Response Time

Question 1

Reaction time

Answer 1

• no movement
• the time taken between the onset of the stimulus and the start of the movement

Question 2

Movement time

Answer 2

• time taken from starting a movement to completing it
  E.g. 100m sprint - time between pushing against the blocks and hitting the tape.

Question 3

Response time

Answer 3

• time from the onset of the stimulus to completing the movement
  E.g. 100m race - time between hearing the gun and hitting the tape
• broken down into reaction time and movement time

Question 4

What is simple reaction time

Answer 4

• when there is one specific response to one stimulus
  E.g. athlete at the start of the race responding to the gun
• produces faster reaction and response, as athlete only has to think about one thing before they react

Question 5

What is Choice reaction time

Answer 5

• choosing from numerous stimuli
• player has to choose a number of responses once the correct stimulus has been chosen
  E.g. team games, player has to choose the correct stimulus from various indicators
• process is slower & the number of choices is a factor effecting response time

Question 6

What are the factors that influence response time

Answer 6

1. Number of choices: Hick’s Law
2. Single-channel hypothesis
3. The psychological refractory period

Question 7

Hick’s Law

Answer 7

• law states that as the number of choices increases, so does the reaction time.
  In sport - uses as an advantage as it keeps the player guessing e.g. varying a serve in tennis
• the variety increases the response preparation time -> delay actions of the opponent.
• HOWEVER players can become familiar with their env e.g. get used to the types of serves being played
  -> so their response becomes quicker
• graph shows increase then a levelling out at the top (reaction time Y and number of choices X) - no matter how many responses you have, the reaction time doesnt increase any more

Question 8

The single-channel hypothesis

Answer 8

• states that stimuli can only be processed at one time
• therefore a 2nd stimulus must wait until the first has been processed before it can be processed
• therefore delay in processing increases the response time ->
  The more choices the slower the response

Question 9

The psychological refractory period (PRP)

Answer 9

The confusion caused by the arrival of a second stimulus before we have processed the first = PRP
- performer may freeze for the split second it takes to sort out the conflicting info,
- before you sort out the new stimulus you have to discard the old and now useless stimulus and this causes a delay

• ways you can deceive an opponent to force a delay in their response
  E.g. performing a fake or dummy pass to fool an opponent

Question 10

Example in sport of the PRP

Answer 10

• S1 = first stimulus e.g. the ball to the right for a right-hand volley in tennis
• R1 = the response to S1, a right-handed forehand volley
• S2 = the ball hitting the net which means the volley is now not going to happen
• R2 = the response to the deflection which will happen, or not, after a delay while S1 is dealt with