Hold the REACH in your dominant hand so that your thumb is on the red button on the side of the device. This is the "event marker" reaction button.
Reaction Time and Red Light
Procedure
You will be watching the REACH.
It will flash a RED light at random times (between 1 and 4 seconds).
As soon as you see the red light flash, you will press the event marker button.
When you are ready to begin, choose the RED macro. The recording will start automatically.
Click the event marker for the 10 random trials for the red light flashes.
After the tenth time, the recording will stop automatically.
Click File ---> Save As, name the file "Color Test", and save your data to your LabScribe Data folder on your Desktop.
Data Analysis
Click the "two mountain" icon button to double the display until all 10 trials show on the screen.
Move one red cursor line to the mark made when the red light was shown, and click and drag the 2nd to the start of the first click of the event marker.
Look at T2-T1 (upper right corner) and record that number.
Repeat for the next 9 trials.
Place the data in a table or in the Journal. You can open and close the Journal by clicking on the "Notebook" icon.
This image shows the proper positioning of the cursors to measure reaction time. Reaction time = 570 msec as shown in the highlighted area in the upper right of the graph.
After doing the analysis REPEAT Exercise 1 one more time so you have a total of 20 reactions. Average the 20 reaction times (add them all up and divide by 20).
Reaction Time and Green Light
Procedure
You will be watching the REACH.
It will flash a GREEN light at random times (between 1 and 4 seconds).
As soon as you see the green light flash, you will press the event marker button.
When you are ready to begin, choose the GREEN macro. The recording will start automatically.
Click the event marker for the 10 random trials for the green light flashes.
After the tenth time, the recording will stop automatically.
Save your data.
Data Analysis
Use the same technique explained in Exercise 1 to measure and record the reaction times when you were looking at the green light.
Place the data in a table or in the Journal. You can open and close the Journal by clicking on the "Notebook" icon.
After doing the analysis REPEAT Exercise 2 one more time so you have a total of 20 reactions. Average the 20 reaction times (add them all up and divide by 20).
Reaction Time and Random Color Flashes (Red)
Procedure
You will be watching the REACH.
It will flash either a RED or GREEN light at random times (between 1 and 4 seconds). YOU WILL ONLY REACT TO THE RED LIGHT.
As soon as you see the red light flash, you will press the event marker button.
When you are ready to begin, choose the RANDOM macro. The recording will start automatically.
Click the event marker for the 20 random trials for the light flashes.
After the twentieth time, the recording will stop automatically.
Save your data.
Data Analysis
Use the same technique explained in Exercise 2 to measure and record the reaction times when you were reacting to ONLY the red light. You will put your cursor on the start of the square wave after the "Red" mark.
If you reacted to the green light do not count this.
Place the data in a table or in the Journal. You can open and close the Journal by clicking on the "Notebook" icon.
Reaction Time and Random Color Flashes (Green)
Procedure
You will be watching the REACH.
It will flash either a RED or GREEN light at random times (between 1 and 4 seconds). YOU WILL ONLY REACT TO THE GREEN LIGHT.
As soon as you see the red light flash, you will press the event marker button.
When you are ready to begin, choose the RANDOM macro. The recording will start automatically.
Click the event marker for the 20 random trials for the light flashes.
After the twentieth time, the recording will stop automatically.
Save your data.
Data Analysis
Use the same technique explained in Exercise 3 to measure and record the reaction times when you were reacting to ONLY the green light. You will put your cursor on the start of the square wave after the "Green" mark.
If you reacted to the red light do not count this.
Place the data in a table or in the Journal. You can open and close the Journal by clicking on the "Notebook" icon.
Answer the following:
Exercise 2
How does your mean reaction time for the red light in Exercise 1 compare to the mean reaction time for the green light in Exercise 2?
Explain why there would be a difference in the timing of your reactions to the different colored lights.
Exercise 4
To which colored visual signal did you respond most quickly, the red signals from Exercise 3 or green signals in Exercise 4?
What could explain a subject responding more quickly to one color as compared to another?
Did your subject respond more quickly or more slowly to same colored signal compared to Exercise 1 (Red) and Exercise 2 (Green)?
Did having the different colors flash randomly have any impact? Why or why not?
