Reaction-time exercises: applied practice: open practice pack: learner worksheet

1. reaction-time-applied-s01-q01

Rule: press LEFT for any blue shape, press RIGHT for any red shape, and make no response to any green shape. A red circle appears. What is the correct response?

1. Press left
2. Make no response
3. Press right
4. It depends on the shape, which the rule does not cover

Answer:

2. reaction-time-applied-s01-q02

Same rule: blue means LEFT, red means RIGHT, green means no response. A green square appears.

1. Make no response
2. Press left, since squares were used with left responses in practice
3. Press right
4. Press with whichever hand is nearer

Answer:

3. reaction-time-applied-s01-q03

Rule: press as soon as the light turns green. Unless a tone sounds at the same moment, in which case do not press. The light turns green and a tone sounds.

1. Press; the light is the primary signal
2. Press, then correct yourself
3. Press only if the tone is quiet
4. Make no response: the tone is a stop signal that overrides the go signal

Answer:

4. reaction-time-applied-s01-q04

In a go/no-go task, ninety per cent of trials require a response. Which error is most likely on the rare no-go trial?

1. A miss: failing to respond when a response was needed
2. A false alarm: responding when the rule required withholding, because the practised response fires before it can be inhibited
3. A correct but unusually slow response
4. No error type is more likely than any other

Answer:

5. reaction-time-applied-s01-q05

Halfway through a block, the mapping is reversed: blue now means RIGHT and red means LEFT. What should be expected on the trials immediately afterwards?

1. Slower and less accurate responses for several trials, because the old mapping still competes with the new one
2. No effect, since the new rule is just as simple as the old one
3. Improved performance, because the novelty raises alertness
4. An effect on the very first trial only

Answer:

6. reaction-time-applied-s02-q01

How does simple reaction time (one signal, one response) compare with choice reaction time, where several signals map to several responses?

1. They are essentially the same
2. Choice reaction time is longer, and it grows further as the number of alternatives increases
3. Choice is faster, because more alternatives keep attention higher
4. Simple reaction time is the longer of the two

Answer:

7. reaction-time-applied-s02-q02

A typical simple reaction time is around a quarter of a second. What is that time spent on?

1. Almost entirely the decision to respond
2. Almost entirely nerve conduction
3. Mostly the time for the light to reach the eye
4. Detection and transmission, then response selection, then the movement itself, each stage contributes a meaningful share

Answer:

8. reaction-time-applied-s02-q03

What effect does a warning signal shortly before the stimulus have?

1. It lengthens the reaction time, acting as a distraction
2. It has no measurable effect
3. It shortens the reaction time by allowing preparation, though the benefit fades if the interval is too long or too variable
4. It shortens reaction time only for auditory stimuli

Answer:

9. reaction-time-applied-s02-q04

How do simple reaction times to a sound compare with those to a light?

1. Responses to sound are typically a little faster
2. Responses to light are typically a little faster
3. They are identical
4. The difference depends only on how intense the stimulus is

Answer:

10. reaction-time-applied-s02-q05

On a trial with a predictable rhythm, a participant presses a fraction before the signal actually appears.

1. This is the fastest legitimate strategy available
2. It is an anticipation error: the response was not caused by the stimulus, and well-designed tests discard or penalise such trials
3. It is acceptable provided the timing really is regular
4. It is a valid measure of the participant's expectancy

Answer:

11. reaction-time-applied-s03-q01

What does the speed-accuracy trade-off mean in practice?

1. Faster responders are also the more accurate ones
2. Accuracy is fixed by ability and only speed can be trained
3. Speed and accuracy vary independently of each other
4. Speed can be exchanged for accuracy in either direction, so a reaction time is uninterpretable without its error rate

Answer:

12. reaction-time-applied-s03-q02

Person A averages 320 ms with a 2% error rate. Person B averages 280 ms with an 18% error rate. Who is performing better?

1. B, since the task measures speed and B is faster
2. They are equivalent; each has chosen a different point on the trade-off
3. A: B's 40 ms advantage is bought with nine times the error rate, which is a poor exchange on almost any task
4. They cannot be compared at all

Answer:

13. reaction-time-applied-s03-q03

In a task where an incorrect response initiates a real action (braking, switching, dispatching), which is worse: a slightly slower correct response, or a fast incorrect one?

1. The fast incorrect response: it commits you to the wrong action and then costs a correction on top
2. The slower correct response, because time lost cannot be recovered
3. They are equally bad
4. It depends only on how much time is available

Answer:

14. reaction-time-applied-s03-q04

What does fatigue do to reaction-time performance?

1. It raises the average response time and nothing else
2. It raises the average and, more consequentially, the variability: the occasional very long lapse is what causes incidents
3. It has no measurable effect until sleep is lost entirely
4. It reduces accuracy without affecting timing

Answer:

15. reaction-time-applied-s03-q05

What is the best way to summarise a set of reaction times from one session?

1. The single fastest trial, as the cleanest measure of capability
2. The arithmetic mean on its own
3. The median together with a measure of spread and the error rate, since a few very long trials distort the mean
4. The slowest trial, as the worst case

Answer:

16. reaction-time-applied-s04-q01

Why are reaction-time results reported separately from other exercises, rather than folded into a combined profile?

1. Because the measured value includes device, browser, and display latency, which vary between machines, so scores are not comparable across setups
2. Because reaction time is not a real ability
3. Because the exercise is optional
4. Because it takes longer to complete than the other exercises

Answer:

17. reaction-time-applied-s04-q02

You want to compare your own performance this week against last week.

1. Any device will do, provided the software is the same
2. Hold the device, browser, input method, and conditions constant, and compare medians across many trials
3. A single well-concentrated trial is enough for a comparison
4. Compare your fastest trial from each session

Answer:

18. reaction-time-applied-s04-q03

What does a 60 Hz display do to a visual reaction-time measurement?

1. Nothing; the display is not part of the measurement
2. It adds a fixed constant, which cancels out of any comparison
3. It affects only how the stimulus looks, not when it appears
4. It can add up to about 17 ms of variable delay before the stimulus is even visible. A significant share of the differences usually being measured

Answer:

19. reaction-time-applied-s04-q04

What does a fast reaction time on a laboratory-style task predict about job performance?

1. It predicts driving skill fairly directly
2. It is a good general proxy for cognitive ability
3. Very little on its own: it is one narrow component, and most real tasks depend far more on decision quality, knowledge, and sustained attention
4. Nothing whatsoever, in any context

Answer:

20. reaction-time-applied-s04-q05

What happens to reaction-time scores with repeated practice on the same task?

1. Practice has no effect; the measure reflects fixed physiology
2. Scores get worse as boredom sets in
3. Practice improves accuracy but leaves timing unchanged
4. Scores improve noticeably over the first few sessions, so a first attempt is not a stable estimate of anything

Answer: