MadSci Network: Neuroscience
Query:

Re: How do I find reaction times betwen your eyes and your hands?

Date: Sat Feb 3 19:01:41 2001
Posted By: Amanda Kahn, Grad student, neuroscience, UCSF
Area of science: Neuroscience
ID: 981228509.Ns
Message:

Hi Kendra!

There are several simple experiments you can do to gauge a person's reaction 
time.  Some of these experiments are listed on the MadSci search page:

http://www.madsci.org/MS_search.html

(you can do a search for the phrase "reaction time").

One of my favorite demonstrations is actually pretty easy to set up.  You take a 
2-foot long wooden dowel, and mark off every few inches.  Take a paper cup, and 
punch a hole in the bottom so that it fits onto the dowel.  Have a friend place 
her hand against the dowel so that the skin between the thumb and index finger 
just touches it.  Drop the cup from increasingly lower heights, and see if she 
can pull away her hand in time to avoid getting touched by the cup.

It's fun to compare a person's dominant vs. non-dominant hand, or hands vs. feet, 
with this experiment.  A class of fourth graders performed this experiment as 
part of the FOSS science curriculum for elementary school students, and found it 
to be a LOT of fun.  In addition, it's also possible to compare the results among 
different groups of people -- lefties and righties, or people of different ages, 
or people with and without blindfolds (to see if you can also *hear* the cup 
being released) --  and get interesting data about how the brain might be sending 
information to the muscles of the arm.

Have fun!  Hope this helps!
Amanda Kahn
amandak@phy.ucsf.edu



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