Chapter 1: Reaction Time

1.
Table 1: Sample Calculations of the mean
Condition
Mean (ms)
Audio Reaction Time
Visual Reaction Time
Random Visual Reaction
Time
Mean =

X
n

152.95
146.71
357.55

Alice Chen (ac48272)

PHY 117M (59065)
2/10/14

and standard deviation s

Standard Deviation
(ms)
51.81
38.50
60.81

148+174 +162+117+ +241+188

100

Standard Deviation =

( x x )2

=
n1
(148152.95)2 +(174152.95)2 +(162152.95)2 ++(188152.95)2
99

2.
Table 2: Frequency table for 100 measurements of audio reaction time;
measurements on the border are grouped into the higher interval (e.g. 100 is
grouped in the 100-150 interval)
Interval
Tally
Frequency
10-50
IIII
4
50-90
I
1
90-130
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
23
130-170 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
49
170-210 IIIIIIIIIIIII
13
210-250 IIIII
5
250-290 III
3
290-330 I
1
330-370
370-410 I
1
3.
Graph 1: Histogram of Audio Response Times

Alice Chen (ac48272)

PHY 117M (59065)
2/10/14

0.5

125

112

0.4

100

5
87.
Probability density
(1/10000)
0.4

0.3

62.

0.3

50.

0.2

Probabilit75.
0
y

Audio Response Times

4.
Percentage of measurements between
Percentage of measurements between

x
x

s and x + s: ~80%
2s and x + 2s: ~90%

Alice Chen (ac48272)

PHY 117M (59065)
2/10/14
In order to determine the mean and standard deviations of a histogram that I
have never seen before, I would look if the mode of the distribution was
approximately normal, then determine the standard deviation by finding the
range of the distribution that contained about 80% of the measurements and
dividing it by two.
5. Random sample of 20 audio response time measurements
157
139
128
150
136
120
133
127
100
298
199
148
201
140
136
154
133
131
137
414
Mean (ms)
164.05
Mean =

X
n

Standard Deviation (ms)

72.13
=

157+ 139+128+150+136+120+ +414

20

Standard Deviation =

( x x )2

=
n1
2
2
2
2
(157164) +(139164 ) +(128164 ) + +( 414164)
19

PHY 117M, spring 2014

58055
Ariel Chen (ac47386)
Lab partners: Diana Ontiveros
Mariano Aufiero
6.
Table 4: Z-values for boundaries 2 and 1 standard deviations away from
the mean
x -2s
x -s
x +s
x +2s
Boundary
Value
49.3
101.1
204.8
256.6
Z-value
-2
-1
1
2
Z=

x x
s

49.3153
51.8

= -2

7.
Tallest bar in histogram: 130-170
Probability that a randomly chosen measurement of audio response time will
fall between 130 and 170 ms:
130153
Z(130) =
= -0.444
51.8
P(x<130, z<-0.444) = 0.2296
Z(170) =

170153
51.8

= -0.328

P(x<170, z<-0.091) = 0.4641

P(130<x<170) = 0.4641-0.2296 = 0.2345
Shortest bar in histogram: 330-370
P(330<x<370) = 0

8.
Despite the fact that some of the data is similar, it seems clear that the
histogram of data points collected was not a normal distribution. In a normal
distribution, the proportion of data points that fall within one standard
deviation of the mean is 68.5%, which is over 11% lower than the estimated
proportion in the plotted histogram. The fact that the histogram is not
normally distributed, even though the shape of the graph very roughly
resembles a normal distribution, may be attributed to the fact that the
sample size is not large enough to ensure a normal shape.
9.
Confidence intervals in relation to mean, with data taken from audio reaction
times with a mean of 152.95 ms and a standard deviation of 51.8 ms.

PHY 117M, spring 2014

58055
Ariel Chen (ac47386)
Lab partners: Diana Ontiveros
Mariano Aufiero

Graph 3: 95% level of confidence (x-2 < x+2)

10.
The mean (horizontal line) should cross the percentage of lines that indicate
the level of confidence we have that the mean is the true mean. If the values

PHY 117M, spring 2014

58055
Ariel Chen (ac47386)
Lab partners: Diana Ontiveros
Mariano Aufiero
are graphed at 50% confidence, we should expect that the mean (horizontal
line) should cross 50% of the points with error bars.
In the first graph, the line crosses 16/20 of the error bars, or 80%. Since we
expected the line to cross 68% of the lines, the result is higher than the
expectation.
In the second graph, the line crosses 18/20 of the error bars, or 90%. Since
we expected the line to cross 95% of the lines, the result is slightly lower
than the expectation, but it is still close
11.
After comparing the means from the three experiments, we cant be 95%
confident that we have observed a real difference between the ideal values
of my subjects reaction time in the different situations.
a. Comparing audio response time and simple visual response time

x a y v = 153 242. = -35. ms

D=
s D = s a2 +sv 2 = 77.22 + 44.72 = 89.2 ms

+ 2( s D ]
95% confidence = [ D2
( s D ) ,
D
Confidence interval = (-213., 143.)
Since 0 lies in the interval, I cannot be 95% confident there
is a real difference between the ideal values of my subjects
reaction time in the audio and simple visual response times.
b. Comparing simple visual response time (sv) and visual with choice (vc) response time
x sv y vc = 242. 327. = -85. ms
D=

s D = s sv 2+ s vc 2 =

44.72 +70.32

95% confidence = [

D2
( s D ) ,

= 83.3 ms

+ 2( s D ]

Confidence interval = (-252., 81.6)

Since 0 lies in the interval, I cannot be 95% confident there

is a real difference between the ideal values of my subjects
reaction time in the simple visual response and visual with choice
response times.