1. Human Reflexes and Response Times Auditory and Visual Cues

2. Reflex Any response that occurs automatically without conscious effort. Two Types: – Simple or basic: built –in, unlearned responses. – Acquired or conditioned: result of practice and learning.

3. Reflex Arc: Stimulus Receptor Integration Center Effectors Response Afferent pathway CNS Sensory neurons Efferent pathway Motor neurons Muscle or gland Reflex is predictable because the pathway between the receptor and effector is always the same.

4. Receptor Afferent pathway

5. Reaction Times College age men: – 190 ms auditory – 160 ms visual Why ? – Auditory stimulus takes 8-10 ms to reach brain. Visual takes 20-40 msec.

6. Factors Influencing Reaction Time Stimulus Strength Arousal Age Gender Direct vs. Peripheral Vision Fatigue Alcohol Distractions Breathing Cycle Intelligence

7. Today’s lab Lab should be done by EACH member of the group as a subject. We will not compare class values, so ignore that part in labscribe questions. Just compare within your own group.

8. Homework Answer ALL questions from labscribe assignment. Write a methods section for a scientific paper. Do NOT copy word for word from labscribe. Write them in your own words.

9. Methods Should describe what was done so that someone who is not in this class could repeat the experiment. Do not give grave detail regarding the operation of labscribe. Include information regarding the way data were collected and what analyses of those data you did (mean, standard error of the mean, comparisons).