Think Fast!

Question:

How does age affect reaction time?

Senior AdultAdult Child

Research: How quickly or slowly you react to

something is called your reaction time. Your Reaction time is measured by how

long it takes for your eyes to tell your brain that the ruler is falling and then for your brain to tell your fingers to catch it.

The ruler falling is the stimulus and this type of reaction is a simple reaction.

The simple reaction time is the time it takes to react to a simple stimuli- or a small change in your environment.

Purpose: To find out if age affects reaction time. I want to discover this to see if I need to give my grandparents and parents extra points when playing wii tennis.

Hypothesis:

I think that the senior and the adult reaction time will be slower than the child’s reaction time.

Materials:ruler with centimeter marks

tablepaper and pen for charting results

Procedure:1. Sit in a chair with your arm resting on a table

so that your wrist hangs off the edge.2. Have a friend hold the ruler so that it dangles

above your hand. 3. Make sure the end of the ruler is hanging

between your thumb and finger.4. When your friend lets go of the ruler, try to

catch it between your thumb and finger as quickly as you can.

5. Compare the marking on the ruler where your fingers caught it to the reaction time chart.

6. Make a mark on your graph next to the matching reaction time over the Trial 1 column.

Picture of Investigation

Data Chart:Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3

Senior Adult 26 cm 24 cm 26 cm

AdultChild

Reaction Time Data Chart

Reaction Time Table: (from Brody, 1987,147)

Results:

Senior Adult Adult Child 0

5

10

15

20

25

Reaction Time in Seconds

Conclusion:

My hypothesis

Credit

Thank-you Mom for helping me type up my report and making my board.

Thank-you to my teacher for helping me measure my results and make my graph using excel.

Thank- you to my grandma, mom and my friend who dropped the ruler for me.

Other Ideas With Reaction Time Does my Reaction

Time improve with practice?

Does my reaction time increase with fast music being played?

Is the reaction time different with my right hand compared to my left hand?

Are boys reaction times faster than girls?