Reaction Time Experiment

Purpose: Do males or females have faster reaction times?

Research:1. What is reaction time?2. What is hand-eye

coordination?3. What is auditory processing

speed?

1. The amount of time it takes your brain to recognize a stimulus and react to it.

Hypothesis:I think that males/females have faster reaction times.

Materials:•Ruler•Meter Stick•Pencil•Paper

Copy the following data tables into your lab sheet:

Drop cm123

Test 1

Drop cm123

Test 2

1. Pair up2. Partner A will hold a ruler above the

open hand of partner B with the 0 cm mark just above the fingers.

3. Partner A will drop the ruler.4. Partner B will catch ruler. Record

how many cm the ruler fell before being caught.

5. Repeat two times, then reverse roles.

Test 2 :1. Partner A will hold the meter stick

above opened hand of Partner B.2. Partner B will have eyes closed and

head turned away from meter stick.3. Partner A will drop meter stick when

“key word” is said.4. Record measurements and repeat

twice.5. Reverse roles.

Analysis:1. Verify that all data has been

recorded in charts.2. Calculate average distances that

ruler fell for both hand-eye and auditory tests.

3. To calculate reaction time use the following formula:

t = √ 2d/g

t = reaction timeD = distance (avg. of test)G = 980 cm/s2 (force of gravity)

Graph your results:

hand eye Auditory0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0.35

MalesFemales

Reaction Times

Conclusion: My hypothesis was correct/incorrect. _____ have faster reaction times than _____.