Science+Experiment

=Scientific Method =
 * Topic:** Reaction Time


 * Question:** Which gender has a faster reaction time?

[|http:][|//en.wikipedia.org.wiki/Reaction_time]
 * Background Information:** **"Reaction time** (RT) is the elapsed time between the presentation of a sensory stimulus and the subsequent behavioral response. RT is often used in [|experimental psychology] to measure the duration of mental operations, known as [|mental chronometry]. The behavioral response is often a button press but can also be an eye movement, a vocal response, or some other observable behavior.
 * Simple reaction time is usually defined as the time required for an observer to detect the presence of a stimulus. For example, an observer might be asked to press a button as soon as a light or sound appears. Mean RT is approximately 180 to 200 [|milliseconds] to detect visual stimuli, whereas for sound it is around 140-160 milliseconds.[|[1]] [unreliable source? ]
 * Go/No-Go reaction time tasks require that the observer press a button when one stimulus type appears and withhold a response when other stimulus types appear. For example, the observer is to press the button when a red light appears and not respond when a green light appears.
 * Choice reaction time tasks require distinct responses for each possible class of stimulus. For example, the observer may be asked to press one button if a red light appears and a different button if a yellow light appears!"
 * Hypothesis: I think that males will have a faster reaction time.**


 * Procedure:**"At the risk of being politically incorrect, in almost every age group, males have faster reaction times than females, and female disadvantage is not reduced by practice (Noble //et al.//, 1964; Welford, 1980; Adam //et al.//, 1999; Dane and Erzurumlugoglu, 2003; Der and Deary, 2006). The last study is remarkable because it included over 7400 subjects. Bellis (1933) reported that mean time to press a key in response to a light was 220 msec for males and 260 msec for females; for sound the difference was 190 msec (males) to 200 msec (females). In comparison, Engel (1972) reported a reaction time to sound of 227 msec (male) to 242 msec (female). However, things may be changing--Silverman (2006) reported evidence that the male advantage in visual reaction time is getting smaller (especially outside the US), possibly because more women are participating in driving and fast-action sports. Botwinick and Thompson (1966) found that almost all of the male-female difference was accounted for by the lag between the presentation of the stimulus and the beginning of muscle contraction. Muscle contraction times were the same for males and females. In a surprising finding, Szinnai //et al.// (2005) found that gradual dehydration (loss of 2.6% of body weight over a 7-day period) caused females to have lengthened choice reaction time, but males to have //shortened// choice reaction times. Adam //et al. (//1999) reported that males use a more complex strategy than females. Barral and Debu (2004) found that while men were faster than women at aiming at a target, the women were more accurate. Jevas and Yan (2001) reported that age-related deterioration in reaction time was the same in men and women."


 * Materials:** A computer, 20 people (10 males and 10 females) and a reaction time test.


 * Experiment:**

male 0.24 0.24 0.22 male 0.26 0.3 0.31 male 0.27 0.4 0.28 male 0.24 0.27 0.22 male 0.25 0.25 0.22 male 0.77 0.36 0.26 male 0.22 0.24 0.33 male 0.47 0.22 0.24 male 0.22 1.9 0.15 male 0.32 0.24 0.22 female 0.34 0.24 0.35 female 0.23 0.33 0.29 female 0.3 0.3 0.33 female 1.38 0.68 0.36 female 0.95 0.28 0.26 female 1.7 0.32 0.33 female 1.12 0.28 31 female 0.47 0.48 0.23 female 0.32 0.22 0.22 female 0.54 0.24 0.22
 * Data/Results:** test 1 test 2 test 3

male average 0.328 0.442 0.245 female average 0.773 0.348 0.363


 * Conclusion:**