Running head: THE EFFECT OF GENDER ON REACTION TIME 1

The Effect of Gender on Reaction Time

Moses Victor Pinedo

Advanced Research In Science

April 25, 2024

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Abstract

Reaction time is the time between receiving and responding to a stimulus, this number tends to

vary between genders. Existing research suggests that, on average, adult males tend to have a

faster reaction time than females. However, there’s a notable lack of comprehensive data

regarding this gender difference among teenagers and young adults, leading to potential gaps in

understanding, which are the focus of this study. This research addresses this gap by

investigating the relation between gender and reaction time among individuals ages 16-18. The

study tested the reaction times of males and females within the specified age to explore potential

differences in reaction times between the two groups. The study's results demonstrated a notable

difference between the genders, with a statistical value of .0004 and a critical of .05 there is a

high statistical significance between gender and reaction time. This was so significant, that even

the single slowest-performing male outperformed 4 females, highlighting the large difference

between the two.

Additionally, over half of all males tested were capable of achieving a top-five ranking among

females. The study suggests that gender plays a crucial role in determining reaction times among

teenagers and young adults. Possible reasonings for this phenomenon include males' higher

motor capabilities and hormonal influences.

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Chapter 2

Within teens, does gender affect reaction time?

The topic of reaction differences between males and females has been well documented.

However, Very few studies can be found that specifically target the reaction times of teenagers. It

is for this reason that this study was conducted, to contribute to the field of reaction time. The

major topics needed to understand this experiment are reaction time, stimuli, and differences

between males and females, which will be covered alongside several related studies.

Reaction time (RT) is a measure of how quickly an organism can react to a stimulus, RT

is defined by the amount of time between the presentation of the stimulus and the appearance of

a voluntary response (Duke-Elder 1959). There are 3 types of RT. (1) Simple RT: one stimulus,

one response. (2) Recognition RT: some stimulus that should be responded to, and another that

shouldn’t. (3) Choice RT: Multiple stimuli and multiple responses. Throughout this study, Simple

RT was studied. Physiological Franciscus Cornelis Donders was one of the first people ever to

measure Human RT using a telegraph-esque device invented in 1840 by Charles Wheatstone

(Bansal et al. 2015). Since then reaction time has grown into a rather large area of study because

it influences and impacts several portions of our lives (ie, driving, playing sports, video games,

etc.). Many factors have been shown to affect reaction times, including age, gender, and physical

fitness being the most prominent. Sensory neurons convert a stimulus into an electrochemical

signal, which flows down the length of the sensory neuron(s), into the neurons of the central
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nervous system, and finally to the motor neuron(s). Generally, motor neurons will cause a muscle

to contract or a gland to secrete a substance. Reactions that involve only the receptor, the spinal

cord, and the effector, are faster than those that involve processing in the brain (Kosinski, Robert

J. 2005). The time it takes for this process to occur results in reaction time. In short reaction time

is a necessary ability that all creatures have, and various stimuli can trigger that results in a

physical or behavioral change.

A stimulus is anything that can trigger a physical or behavioral change, an example of a

stimulus is a sudden loud noise, which in turn triggers you to “jump” and prepare to react.

(Vorvick 2023). There are 2 main types of stimuli, auditory and visual, with visual being used to

test the RT of subjects during this study. Auditory RT was pushed aside in this study because of

the high levels of variability between sources being indecisive as to whether or not there is, or

isn’t a difference between male and female auditory RT. However, there has been an examined

difference in visual reaction time between males and females, this is caused by the gap of time

between the presentation of a stimulus and the beginning of the muscle contraction to respond to

it. While muscle contraction times are similar among males and females, it has been well

established that motor responses in males are faster than those in females (Silverman IW 2006).

Secondarily, it is believed that females reach their max reactionary potential at 16, providing

males an unfair advantage due to their reaction times still speeding up until the age of 20 (Deary

et al. 2012).

In 2023 Vamsi K V Pusapati and a team from Louisiana State University performed their

study to examine the effect of gender and age on reaction time. Within this study, 110

participants were recruited for examination, all ranging from ages 11-65, and were separated into

5-year brackets, with each bracket having 10 people, 5 male and 5 female. Similar to this study,
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an average of five reaction time trials were taken as each participant’s reaction time. With an

online reaction time testing software being used to determine reaction time. This study showed

that men have a lower (faster) mean reaction time than women, with teens between 14 and 20

having the second fastest reaction time of all the groups tested. The fastest of these groups were

the 20-25 because this is when most people are at their physical healthiest and the increased

response latency that grows as we age.

A secondary study by John M. Starr and Ian J. Deary from the University of Edinburgh

also sought to find the relationship between age and gender on reaction time. In this experiment

2,400 subjects were tested, the majority of which being young children, but with a total range of

ages between 3 and 87. This study however has some stark limitations, with the primary one

being the inconsistent groupings of subjects. There were relatively few teens and children tested,

resulting in inconsistent findings. Even with the lack of information regarding age, it still

managed to provide a clear understanding of gendered RT differences, supporting the notion that

males exhibit faster reaction times.

Males will have a faster reaction time because their reaction time will continue to

decrease (get faster) into their 20s, unlike females, alongside males having increased motor

responses. This test will also work to help broaden the scope of teenage reaction times and

enhance the preexisting information.

Hypotheses

Alternative: Males will have a faster reaction time than females.

Ha: (95% certainty)

Null: Males will have a slower or equal reaction time than females.
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Ho: (95% certainty)

Chapter 3

Within teens, does gender affect reaction time?

Methodology: The website “The Human Benchmark” will measure different people's reaction

time. Each person will be given 5 trials where the average score will be taken and used as their

data.

Independent Variable: The gender of the person

Dependent Variable: the reaction speed of the person(ms)

Controlled Variables: Who I pick to run the trial, the number of attempts the person gets, the

website used to measure the data

Data information: A t-test will be used to analyze the table at 95% confidence with a critical

value of .05

Detailed procedure: At least 10 females and 10 males will be tested. Subjects will perform the

test individually to prevent outside distractions from influencing their performance. Subjects will

go through one cycle on ¨the human benchmark¨ which gives 5 total trials, they will then be
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granted 3 seconds to rest between trials (if wanted) before moving on to the next trial. Once all

five trials have been completed, the scores will be averaged and logged. Lastly, Subjects will be

asked for their gender, age, and name. Once all information is collected it will then be put into a

spreadsheet and a T-test will be performed to test for statistical significance.

Chapter 4
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T-test: 0.00004

Critical Value: p<0.05

Confidence level: 95%

Chapter 5

This study investigated the difference in reaction time between male and female teens.

Using "The Human Benchmark" website, the reaction times from 26 males and females were

recorded and analyzed. Specifically, subjects were seated and ran the test 5 times, with their
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times averaged by the end. A T-test was then run, accepting the alternative hypothesis; that

males would exhibit a faster reaction time. With a T-test result of .00004 with a critical value of

.05, this meant there was an extremely high correlation between gender and reaction time.

The findings of this study strongly support the alternative hypothesis, which was that males

would have a faster reaction time than females. This conclusion was drawn due to overwhelming

evidence supporting the fact that males have a higher visual reaction rate than females. Males on

average have a higher reaction time due to their increased motor responses. Within this lab, the

difference in reaction times was made abundant when nearly one-fourth of all the men tested

outperformed the singular fastest female, with even the slowest males performing comparably to

the average female reaction rate. This gap, however, is decreasing over time as more and more

women drive and participate in fast-action sports (Jain et al., 2015). Male and Female children

under the age of 11 showcases little to no correlation between their reaction times and gender,

however as they reach ages 15-16 and up into their 20s males get significantly faster and far

outpace females (Sissons, 2021). The reasons behind this are vague and unclear between all

sources, but it is believed that it’s a mixture of the fact that female reaction rate levels off around

16, while males continue to get better into their 20s, and that since children have substantially

less testosterone/estrogen they’re more similar that their teenaged counterparts. However, this is

all still rather unclear and could benefit from further studies. Nonetheless, there is no doubt that

even among teens males have faster RTs than females.

This study contributes valuable information to the preexisting literature revolving around

gender differences, especially involving teens, an area of study that has been rather

underdeveloped in comparison to other RT groupings. This study aimed to specifically show off

gender differences in the teenaged category, rather than, as said before, simply lumping them into
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other categories. The results have implications across various fields, such as education, sports,

and psychology. Understanding the gender differences in reaction time can help educators,

coaches, and policymakers tailor strategies and interventions to optimize performance and safety,

especially in areas of life where quick responses are necessary, such as sports or driving.

A couple of limitations in the design of the experiment could be the time that the

experiment took place, the number of subjects tested, and the lack of trial runs to familiarize the

subject with the system.

The time of day could have skewed the results because we naturally have hours when we

are more aware and alert in what is known as the circadian rhythm. Teenagers are naturally more

“awake” in the later hours of the day with some variation depending on whether they are an early

bird or night owl. Since most of the tests were administered between 9:30 and 11:00 in the

morning most participants were still groggy and not fully prepared for the lightning-fast

reactions that were expected of them. This is only made blindingly obvious when looking at the

subjects themselves, many of them were still tired from the day before and were almost entirely

unaware of what was around them, with many even showing up in pajamas. Some tests were also

done in the later hours of the day, possibly giving those subjects an advantage since their bodies

had more time to wake up and regain their reflexes, with the opposite being true for those tested

later. A way to overcome this setback would be to test people later on in the day and when their

bodies are more active & reflexes are heightened.

A secondary limitation on the precision of the experiment could be the small number of

people tested, just below 30. With an increased amount of subjects, the data would have

increased reliability and carry more facts with it. Even within the data table itself, clear outliers

present themselves, working to skew the data. An increased number of subjects would outweigh
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the outliers and increase the validity of the data. A way to fix this would be to increase the

number of subjects tested and trials each person gets.

Lastly, due to the lack of practice runs many subjects were confused about how to

properly log their reaction time. This dilemma led to many subjects having extremely slow first

attempts when they would then learn how the website worked. This led to subjects who have

never used “The Human Benchmark” before scoring worse than they could have potentially. To

fix this problem subjects will be given a set number of practice runs.

To conclude, this study found a significant difference in reaction time between male and

female teenagers, with males demonstrating faster reaction times on average. These findings

support the preconceived notion that gender plays a role in reaction time differences. Future

studies could benefit from a more optimal testing time, an increased sample size, and the

addition of practice runs to get subjects more accustomed to the website. Future research could

also work to help investigate the underlying factors contributing to these differences and explore

potential interventions to optimize reaction time performance in both genders.

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