Response Time Flashcards
What is response time?
The time taken from the onset of a stimulus to the completion of a task
Response time= reaction time + movement time
What is reaction time?
The time taken from the onset of a stimulus to the onset of a response
What is movement time?
The time taken to complete the task
What is simple reaction time?
When there is one specific response to one stimulus
E.g. a sprinter at the start of the race responding to the starter gun
What is choice reaction time?
When there is many different stimuli to choose from
E.g. a midfielder in football has to choose the correct stimulus from various indicators on the pitch and may also have to choose the correct response from various options
What are the four factors that influence response time?
The number of choices (Hicks law)
The single channel hypothesis
The psychological refractory period
Anticipation
What is Hicks law?
Reaction time increases as the number of choices increases
What is the single channel hypothesis?
Only one stimuli can be processed at a time
Therefore, a second stimulus must wait until the first one has been processed before it can then be processed
What is the psychological refractory period?
A delay when a second stimulus is presented before the first has been processed
What is anticipation?
Pre judging a stimulus
What is temporal anticipation?
Pre judging when the stimulus is going to happen
What is spatial anticipation?
Pre judging where and what is going to happen
What is the effect of correct anticipation?
Improves response time
What are the strategies a player can use to improve response time?
Mental practice
During practice the player could train to the specific stimulus expected in the game
The performer could learn to focus and concentrate during the game so that the stimulus is picked up early, the coach could make the stimuli intense to help with concentration
Improving fitness improves reaction time, such as interval training and plyometrics improve speed and power for the movement part of the response
Player can use anticipation to predict the stimulus
