Computerized and fingertip measures of reaction time compared in individuals

Publication date: Available online 13 October 2016 Source:HOMO - Journal of Comparative Human Biology Author(s): B. Gutnik, W. Ljach, D. Gierczuk, D. Nash The main purpose of our study was to discover the correlation between the field fingertip and computerized methods of measuring reaction time selectively of the dominant and non-dominant hands for individual, non-trained, healthy young people of senior school age. Forty one, 17 year old, strongly right handed scholars, 21 boys and 20 girls with body mass indices between 18.5 and 25.0, participated in the experiment. The field fingertip method employed a metal metric ruler and the computerized method used the Vienna Test System. The point biserial coefficient of correlation between these two methods was calculated for each individual. Results demonstrated that the vast majority of participants, 95.2% of males and 85.0% of females for the right hand and 95.2% of males and 95.0% of females for the left hand had a high level of point biserial coefficient of correlation between the two methods. A small number of participants, 3 females and 1 male, did not demonstrate a high level of correlation. We speculate that this fact may be due to differential expression of muscle fibre types between males and females. The portability and ease of use of the field fingertip method are advantageous in the field research and provide a reliable measure of reaction time. It is important to control the initial gap between the thumb and ind...

Source: HOMO Journal of Comparative Human Biology - October 13, 2016 Category: Biology Source Type: research