the ruler and the participant would have their hand placed in the experiment.
 The ruler been
dropped for the
participant to catch.

Examiner

Fig 1, a demonstration of how the experiment would look like

The participant must try to

catch the ruler.

Raw data table:

Age group Trial 1 (cm- Trial 2 (cm- Trial 3 (cm- Trial 4 (cm- Trial 5 (cm-
distance) distance) distance) distance) distance)
13 11cm 5 cm 6 cm 3 cm 7cm
25 26 cm 22 cm 10 cm 19 cm 8 cm
37 16cm 12 cm 16cm 14cm 14cm
49 16cm 10 cm 10 cm 13 cm 6 cm
61 26cm 16cm 10cm 4cm 13cm
73 26cm 16cm 27cm 16cm 27cm
Fig 2- This table shows the 5 trials done for each age group.

Age group Average distance in cm

13 6.4
25 17
37 14.4
49 11
61 13.8
73 22.4
Fig 3 This table shows the average distance in cm.
To find the average distance in cm, I would have to add all the trials done by each
age and divide the total by the number of trials.

Age- 13 years old

11+ 5+ 6+ 3+ 7= 32
32/5 = 6.4

Age- 25 years old

26+ 22+ 10+ 19+8= 85
85/5= 17

Age- 37 years old

16+ 12+ 16+ 14+14= 72
72/5= 14.4

Age- 49 years old

16+ 10+10+ 13+6= 55
55/5= 11

Age- 61 years old

26+ 16+ 10+ 4+ 13= 69
69/5= 13.8

Age- 73 years old

26+ 16+ 27+16+ 27= 112
112/5= 22.4

Processed data:
Age group Average reaction time (seconds)

13 0.113
25 0.185
37 0.170
49 0.149
61 0.167
73 0.213
Fig 4- This table shows the relation between the distance of the ruler fell and the (reaction) time.
To calculate the reaction time in seconds, I used the formula shown below.

t = 0.045 *(√d)
(t is the time in
seconds)
Age- 13 years old (d is the distance)
t= 0.045* (6.4)
= 0.113

Age- 25 years old

t= 0.045* (17)
= 0.185

Age- 37 years old

T= 0.045* (14.4)
= 0.149

Age- 49 years old

T= 0.045*(11)
= 0.149

Age- 61 years old

T= 0.045*(13.8)
= 0.167

Age- 73 years old

T = 0.045*(22.4)
= 0.213
Graph:
The age of each individual and the growing reaction time

Fig 5 This graph shows the average reaction time in seconds and then it’s age group.

Analysis:
The pattern that I observed from this graph was the general trend with the age
that suggests that the older participants have a slightly slower reaction compared
to the young participants. In this case, reaction times might differ among
participants in a particular age range. In contrast with the 73-year-old age group,
which exhibited the slowest average reaction time, the age group consisting of
13-year-olds had the fastest. Given that they responded somewhat more slowly
than the 49-year-old age group, the results from the 37-year-old age group were
likewise unusual. This is a bit unexpected given the age-associated rise in
response time.
Safety:

According to me, the experiment would relatively be very safe mainly because the
equipment that we would be using for this experiment is very safe as the main
material would be the ruler and the other materials that would be needed will be
the data table and a pen to collect the necessary data. However, it is important
that when dropping the ruler, the height from which the ruler would be dropped
isn’t going to cause injuries if missed.

Conclusion:
My hypothesis suggested that with increasing age, there would be a
corresponding increase in reaction time, and I posited that a decrease would not
occur. However, upon reviewing the data tables, it's evident that certain age
groups exhibited significantly slower reactions than some older individuals. Upon
closer examination of the data, I noticed a noteworthy observation: the 25-37 age
group displayed slower reaction times compared to the 49-61 age group, which
unexpectedly demonstrated faster reactions. This aspect of the data yielded
results that were somewhat surprising and not entirely in line with my initial
expectations. In conclusion, I am not stating whether my hypothesis is completely
wrong or right because my theory did support some initial parts of the
experiment but due to some unusual data that changes the whole plot of my
hypothesis. To get results as to why younger ages might have slower reactions to
older individuals, it would require me to collect more data with more individuals
since my data supported one person and their reaction time with 5 trials.

Reaction Process:
“The process of a reaction involves a series of coordinated events within the
nervous system. It begins with the perception of a stimulus, in this case, the
dropping of the ruler. The visual receptors in the eyes capture the visual
information and convert it into electrical signals (Maurer).” The electrical signals
then travel along with the optical nerve to the brain. This helps our brains
understand when the ruler is falling.

When reaching the brain, our sensory neurons send the signals to our visual
cortex, it’s a region at the back of the brain that oversees processing visual
information (The motor cortex tells the muscles in our body what to do when
catching the ruler.
“Next, the information is relayed to the motor cortex, a region in the brain
responsible for planning and initiating voluntary movements (Krakauer et al.)”
The motor cortex helps with generating motor commands that help with
understanding which necessary muscle action would be needed to catch the ruler.

“This motor command is then transmitted via motor neurons, which extend from
the spinal cord to the relevant muscles. The motor neurons release
neurotransmitters at the neuromuscular junction, initiating muscle contraction
(Krakauer et al)” This contraction allows us to use our hands to catch the ruler
while it’s falling.

Comparison to a reflex:
“A reaction and a reflex are both types of responses to stimuli, but they differ in
their underlying neural pathways and processing speed. A reflex is an involuntary,
rapid, and stereotyped response to a specific stimulus, often involving a sensory
receptor, sensory neuron, and a motor neuron (Khonsary).” Along with the point
above, Reflex often bypasses the brain’s center which helps with getting the
instant results that one might need depending on the situation that person might
be in.

“In contrast, a reaction is a more complex process involving higher brain

functions, including the visual cortex and motor cortex, and is often a voluntary or
intentional response. While reactions can still occur quickly, they are generally
slower than reflexes due to the additional processing involved (Krakauer et al).”
This quote justifies how the reaction often can occur quickly, but they are thought
to be generally slower than reflexes because of the additional cognitive
processing involved with the reaction which results in reflexes being faster than
reactions.

In summary, reaction time is fairly based on the sequences of events which

include the perspective cognitive and the muscle control, whereas reflex is the
automatic response to sudden action that skips the higher brain center because
of the swift response to something.

Evaluation:
This experiment was done with 5 different age group individuals with one being
aged 13 years and the oldest being 73 years old. When you look at the ages, one's
brain is still in the young development stage whilst the other's brain was fully
developed a long time ago showing the result of growing ages and loss of strength
along with further problems. Adding on to this, the experiment was conducted on
females only. The plan was to focus on one gender when collecting the data
rather than using both genders because that would affect the reaction since both
genders have different reaction times which would not only affect the data but
also change the purpose of the experiment.

The method of measuring the reaction time demonstrates some strengths and
weaknesses. These were some of the strengths, in my method that were
benefiting.
Beginning off with the strengths, in my method, it was mentioned that informing
the participant of the purpose and how to experiment would be considered a
strength since it explained to the participant what their requirements were and
helped lead to a more accurate and reliable response. The other strength that I
had in my method was conducting multiple trials for each participant which
provides the reliability of results and reduces the impact of outliers. The method
also had clear instructions on how to experiment along with a diagram giving a
demonstration of the whole set-up. Moving to the weaknesses, there are
potential learning effects that might take place, participants became more
proficient with catching the ruler with practice, potentially improving their
reaction time. The other weakness in the method was the measurement error,
often depending on the precision of the ruler and the accuracy of the person
recording the measurement, there might be a margin of error when recording the
measurement. The other weakness of the experiment was the limited control
over the environment variable because of the location where the experiment was
happening, there was quite a bit of distraction happening around the individuals
at different times so some had no distraction whilst others had a lot of distraction
in their surroundings.

Lastly, to improve the experiment, I would take in mind the location where the
experiment is concluded meaning I would do the experiment in one place rather
than going around to find each individual and doing it at different spots and
different distraction levels. The last improvement would be when conducting the
trials, it's important to have the participant looking at the top of the ruler
because, during some trials, the participant looked right at the bottom or
somewhere else rather than the ruler affecting their results.

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