Decision making and reaction time

By: David NippardHkin 416Presented to: Dr. Martell

Overview•Decision making

•Reaction time

•How to develop faster reaction time

What is decision making ?•The process of making choices among

possible alternatives.

▫Example: During a game of hockey there is a 2 on 1 opportunity, do you pass to your teammate? Or do you shoot on the goaltender?

*Note: The number of stimulus effects the decision.

• 2 on 1 options

What about the goalie?•Will the player shoot, pass or deke?

Reaction time is critical

What is reaction time?

•The time between stimulus and response: ”the interval of time between the application of a stimulus and the first indication of a response”

•Senses (eyes, ears)---Brain (formulate response)---Motor Units (nerves)---Action (muscle)

•Athlete’s ability to react to the information that is processed through the nervous system.

Benefits of reaction time• Faster reaction time= advantage

• Athletes with faster reaction time have the ability to monitor movements for longer periods of time.

• Ability to recognize cues in the environment, or even begin the movement earlier.

• E.g., Returning a tennis serve, saving a goal kick, hitting a baseball etc.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kTxTWwkY6k

3 types of reaction time• Simple Reaction time: Only 1 stimulus and 1

response. (e.g. 100m race)

• Choice Reaction Time: More than 1 stimulus, but each stimulus has a designated response. (what shot to choose in a game of badminton. Forehand, backhand, smash, drop-shot).

• Discriminate Reaction time: Multiple stimuli but 1 response. (determining which colour is brighter by hitting an appropriate button)

Movement Time•The time it takes to complete the

movements of a particular action, from the initiation, to the termination.

Influences on Reaction time and decision making• Age (Older = slower reaction time)

• Intensity of stimulus (Bigger, Louder, Brighter stimuli= faster reaction time)

• Anticipation (If prepared, reaction time may decrease)

• Gender (females show a slower reaction time compared to men)

• Previous experience of stimuli (faster reaction time when exposed to stimuli repeatedly)

Influences on Reaction time and decision making .con’t•Number of Stimulus response alternatives

▫Hick’s Law Relationship between reaction time and the

number of stimuli presented. The more stimuli available, the longer the reaction time.

-This occurs to a certain point, where the response time remains constant despite the increase of stimulus.

Is it possible to develop faster reaction time?•Practice- with the same

stimulus/response, where the outcome is the same response=faster reaction time. The response becomes Automatic.

•Anticipation- the action in predicting or expecting something. ▫E.g. Anticipating where the goal kick is

going to be placed.

Two kinds of anticipation•Spatial anticipation: ability to predict

what will happen in the environment.▫E.g., predict a badminton player’s type of shot

(drop-shot vs smash)

•Temporal anticipation: ability to predict when an environmental event will occur▫E.g., predict when the referee will drop the

puck, or when the referee will toss the basketball for a jump-ball