Factors affecting response time
What Factor’s influence reaction time??
What is the psychological refractory period?
How can we improve our response time?
Influences on reaction time
Experience
 Experienced player will be able to anticipate
 Be in position to hit an attacking shot in badminton
 Get to a loose ball first in football
Types of anticipation
 Effector anticipation
 A feel for the way the pitch plays (practicing on clay courts before French open)
 Perceptual anticipation
 Gaining a prior knowledge of an opponent (watching a video of an opposing sides short corners)
 Receptor anticipation
 Picking up information during the game through changes in stance/grip (grip of cricket bowlers)
Normal delivery
In-swinger
Influences on reaction time
Stimulus intensity
 Performers tend to react faster to something which is loud or bright.
 Use of orange ball when snow covers football pitch
Gender
 Men have faster reactions than women but lose them at a quicker rate
 Age reduces reaction times of both genders
Fitness
 Reaction times will be quicker if a player has trained to improve their physical fitness
 Reduces response time
Performance enhancing drugs
 Can improve reaction time
 Famous start by Ben Johnson at 1988 Seoul Olympics
Single channel hypothesis
 Stimuli are processed along a single nerve
 Brain can only process one stimulus at a time
 Stimuli must wait for the one before it can be dealt with
 Think about cars waiting at a road junction
 Causes a bottleneck at nerve
Stimulus 1
Stimulus 2
Psychological refractory period
Psychological refractory period (PRP) is based on single-channel hypothesis
It suggests that, if a second stimulus is presented before first stimulus is processed then an
unavoidable delay will occur.
The delay occurs because the second stimulus must wait for the first to be processed even if it is no
Trick Free tricks
longer valid
Czech Republic Short Corner
 Ball clipping the net in tennis and changing direction
CruyffTurn
 Ball deflected off a defender and past goalkeeper
Trick Pass
 A dummy pass in rugby
Fake Punt
 Trick plays in American football
Flip Flap
Dummy Runners
PRP is used to create time for yourself to perform the skill you desire or to create space
 Present two stimuli in quick succession so there is no time to deal with first stimuli before
second is presented
Stimulus 1
Stimulus 2
Response 1
PRP
Response 2
Improving response time
 Concentrate on stimuli
 Refined selective attention
 Practice reacting to the stimulus
 Improve physical fitness
 improves movement time
 Anticipation
 Effector, Perceptual and Receptor
 Mental rehearsal
 Stimulates brain and muscles
 Be at optimum arousal level (covered at A2)
Reaction
Time
Movement
Time
Response
Time