Course:KIN355/2020 Projects/Reaction Times

Defining the Concept and Its Importance

In performance related fitness, one of the most important skill components is reaction time. Reaction time is defined as being the time between the application of a stimulus and the beginning of an organism’s response to it (Welford & Brebner, 1980). It is an individual’s ability to react or respond quickly to what they hear, see, or feel. In the realm of sports and performance fitness, Young and colleagues define it as the interval of time between the presentation of a stimulus and the appropriate voluntary response by the athlete or participant (Young et al., 2015). One example of this could be hearing a starting pistol, realizing what it means and responding to it quickly by accelerating towards the track. The neural processes that take place in order for one to respond to a stimulus determine the rate of the ration times. Between the onset of a sensory stimulus and the initiation of a response to it, there are at least six stages of physiological events: (1) Conversion of the stimulus by the sense organ into a signal consisting of a series of nerve impulses, (2) Transmission of these to the brain, (3) Perceptual identification of the signal, (4) Choice of the response, (5) Transmission from the brain to the effector muscles making the response, and (6) Activation of these muscles (Welford, 1988).

Past research has shown that an individual’s reaction time can be a valid indicator of the central nervous system’s ability to receive and synchronize movement expressed through the peripheral nervous system (Young et al., 2015). The ability to respond rapidly to an external stimulus is extremely important for the development of children and their motor function. Neurophysiology studies show children with impaired cognitive conditions that slow reaction times have delayed or hindered development of motor control compared to neurotypical children (Klotz, 2012). Not only is practicing reaction times significant for neuro-motor development, but practicing faster reaction times also builds important neural processes for functional development. Reaction times involve a series of cognitive pathways important for everyday tasks such as decision making, attention and accuracy (Favilla, 2006). Working to improve reaction times and implementing such work in childhood movement experience allows a child to develop the dexterity and the cognition important for functionality.

Role in Childhood Development and Contemporary Considerations

Reaction times are important in both indicating and dictating neural maturity of children’s information processing system. Faster reaction times are linked to competence and capacity when it comes to information processing (Lange-Kuettner, 2012). The practice of improving reaction times in childhood is extremely important to their development and to achieving proficiency in performance. During childhood, the brain is more prone to neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to dissect information and adapt according to our experiences and environment. Working on necessary cognitive processes can create stronger and healthier connections that provide quicker responses with less mental effort (Gopnic et al., 1999). The cognitive processes involved in an individual’s ability to swiftly react to a stimulus are processes that are shared by many other cognitive skills such as memory, attention, problem solving and decision making (Deary and Der, 2005). Many studies show that the age between 7 and 8 years is most critical for shortening reaction time and acquiring the capability of using visual feedback information to implement movement accuracy. These important skills not only allow a child become more intellectually competent, but they also allow proficiency in tasks required for development as well. For example, cognitive priming can help better performance in school, sports, social interactions and day to day activities.

Quick reaction time is not only important for cognitive development but can be crucial for competence in movement. Strengthening neural pathways of skills required in physical play can be integrated into priming the necessary musculature for proficiency. Reaction to a stimulus requires three components, perception, processing and the response (Ando and Oda, 2004). The response is a physical reaction of the body and engages the motor system. During Childhood, working on reaction times can improve and develop movement patterns, and skills such as agility (Favilla, 2006). Furthermore, a study exploring perceptual and motor skills also shows the improvement of the rate of response with practice to enhance performance (Ando and Oda, 2004). This cognitive-motor connection is a key player in many aspects of daily living including, but not limited to: making quick decisions in dangerous situations, athletic abilities, prevention from injury ((Kiikka, 2020).

One main issue that seems to arise when trying to incorporate the practice of improving reaction times in child development programs is that reaction times are still rarely reported in developmental psychology and are not the area of focus when it comes to child development (Lange-Kuettner, 2012). This could possibly mean that strategies to improve reaction times are not being implemented or are being implemented insufficiently in childcare facilities and schools. Another potential issue that can arise from this is that early childhood educators, teachers, or grassroots coaches are not aware of how to implement this performance skill into the activities of children. Many strategies or resources on how one can practice reaction times may be unavailable because lack of research. All early childhood educators, teachers, or grassroots coaches should familiarize themselves with the concept and the importance of practicing reaction times in childhood. The lack of attention to this area of motor and cognitive development can possibly lead to weakening of such pathways.

Practical Applications

Obstacle Course

The purpose of this game is to incorporate multiple methods of reaction time training into a fun obstacle course setting. Each activity presents a different challenge that will help to improve reaction times and motor skills in children. This activity is ideal for an elementary school gym class. This obstacle course is great for children between the ages of 5-10, with modifications to different aspects to make it more appropriate based on the age/skill level of the group.

Equipment

Tennis balls/reaction balls

Gymnastics mats of varying sizes/thicknesses
Hula hoops (3-4 colours)

Instructions

Arrange each obstacle course activity in whatever order works/fits in your space, specific order is not important. Instructions and modifications for each individual activity are below.

Tennis Ball/Reaction Ball Activity

Give each participant their own ball, and have them bounce and catch it for 1-2 minutes. This activity can be adjusted to the skill level of the group by having them bounce the ball on the ground and catching it, or increasing the difficulty by having them bounce it against a wall and catching it. Tennis balls can be used for younger/less skilled groups and reaction balls for older/more skilled groups. If there are not enough tennis/reaction balls for everyone, this can be turned into a group activity by having participants doing bounce passes with partners.

Gymnastics Mats Activity

Arrange the gymnastics mats into a line for participants to walk/run across and maintain their balance while moving across different terrains. With younger/less skilled participants use slightly thinner mats while still having a variety of thicknesses for them to run across. With older/more skilled participants, use thicker mats in a variety of sizes to increase the difficulty.

Tape Activity

Arrange the hula hoops so that if someone was standing in the middle they would have about 3ft of space between them and a hoop. Create enough of these for about 10 people. Have participants stand in the middle of their space, and call out a colour that corresponds to one of the hula hoops used. Participants will jump to that colour as quickly as they can, and then return to the center of their space. Repeat this, calling out different colours for about 3 minutes. To modify this activity, participants could step into the hula hoops to make it easier, or you could assign an action to each colour to increase the difficulty. For example, red could be 5 jumping jacks, blue could be 10 burpees, and yellow could be 5 tuck jumps. If hula hoops are not available, the lines on a gymnasium floor could be used instead.

Head or Catch Drill

The purpose of this drill is to improve the reaction times of players through responding to cues. This drill is meant to be done with soccer players ages 7-10, but can be done with older groups as well. The setting can be in an indoor or outdoor environment as long as there is adequate space for the number of players participating.

Equipment

2 soccer balls
1-2 coaches
5-15 players

Instructions

Have the players standing in a circle about 6-10ft away from the coach who is standing in the middle. The coach will throw the soccer ball towards a player, and say “head” or “catch”. The player will respond with either heading the ball when they hear “head”, or catching the ball in their hands when they hear “catch”. The ball is then returned to the leader in the middle and the drill continues until there are no players left. If the player successfully performs the right action, they will continue with the drill, and if they perform the wrong action, they will juggle a ball off to the side until the drill is complete. To change the difficulty of this drill, the coach can give the cue before throwing the ball to make it easier, or give the cue after throwing the ball to make it more difficult. The less time a player has to respond to the cue, the more difficult the drill will be. To increase the difficulty even more, the players can perform the task opposite to the cue they hear. So when they hear “head”, they catch the ball, and when they hear “catch”, they head the ball. When enough players are out of the drill, they can start a second group doing the same drill, with either an assistant coach or a player in the middle of the circle.

Summary

Reaction time is the time between the application of a stimulus and the beginning of an organism’s response to it (Welford & Brebner, 1980). It is an important developmental skill as it provides the ability to quickly react to the senses within the world. Studies have portrayed that children with impaired cognitive conditions that are correlated with slow reaction times have delayed development of motor control compared to neurotypical children (Klotz, 2012). The development of reaction time is crucial for proficiency in performance. Although the proven importance, reaction time is not included in the area of focus for child development.

References

Ando, S., Kida, N., & Oda, S. (2004). Retention of practice effects on simple reaction time for peripheral and central visual fields. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 98(3), 897-900. doi:10.2466/pms.98.3.897-900

Deary I. J. & Der ,G. (2005). Reaction time, age, and cognitive ability: longitudinal findings from age 16 to 63 years in representative population samples. Aging Neuropsychology and Cognition. Volume 12, Issue (2). pp.187-215.

Favilla, M., & Favilla, M. (2006). Reaching movements in children: Accuracy and reaction time development. Experimental Brain Research, 169(1), 122-125. doi:10.1007/s00221-005-0291-8

Gopnic, A., Meltzoff, A., Kuhl, P. (1999). The Scientist in the Crib: What Early Learning Tells Us About the Mind, New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.

Kiikka, D. (2020, September 11). Reaction Time In Sports. The Sports Edu. https://thesportsedu.com/reaction-time-definition/.

Klotz, J. M., Johnson, M. D., Wu, S. W., Isaacs, K. M., & Gilbert, D. L. (2012). Relationship between reaction time variability and motor skill development in ADHD. Child Neuropsychology, 18(6), 576-585. doi:10.1080/09297049.2011.625356

Lange-Kuettner, Chris. (2012). The Importance of Reaction Times for Developmental Science: What a Difference Milliseconds Make. International Journal of Developmental Science. 6. 51-55. 10.3233/DEV-2012-11089.

WELFORD, A. T. (1988). Reaction time, speed of performance, and age. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 515(1), 1-17. doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1988.tb32958.x

Welford, A. T., & Brebner, J. M. (1980). chapter 1. In Reaction times (pp. 1–23). essay, Academic Press.

Young, W. (2015) Agility and change of direction speed are independent skills: Implications for agility invasion in sport. International journal of sports science and coaching, 10 (1) 159 – 167.