Name______Per______

Reaction Time – Catch a Ruler

I. Problem - Does gender affect reaction times?

II Background Information -

a.Define “reaction time”.

b.Why are reaction times important?

c.Why would people have different reaction times?

d.Why might there be gender differences in reaction times?

e.Describe the six steps in reacting to seeing a ruler drop, then catching it.

1).

2).

3).

4).

5).

6).

III. Hypothesis

When comparing ruler catch reaction times, females will have ______reactions times than males.

IV Materials

Reaction Meter sticksMale and female students

V.Procedures

  1. Subject braces hand on the edge of a desk so that the fingers are over the edge ready to grab the ruler as it is dropped.
  2. Subject extends hand and holds out thumb and forefinger.
  3. The 0 mark on the reaction meter stick should be level in between the fingers, while partner is holding it place.
  4. Without giving advanced notice, partner releases reaction meter stick.
  5. Subjectattempts to catch the ruler with these two fingers.
  6. Record the position of fingers on the ruler as it is caught; the reaction meter stick is calibrated to measure milliseconds based on length.
  7. Repeat the first 5 steps for a total of 10 trials.
  8. Average the 10 trials and record on class table.
  9. Average the female reaction times, then average the male reaction times.
  10. Determine and draw the best graph to displayresults.

VI. Data:

Table A. ______

1 / Male
or
Female
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Average

Table B. ______

1 / 1
2 / 2
3 / 3
4 / 4
5 / 5
6 / 6
7 / 7
8 / 8
9 / 9
10 / 10
11 / 11
12 / 12
13 / 13
14 / 14
15 / 15
16 / 16
17 / 17
18 / 18
19 / 19
20 / 20
Average / Average

Graph A. Staple graph to back of paper.

VII. Analysis

  1. What were you trying to do in this experiment?
  1. Was there a difference between male and female students in terms of their reaction times?
  1. What were the averages for you, all females, and all males?
  1. How did your average reaction time compare with your gender group?
  1. Why was /wasn’t there a difference? Why didn’t everyone turn out the same?
  1. Compare class averages to national norms. Explain any differences.
  1. Restate your hypothesis and state if it was supported or not supported and why.
  1. What were at least 3 limitations or sources of error in this experiment?
  2. .
  3. .
  4. .
  1. Describe a future related experiment.

The following are national norms for 16 to 19 year olds.

Excellent / Above Average / Average / Below Average / Poor
<7.5cm / 7.5 - 15.9cm / 15.9 - 20.4cm / 20.4 - 28cm / >28cm

DISTANCE TIME DISTANCE TIME DISTANCE TIME DISTANCE TIME
(cm) (sec) (cm) (sec) (cm) (sec) (cm) (sec)
0.012 -- 0.005 8.281 -- 0.130 31.862 -- 0.255 70.756 -- 0.380
0.049 -- 0.010 8.930 -- 0.135 33.124 -- 0.260 72.630 -- 0.385
0.110 -- 0.015 9.604 -- 0.140 34.410 -- 0.265 74.529 -- 0.390
0.196 -- 0.020 10.302 -- 0.145 35.721 -- 0.270 76.452 -- 0.395
0.306 -- 0.025 11.025 -- 0.150 37.056 -- 0.275 78.400 -- 0.400
0.441 -- 0.030 11.772 -- 0.155 38.416 -- 0.280 80.372 -- 0.405
0.600 -- 0.035 12.544 -- 0.160 39.800 -- 0.285 82.369 -- 0.410
0.784 -- 0.040 13.340 -- 0.165 41.209 -- 0.290 84.390 -- 0.415
0.992 -- 0.045 14.161 -- 0.170 42.642 -- 0.295 86.436 -- 0.420
1.225 -- 0.050 15.006 -- 0.175 44.100 -- 0.300 88.506 -- 0.425
1.482 -- 0.055 15.876 -- 0.180 45.582 -- 0.305 90.601 -- 0.430
1.764 -- 0.060 16.770 -- 0.185 47.089 -- 0.310 92.720 -- 0.435
2.070 -- 0.065 17.689 -- 0.190 48.620 -- 0.315 94.864 -- 0.440
2.401 -- 0.070 18.632 -- 0.195 50.176 -- 0.320 97.032 -- 0.445
2.756 -- 0.075 19.600 -- 0.200 51.756 -- 0.325 99.225 -- 0.450
3.136 -- 0.080 20.592 -- 0.205 53.361 -- 0.330 101.442 -- 0.455
3.540 -- 0.085 21.609 -- 0.210 54.990 -- 0.335 103.684 -- 0.460
3.969 -- 0.090 22.650 -- 0.215 56.644 -- 0.340 105.950 -- 0.465
4.422 -- 0.095 23.716 -- 0.220 58.322 -- 0.345 108.241 -- 0.470
4.900 -- 0.100 24.806 -- 0.225 60.025 -- 0.350 110.556 -- 0.475
5.402 -- 0.105 25.921 -- 0.230 61.752 -- 0.355 112.896 -- 0.480
5.929 -- 0.110 27.060 -- 0.235 63.504 -- 0.360 115.260 -- 0.485
6.480 -- 0.115 28.224 -- 0.240 65.280 -- 0.365 117.649 -- 0.490
7.056 -- 0.120 29.412 -- 0.245 67.081 -- 0.370 120.062 -- 0.495
7.656 -- 0.125 30.625 -- 0.250 68.906 -- 0.375 122.500 -- 0.500