Does Age Affect the Reaction Time? Research Paper Example

Introduction

The primary study in science that is used to define the capacity of humans to respond to matters, situations and considerable operations is called mental chronometry. This study specifically focused on the response time that it takes for an individual to react on something. Considered as the core paradigm of studies such as psychology, this learning tries to identify the function of the human brain that prompts an individual to react accordingly to situations based on the matters that surrounds him and other elements that specifically affect his condition of thinking.

For this particular experiment, one element is to be tested on whether or not it is able to affect the capacity of the brain to respond to situations and different environmental stimuli. Age, being a constant matter that changes in humans, this experiment shall be based on the question does the age of an individual affects his reaction time?  Based on this question, a hypothetical assumption is expected to be realized which determines age as one specific element affecting the brain’s function to respond to situations. Notably, it is assumed that the results of this experiment would pronounce that the reaction times will increase as the age increases.

The question and hypothesis considered for this experiment are both dependent on the assumption and observation that has been conducted on several individuals regarding the way they react to situations. Considering experience, knowledge and capacity to develop thinking and reacting coordination between the brain and the body, it is realized that the more the person ages, the more capable he becomes in responding to situations immediately as required. To measure the considerations on the applications of this study accordingly, it is important to note these following points:

Protocol Diagram

Presented herein are some of the most important protocols that are to be used to measure the reaction time (RT) of chosen participants and how their response-results specifically account for the different considerations on the different factors that are to be used to establish the discussion section of this presentation:

 Design

The nature of this study has been designed to respond to the need of establishing proof on how the differentiation of age between human individuals actually identify their capacity to react on matters based on several activities that they are to be presented with. Relatively, it is considered herein that there are different factors that might be related to age that could actually affect their reaction time depending on particular activities that they encounter. Among the said factors include memories and experiences (Meyer, 1988). Under the concept of memories, a person is expected to store in specific ideas based on how they see matters accordingly and how they have been taught to handle such conditions through time. Most often than not, people gain understanding of matters from both formal learning and experiences and from such points of learning comes a sense of realization on how to handle matters, in a simpler explanation, how to react on things as they present themselves.

Knowing what to do and when to do it is the basic law of reaction. The mind’s capacity to perceive what is going to happen next pushes an individual to react accordingly to a situation presented to him. Knowing this comes from basically understanding how situations occur and what is likely going to come next (Luce, 1986). Based from this condition of cognitive thinking, it is perceived that a person ranging from the age of 10-20 have already garnered ample basic knowledge that they need to be able to understand how matters work. Meanwhile, individuals aged 21 to 30 years old are noted to have had ample experiences already that strengthen their point of learning and realization. All these matters specifically affect how these individuals react to the situation that they are presented with.

On the other end, as a person ages beyond 40, it is often assumed that the brain response slows down. The explanation behind this lies on the fact that when it comes to ageing, a person’s brain functions at a much different pace, specifically slower (Pedersen, 2010). The slowing of the brain’s function is because of the cross reaction between the left and the right hemisphere of the brain which often results to confusion especially when it comes to coming up with a specific decision that is usually considered random for most individuals belonging to a lower age-range. Such decisions could include changing clothes when they become wet from sweat; or some other situations that could involve a supposed immediate reaction on the part of the individual.

This is the reason why there are four particular methodologies considered in this experiment to serve as a measuring tool on the capacity of the participants to react on matters occurring around them (Weiss, et al, 2003). These methodologies are considered to impose a distinct indication on the capacity of each person to respond depending on different types of activities. The comparison between the results garnered could provide a better source of competent information that could identify whether or not age actually affects reaction time among humans.

Methodologies

Four types of activities are to be collaboratively used for this experiment to show relative connection on age and reaction time among the participants Having 25 participants all in all, each individual is expected to react differently on each activity basing on the age-range they belong to:

Bracket 1 (5 participants): 10 – 20 years old

Bracket 2 (5 participants): 21 – 30 years old

Bracket 3 (5 participants): 31 – 40 years old

Bracket 4 (5 participants): 41 – 50 years old

Bracket 5 (5 participants): 50+ years old

In relation to the separation of participants noted above, it could be observed that five participants are taken from each bracket to perform each method with 3 trials to measure the accuracy of their response. The methods to used are described as follows:

Method 1: Simple reaction time

This catching activity is supposed to measure the reaction of the participants on falling objects. Using the thumb and the index finger, each participant is asked to catch a one-foot rule from three distinct distances. All results were recorded accordingly.

Method 2: Reaction times on word cue

This activity shall involve picture-defined activities whereas the participants are asked to tell what the picture is. There are five pictures that are used in this activity. Pictures are shuffled within every trial [which means the pictures are shuffled three times] . The pictures to  be used present simple things such as cars, flowers, trees, etc but are presented in odd colors and shape. RT shall be recorded accordingly for each response given by the participants.

Method 3: Reaction time with word association

Another picture-based activity, this trial involves color definition pattern. The colors are spelled out in text that the participants should read. The twist is that the colors in the text are different to what the spelled color actually is. For instance, the color spelled in the word is green, but the text used to spell it is colored orange. The participants are supposed to identify the color spelled out and not the color of the test. RT from this activity is to be recorded accordingly.

Method 4: Choice Reaction time test

Each participant is given 15 seconds to identify what a dotted grid presents. Each dotted grid presents an image which is supposedly easy to catch and identify. The activity shall consist of 6 dotted-grid images that the participants are asked to identify.

Basing from the description of methodologies presented above, it could be realized that the participants are to undergo several types of activities that will relatively test their reaction time based on perception and instinct. Each activity is expected to gauge a specific section of thinking that allows a person to react accordingly to matters surrounding him. What makes the reactions possible is dependent on how specifically effective is the understanding that the participants have on the process of each method and how much they know about the materials that are presented to them.

Considering the data presented herein, it could be noticed that the dependent variables that characterize the overall experiment include the actual reaction time that the participants take into account in considering their response to the activities prepared. On the other hand, the independent variables include the age range and the knowledge background that each participant has which would dictate how they would be able to respond to each task presented to them.

Data Collection and Processing

To present the data collected from the experiment, this section shall provide a calculated data from the reaction point taken from the first methodology. However, for the second, third and fourth methodologies, analytically defined explanations shall be presented instead.

Methodology 1: results

These rough records present only one representative per group to give a distinct indication on the overall result of the experiment basing on the first method of catch reaction pattern. The age range of the participant increases based on individual representation [specifically indicating that individual 1 is the youngest and individual 5 the oldest in the group]. The results presented herein are based from the calculation as follows:

d (in cm) = (1/2)(980 cm/sec2)t2

t2 = d/(490 cm/sec2)

t = ?d/(490 cm/sec2)

For the second towards the fourth methodologies, knowledge and memories are the primary factors that defined whether or not the participants would be able to react accordingly to the pictures that are presented to them along with that of the color and texts that are involved in the set of activities used in the experiment. First to note is how the young ones from bracket 1 and bracket 2 specifically responded to the activities with an average of 2 to 3 seconds for each diagram and image presented to them. On the other hand, the ones belonging to Bracket 3 specifically responded accordingly to the activities at an average of 3 to 4 seconds. Meanwhile, participants from brackets 4 and 5 responded to the images presented to them with an average of 4 seconds. These differences imply the fact that at the point of being a younger implies a better chance of distinguishing matters relatively because of the knowledge that they gain from random experiences (Townsend, et al, 2000). As they age towards 40, individuals are expected to gain more experiences and further enhance their knowledge thus specifically affecting their capacity to respond accordingly to images randomly presented to them. On the other end, as suggested through the theories surrounding the study of mental chronometry, the human brain’s capacity to perceive and interpret are two different things, but both are affected by the ageing of the brain. The more the brain is used and practiced, the more alert the brain becomes thus improving the capacity of one to react accordingly to situations presented to individuals. Considerably, this statement proves that age does affect the reaction time of individuals to particular points of stimuli presented to them, however, particular elements still affect the said fact especially when it comes to the frequency of time when the brain is being used or practiced. A person at the age of 60 could apparently still have a sharp memory; thus develop better reaction pattern if he or she develops a regular reading activity that sharpens the mind accordingly.

Conclusion and Evaluation

Based on the referential patterns presented in this experiment, it has been proven that age does affect the capacity of a person to react to matters and situations. However, the hypothesis on the level of reaction as a person ages has been proven but just at a 50% rate of accuracy. This accuracy is defined by the fact that the rate of the capacity of the mind to react according to the situation presented lowers down at the age beyond 40. With such an occurrence seemingly appeared common among the participants, it is rather agreeable to say that the assumption of brain ageing affecting the reaction time of human individuals a valid fact. Delivering the proof for the assumed hypothesis specifically makes this experiment effective in providing the needed information to support the point that imposes on the fact that age does affect the reaction time among human individuals.

References

Luce, R.D. (1986). Response Times: Their Role in Inferring Elementary Mental Organization. New York: Oxford University Press.

Meyer, D.E.; Osman, A.M.; Irwin, D.E.; Yantis, S. (1988). “Modern mental chronometry”. Biological Psychology 26 (1–3): 3–67.

Pedersen, T. (2010). As We Age, Loss of Brain Connections Slows Our Reaction Time. http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/09/13/as-we-age-loss-of-brain-connections-slows-our-reaction-time. (Retrieved on November 3, 2013).

Townsend, J.T.; Ashby, F.G. (2000). Stochastic Modeling of Elementary Psychological Processes. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Weiss, V; Weiss, H (2003). “The golden mean as clock cycle of brain waves”. Chaos, Solitons and Fractals 18 (4): 643–652.