SCIENCE SRP

2021-FINAL report
By: Sania Mian
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Index
Title page……………1
Index……………2
Chosen question, abstract and background research……………
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Background research, aim, hypothesis and materials
……………4
Method, risk assessment and variables……………5
Results……………6
Graphs, data analysis and discussion……………7
Discussion and conclusion……………8
Social cause and references ……………9
Chosen question:
Does a person’s age affect their reaction time?

Abstract:
Through the years multiple different studies conducted at universities such as
Harvard and the Rochester Medical school have all proven that individual’s reaction
time is heavily impacted as they age. This is due to change in the brain’s motor centre
and a physical change in the nerve fiber. The aim of this experiment is to test if age
really does play a significant factor in a person’s reaction time and if so which age
bracket is most prone to the damage and impact from the change in the brain’s motor
centre. This report will also cover other various factors such as gender which can also
play a vital role in one’s reaction time. In order to test this experiment, we will be
conducting a very common ruler drop test in order to get data on the reaction times of
a certain number of people within each age bracket.
Background research:
Reaction time is often used to evaluate how quickly a particular organism can respond
to a certain stimulus. The model for information flow within an organism can be
represented through the stimulus response model which is as follows:
Stimulus>Receptor>Control Centre>Effector>Response
More importantly if this model were to be put into the perspective of the human
stimulus model (nervous system) it would look similar to this:
Stimulus>Sensory Neuron> Spinal Cord or Brain > Motor Neuron >Response
In this model, the stimulus passes from the receptor and along the peripheral nervous
system in the form of electrical impulses that travel through the nervous system
through neurons which are a group of nerve cells. It then reaches the central nervous
system via these neurons. There are three different types of neurons that include:
sensory neurons which carry the stimulus-generated impulse to the central nervous
system; interneurons which then carry the impulse through the central nervous
system; and motor neurons that carry the impulse to effectors in our body such as
muscles or glands. The response of these effectors is determined by the particular
stimulus.

This is the typical route our nervous system takes when completing a certain task/
reacting to a particular stimulus. However, there are times where our bodies are
required to take immediate action. These are called reflexes which also play a role in
reaction time and is called the reflex arc. The reflex arc is a pathway that requires no
conscious thinking, this mean that our brain is properly informed of the events after
the action has been performed. This happens with an interconnecting connection in
the spinal cord, where the impulse travels directly from the receptor to the effector.
Various other impulses are also sent to the brain to keep it somewhat informed of
what is happening.

Now that we have established the basics of how our nervous system works and how
these messages are transferred, we will now look at different components that
negatively impact our nervous system causing delayed reflexes, therefore an increased
reaction time.
There are various factors that impact how quick a person reflexes are and therefore
determining their reaction time to a particular stimulus. One of these factors includes
age.
Age is an extremely significant factor when discussing reaction time. Many studies
over the years have proven that as a person’s age increases, their reaction time also
slows down. A study by Thompson, Blair, Chen & Henrey from the university of
Rochester Medical school have studied over 3000 people between the ages of 16-44
and after extensive research discovered that our brains reflexes which plays a crucial
part in reaction time, peaks at the age of 24 before it begins to slow. This is due to
physical change in nerve fiber. As we age our brain also ages and slowly begins to
loose brain cells in the motor control section of the brain which is responsible for our
reaction time and therefore delays response generation in motor cortex. An increase in
our age also slows the speed of effectors(muscle contraction) in our bodies increasing
the time taken to respond.
Another factor that impacts reaction time is gender. A review of the literature on
the influence of gender on reaction time shows that in almost every age group, males
have faster reaction time as compared to females. This is because though males and
females both have the same speed when it comes to the contraction of muscle, males
motor neurons response is much stronger than those of females, allowing the message
to be processed faster. Due to thi s I need to ensure I only test on one gender in order
to guarantee fair testing. I will be conducting my experiment on 3 different females
from each age category. I will also have each person repeat their experiment three
times to ensure my results are accurate.
In order to test these theories, I will be using a common reaction time test of dropping
a ruler to measure the reaction time of individuals of different ages. For this I will be
testing members of my family and extended family. I will be testing different members
of my family and friends in categories (eg.6-12, 13-18, 19-24 and 25-30 and 30+).

Aim:
To test whether age impacts an individual’s reaction time
Hypothesis:
Females between the ages of 19-24 will have the quickest reaction time.
Materials:

 A 30cm Ruler
 A pen
 A sheet of paper

Method:
1. Get a 30cm ruler
2.Hold the tip of the ruler right above the pointer finger of the individual (can be
seen in the diagram)
3.Without a warning drop the ruler from above the person’s hand
4.Record the individuals results by looking at the cm they caught the ruler at
which is the number their thumb and pointer finger landed on when catching
the ruler
5.Record results
6. Convert each of the results into seconds
7. Repeat 3 time to ensure fair testing.

Risk assessment:

Risk Precaution
Sharp rulers (metal rulers) may injure Use safer materials eg. a plastic or
hand wooden ruler

Independent, dependent, and controlled variable:

Independent variable:
Individual’s age
Dependent variable:
Reaction time
Controlled variable:

 Measurement of ruler
 Material of ruler
 Position ruler is held before dropping.

Results:
Images to prove experiment was conducted:
People taking part in the experiment:

Starting position of the ruler:

The following table can be used to convert cm to seconds

Final table

Reaction 6-12 13-18 19-24 25-30 30+

time
(average of
each
person)
Person 1 18cm 0r 16cm or 15cm 18cm 21cm
0.192sec 0.181sec 0.175sec 0.192sec 0.207sec
Person 2 21cm or 17cm or 15cm 18cm 23cm or
 0.207sec 0.186sec 0.175sec 0.192sec 0.217sec
Person 3 21 cm or 18 or 14cm 0r 17cm or 20cm or
0.207sec 0.192sec 0.169 sec 0.186sec 0.202cm
Final 20cm 0r 17 or 15cm or 18cm or 21cm or
average for 0.202 sec 0.186sec 0.175sec 0.192sec 0.207cm
the age
group

*Additional 3 tables of each person results from the age groups are available on the logbook

Graph:

Data analysis:
Through my experiment and observation I was able to identify that people with the 19-
24 age bracket had the fastest reaction time, hence backing up my background
research and proving my hypothesis correct.
Discussion:
Through my results I am able to conclude that the individuals between the age bracket
of 19-24 had the fastest reaction time with an overall average result of 15cm which
can be converted to 0.175 seconds. This was followed by the 13-18 time bracket with
an overall average of 1cm or 0.186 seconds, the age bracket in third place was the 25-
30 time bracket with an overall 18cm or 0.192 seconds, the next age bracket was 6-12
with an overall average of 20cm or 0.202 seconds and finally the age bracket with the
slowest time was the 30+ age bracket with the slowest reaction time of 0.207seconds
or 21cm. Through each of these results though there is no occurring pattern each of
the results back up the background information and research that was conducted
prior to this experiment.
This can be seen as in my research I found that humans reaction time peaks at the
age of 24, therefore meaning our highest reaction time is somewhere during the age of
24 and prior to this it is not as quick and after this age is begins to progressively slow
down. This is also proved as the next age bracket (25-30) we are able to see that the
reaction time increased from 0.175 to 0.192 seconds (increased by 0.017 seconds).
From here it increases a further 0.015 seconds (0.207-0.192) in the 30+ age bracket.
Through this data we are also able to see that the age bracket 6-12 had the seconds
slowest reaction time average. This was unexpected because I did not cover it in my
background research as I had expected all the lower age from 24 to all have relatively
higher reaction times. I also knew that it could not be an error from my results as I
conducted my experiment on 3 different people from each age group and had each
person repeat the experiment 3 times to ensure fair and reliable results. Upon further
research and analysis, I was able to find that younger children tend to have a slower
reaction time to young adults as they are still fairly young and therefore their brains
aren’t able to fully comprehend the concept of catching a ruler as quick as possible as
fast as people of an older age are. Younger children are also at a slight disadvantage as
their brains aren’t yet fully developed as compared to younger adults.
Some challenges I faced while completing my experiment was completing my
background research. This is because I had trouble linking reflexes and reaction time,
I also struggled when trying to incorporate information that I felt was relevant to the
experiment. This led me to be motivated in the beginning and made me loose a lot of
valuable time. This leads me to the second issue I faced which was my time
management. I felt that towards the end of this task I began to rush certain elements
in order to finish on time which led me to be quite overwhelmed. In order to avoid this
in the future I need to ensure to follow my to do lists more strictly and organize my
time better. 8
Conclusion:
In conclusion females between the ages of 19-24 will have the quickest reaction time
as compared to females of other ages. This is because the brains motor control section
and the physical structure of nerve fibers are the most effective and strongest during
these 6 years. This proves that my hypothesis was correct.
Social cause:
My student research project was about the impact age has on reaction time. In this
experiment I sated my hypothesis which was, Females between the ages of 19-24 will
have the quickest reaction time. This experiment and topic will be able to benefit the
society, especially people in the medical field such as doctors, scientists but most
importantly reports and experiments like this allow for new laws to be enforced and
allow for new debates to be stirred. One of the current debates based around evidence
from this research is whether there should be a certain age in which people are no
longer legally allowed to drive. The reason this debate started in the first place was
after researchers and scientist found that adults over the age of 44 had a much slower
reaction time than those that were younger. From this they argued that driving over a
certain age (which they are yet to find due to lack in research) should be illegal as it
takes individuals longer to react which can be quite fatal in dangerous situation that
require quick thinking such as sharper turns, lights changing colour and avoiding car
crashes. This research when explored further can help researchers to fully understand
the impact reaction time can have which can help them to improve and protect our
society.
Timeline:
References:

https://www.scienceworld.ca/resource/reaction-time-ruler/

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2015.00193/full

http://www.youngscientist.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/whoreactsfaster.pdf

https://www.google.com/search?
q=what+is+an+abstract&safe=strict&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=8H3dbQmKJNcBTM
%252ClWMAA7zv4d3JUM%252C%252Fm%252F02ppws&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kSGPFMPXOyqJ7Cs9zBg52d-
VGlzyw&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjslbnByqPwAhUWyzgGHf9rD80Q_B16BAgzEAE#imgrc=8H3dbQmKJNcBTM

https://sites.google.com/site/1314s1p4g1/lab-1

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2586814/
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