Question
A student carries out two ruler-drop reaction tests. During one, there is silence and during the other, the radio is playing in the background. Test number & Silence measurement (mathrm(cm)) & Radio measurement (mathrm(cm)) 1 & 0.15 & 0.31 2 & 0.21 & 0.29 3 & 0.18 & 0.28 4 & 0.27 & 0.25 5 & 0.19 & 0.34 Describe the effect of noise on the student's reaction times.
Answer
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(283 Votes)
Alistair
Master · Tutor for 5 years
Answer
Noise appears to slow down the student's reaction time as indicated by the longer drop distances (consequently longer time) during the tests performed with the radio on relative to the tests in silence.
Explanation
The table provided presents a comparison of a student's reaction times under different auditory conditions. The activity in question is a ruler-drop test, which measures a person's reaction time by how quickly they catch a ruler. The measurements are in centimeters (cm), indicating the distance the ruler fell before being caught—therefore, a lower number indicates a faster reaction.In test #1, without noise (in silence), the student caught the ruler at 0.15 cm. When the radio was playing (obtrusive noise), it increased to 0.31 cm. In effect, the loud noise slowed down the student's response.Keeping in view the measurements from all tests, it can be observed that the "Radio Measurements" were larger than the "Silence Measurements" in 4 out of 5 instances. Consequently, it means that the noise consistently generally contributed to delayed reaction times. Noise can serve as a distraction, directing mental resources away from the task of executing the pre-planned motor response (in this case, catching the ruler). This leads to slower reactions.It’s also important to note that individual reactions to noise may vary. Depending on the person, noise can be conducive or detrimental to concentration and response time. In this case, the person seemed to be more distracted with noise.