THE EFFECT OF THE AMOUNT OF VIDEO GAMES PLAYED ON THE REACTION TIME

By: Stephen Lee

Do Video Game Players have Faster Reaction Times than Non Players?

HYPOTHESIS: If the person plays more Video games, then the Reaction Time of the Video Game Player will be faster than the Non Player.

Basic Concepts

Reaction: Action in response to a stimulus, as of the system or of a nerve, muscle, etc.  

Stimuli: something that incites to action or exertion or quickens action, feeling, thought, etc.:

Motor Cortex: (region of cerebral cortex) is a term that describes regions of the cerebral cortex involved in the planning, control, and execution of voluntary motor functions.

Reaction time: the time that elapses between a stimulus and the response to it.

Reflex: noting or pertaining to an involuntary response to a stimulus, the nerve impulse from a receptor being transmitted inward to a nerve center that in turn transmits it outward to an effecter.

Perception: Recognition and interpretation of sensory stimuli based chiefly on memory

Design DiagramTrials Interview/Observe 65 PeopleProblem:Do Video Game Players have Faster Reaction Times than Non Players?  TITLE: The Effect of the Amount of Video Games played on the Reaction Time. HYPOTHESIS: If the person plays Video games, then the Reaction Time of the Video Game Player will be faster than the Non Player. IV: How much time the interviewees play video games a day. (hours)  DV: Dependent variable – Reaction Time (sec) CONSTANTS: Reaction Test, Age group (12-30), Time of day (12pm to 6pm) Materials: ·Internet·Computer/Laptop·Log Book (To record Data)·http://www.mathsisfun.com/games/reaction-time.html (Website to test reaction)·Proper Human Consent forms for human study 

Procedure

1.  First I will find individually find 65 Interviewees at school and email or message them asking them on average how many hours do they play video games a day.

2.  I will then make sure all 65 of the Interviewees have a working computer/laptop.

3.  Then I will give each of them the website to test their reaction. (http://www.mathsisfun.com/games/reaction-time.html) 4. After that I will record the data in my logbook of their reaction

time and how many hours they played video games a day. 5. I will record their times based on seconds and amount of time

they play video games in hours. 6. After I record the results I will make a chart and my x–axis will

be the amount of time playing video games (hours) and my y-axis will be the reaction time. (Seconds)

7. I will then analyze the data to check if the amount of video games played affects the reaction time.

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 160

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The Effect of the Amount of Video Games Played on the Reaction Time

Series1

Amount Played a Day (Hours)

Reac

tion

Tim

e (S

econ

ds)

Averages (Seconds)

0- .33s

1- .318s 1.5- .298s 2- .299s 3- .275s 4- .262s 4.5- .259s

5- .221s 5.5- .299s 6- .245s 7- .231s 8- .232s 15- .202s

Background Information

Reaction times can improve if a person keeps practicing. With more practice the person will get more use to reacting quickly so the reaction time has a better chance of improving

The type of reaction time experiment, type of stimulus, and stimulus intensity are basic features of any reaction time experiment, but there are still many factors affecting reaction time such as the age of the person and what time they test their reaction time.

Sources of Error

The daily activities that someone does such as baseball, football, basketball can also affect reaction time.

Age gap still affects the reaction time (12-30)

The day where someone tests could also affect the reaction time.

Gender might also affect reaction time.

Improvements

Include physical activities such as sports in the experiment.

Reduce the age gap (14-20) Gender Specific Results

Extensions/Variations

The Effect on the amount Daily Physical Activities spent on the Reaction Time.

Use a sound reaction test instead of a visual test.

QUESTIONS?