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Rachel Tashjian's picture

Hit Me Baby, One More Time.

We decided to test the difference in response time between genders (male and female). We hypothesized that there is indeed a difference, and that male response time would be quicker. We tested this by hitting the stimulator on the back of the subject's left hand. Here is our data:

 

T1 T2 T3 ND MD RT
Average
2.514 2.709 2.757 0.195 0.048 0.243  
2.93 3.115 3.239 0.185 0.124 0.309  
4.19 4.407 4.457 0.217 0.05 0.267 0.214
13.686 13.747 13.793 0.061 0.046 0.107  
17.122 17.184 17.291 0.062 0.107 0.169  
6.979 7.089 7.129 0.11 0.04 0.15 0.135
6.732 6.841 6.901 0.109 0.06 0.169  
4.23 4.329 4.43 0.099 0.101 0.2  
6.712 6.86 6.921 0.148 0.061 0.209 0.193
20.192 20.307 20.374 0.115 0.067 0.182  
15.65 15.77 15.812 0.12 0.042 0.162  
11.395 11.524 11.593 0.129 0.069 0.198 0.181

 

The first average (first three sets of data) is Rachel's, the second is Andy's, the third is Kate, and the fourth is THA PROFESSAH Wil Franklin.

Therefore, we believe that our story that men have faster reaction times than women is a good one. However, we do not think it's as simple as that. While creating our hypothesis, we also considered the length of the nerve endings (height). While it seems that the reaction time does not differ because of height regardless of gender, we believe that within gender the height difference has an effect. For example, Wil Franklin (6'3'') had a slower reaction time than Andy (5'8''), and Rachel (5'8'') had a slower reaction time than Kate (5'4'').

Kate, Andy, & Rachel

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