1. Research Question: Does Reaction Time Vary with Age?
Maths Statistics Competition
By: Heather Deacon & Jessica Freer
Grade 10
St Peters Lutheran College Indooroopilly

2. How we Obtained the Data
Conducted a reaction time test on people of varying ages
Reaction time test: the 30 cm Ruler Drop Test
We tested the following age groups: Year 4 (9-10 year olds)
Year 7 (11-12 year olds)
Year 10 (14-15 year olds)
Year 12/Uni (16-18 year olds)
People in their 30s
People in their 40s
People in their 50s
People in their 60s
The 30 cm Ruler Drop Test: A 30 cm ruler is held stationary between the thumb and forefinger of a participant’s hand.
The ruler is dropped without warning the participant, and they must catch it as quickly as they can - i.e. react to the stimulus of the ruler dropping.
The number of cm between the top of their thumb and the bottom of the ruler is taken as a measurement of their reaction time (the lower the number, the better the reaction time.)
Measurements were taken to the nearest mm.
The test was repeated 3 times on each participant, and the average taken.

3. The Data we Collected Age Group Participant Age
Average Reaction Time (cm)
Year 4
(9-10yrs) 1 9
16.2 2
17.5 3
19.9 4 10
12.0
Year 7
(11-12yrs) 5 11
12.3 6 12
18.6 7
16.1 8
12.6
Age Group
Participant
Age
Average Reaction Time (cm)
Year 10
(14-15yrs) 9 15
11.1 10
7.6 11
10.9 12
7.1
Year 12/uni
(16-18yrs) 13 16
10.5
5.0 17
12.9 18
12.4

4. The Data we Collected Cont.
Age Group
Participant
Age
Average Reaction Time (cm)
30s 17 34
14.4 18 36
13.8 19 39
10.2
40s 20 42
18.3 21 44
8.1 22 46
11.7
Age Group
Participant
Age
Average Reaction Time (cm)
50s 23 51
14.9 24 54
16.1
60s 25 63
11.7 26 64
14.7

5. Graphs and Statistics from the Data
Figure 1
Figure 2

6. Graphs and Statistics from the Data Cont.
Figure 3
Standard Deviation
=√( )²+( )²+( )²+( )² (4-1)
=3.01 (2 d.p.)
The standard deviation shows that reaction time varied within this age group. This can be applied to the rest of the age groups tested.

7. Analysis of the Data and Discussion
Figure 1 shows that reaction time does vary across all the different age groups, BUT:
Data in Figure 1 can be described as having no correlation:
A relationship between reaction time and age would result in at least a weak positive or weak negative correlation.
Figure 1 also indicates that reaction time is best is during the mid-teens (Year 10), and gets “worse” again from that age.
Figure 2 further shows that there is no clear relationship between reaction time and age:
As age increases, reaction time remains inconsistent
A relationship between the two should result in linear or perpendicular linear relations
How we Could have Improved the Data
Tested the same number of participants for each age group
Tested participants with the same skills
E.g. Many of the participants had the skill of playing a musical instrument, however not all of them did.

8. Weaknesses in the Data Conclusions
Most participants’ reaction time was consistent, however, a few participants’ data proved inconsistent.
E.g. one of the data values might have been relatively high, whilst the others were relatively low (or vice-versa.)
Participant 20:
12.6 cm
14.7 cm
3.4 cm (low data value compared to others.)
These abnormalities were still included in individual averages.
Conclusions
The graphs show that although reaction time does vary across different age groups, there is no clear relationship between reaction time and age.
Rather, the raw data shows that reaction time varies with individuals within age groups.

9. Bibliography
Greenwood, D et al. 2016, Essential Mathematics for the AC Year 10 & 10A Second Edition, 2 edn, Cambridge University Press, Port Melbourne, Vic, accessed 17 August 2016, < /lessonList/>.
Mackenzie, B 2004, Ruler Drop Test, BrianMac Sports Coach, accessed 3 August 2016, <
Some big ideas in Statistics n.d., Pdf Document Handout, Mathematics, St Peters Lutheran College Indooroopilly, delivered 15 August 2016.