More Reaction-Time Methods

Each person holds one hand at his or her back, ready to receive a touch signal from the person behind, and the other hand ready to touch the hand of the person in front. One person with a stopwatch gives a signal to the first person at the back of the row, who then starts the "reaction" along the row by touching the hand of the person in front, and so on to the end of the row. The timer watches for the last person's signal, and records the time for the group. This method does not give an individual measurement for each person, as does the ruler-drop method. It is, however, a quick and easy method for finding a mean reaction time for comparing groups by sex, height, weight, age, and so forth. You can call this method the hand-to-hand reaction time.

Another way to use the ruler-drop method is the eye-to-foot version. Seat the subject so that he or she holds one foot near a doorjamb without touching it, elevating it about knee height above the floor. Another person holds a meter stick against the doorjamb, with the zero end at the person's toe, ready to drop it. At the drop, the seated person tries to catch the meter stick by pressing his or her foot against the doorjamb.