DOES GENDER A

FFECT

REACTION T

IME?

DH

RU

V P

AN

CH

AL

QUESTION

The question that I asked is if gender affects reaction time.

I chose this experiment because it seemed like an interesting project to do for science fair.

PURPOSE OF THIS EXPERIMENT

The purpose of this experiment is to see if Males have the faster reaction time.

MY HYPOTHESIS

If participants are given the opportunity to measure reaction times, then males will have the faster reaction time.

MATERIALS

For this experiment you will need:

5 Females

5 Males

The Topendsports Reaction Timer

And an Excel Spreadsheet.

PROCEDURES

1)I will start with the ladies for this test. Open up the topendsports reaction Timer.

2)Hold the “Start” Button, and DO NOT LET GO! This is crucial, otherwise The test subject will get invalid results.

3)When the color changes, The test subject is told to let go of the mouse button, and the computer will measure your time.

4)The test subject will repeat the test 5 times. Then The test subject will return to his or her seat and do work or play. They are not to go on the timer.

5)The test subject will come back and repeat the test another 5 times.

6)Then the test subject will do work, then come back for another 5 times.

7) I will repeat the process until the test subject has done the test 10 times.

RESULTS AND OBSERVATIONS

Information Regarding Test Subject Test Results

Name AgeGender Conditions

Test 1

Test 2

Test 3

Test 4

Test 5

Test 6

Test 7

Test 8

Test 9

Test 10

Average Time

Amanda Valdivia 13Female Cold 0.390.32

80.23

4 0.250.21

9 0.25 0.4370.23

4 0.235 0.234 0.2811

Tamara Scantlebury 14Female n/a0.39

80.28

20.35

90.35

9 0.25 0.25 0.2970.21

8 0.25 0.313 0.2976

Laura Rodriguez 13Female n/a0.28

20.32

80.25

50.28

10.48

40.46

9 0.2810.28

1 0.297 0.391 0.3349

Cassidy Phengchanh 13Female n/a0.32

80.23

50.21

80.20

30.17

20.18

8 0.2190.23

4 0.219 0.188 0.2204

Akya Sanders 13Female n/a 0.25 0.390.22

90.18

70.21

90.21

8 0.2030.18

8 0.203 0.172 0.2259

Adam Wheeler 13Male n/a0.20

3 0.250.21

90.03

10.20

30.20

3 0.1880.23

4 0.187 0.219 0.1937

Sakib Ali 13Male n/a0.28

10.26

50.28

10.21

90.20

30.21

8 0.2030.23

4 0.25 0.187 0.2341

David Lin 12Male n/a0.65

60.34

30.39

10.23

40.23

50.23

4 0.2190.29

7 0.235 0.25 0.3094

Brendan Jean 12.5MaleFrequent

headaches0.42

20.28

2 0.250.21

90.23

80.29

6 0.3440.20

3 0.203 0.25 0.2707

Noah Khan 12Male n/a0.37

5 0.360.39

10.54

60.39

10.78

2 0.3910.46

9 0.266 0.266 0.4237

StatsAverage Time of the Boys: 0.28632Average Time of the Girls 0.27198

After performing my tests with my friends in 3A Computers, and after doing some basic algorithm and some formulas to go with that, I found out that GIRLS, have the faster reaction time. But just by a little bit.

CONCLUSION

I have seen that when both males and females are presented with a stimulus that they have to react to, the female gender had the faster reaction time.

And my hypothesis was wrong, guys were slower than the girls, despite Adam’s fastest time on the charts.

WHAT I LEARNED

I learned from this experiment that

SPECIAL THANKS TO:

My wonderful test subjects

Mrs. Miller for letting me use the computer lab for testing

Mrs. Talbot for the extension

REFERENCES (APA FORMAT)

Adam JJ, Paas FG, Buekers MJ, Wuyts IJ, Spijkers WA, Wallmeyer P, (n.d.), Gender Differences in Course Reaction Time: Evidence for Differential Strategies. In NVBL. Retrieved September 30, 2012. From http://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10024851

Epstien, D. (2011, August 8). IT’S ALL ABOUT ANTICIPATION. Sports Illustrated, 115(5)

Kosinski, R. (n.d.) A review on reaction time. Retrieved from http://biology.clemson.edu/bpc/bp/Lab/110/reaction.htm

Moore, T. (1904). A Study in Reaction Time and Movement. New York: Macmillan Co.

Reaction Time.(2012, January 23) Science World, 68(8)