Response time can be measured as follows.
- Press start after you complete a demonstrated direction.
- Wait and then press stop after they complete the action you demonstrated.
The usual response time is between 5 and 10 seconds.
The response time is for the first action, and measures the time it takes to mentally process the information and translate it into a completed manual action. Different actions may take different amounts of time to complete. Because they are slow, a stop watch measuring in seconds probably has enough sensitivity to get an adequate measure of the time it takes to process and guide a single action.
If there is a difference in response time, we need to be clear about the cause. In ACL 1, a distinction is made between a reaction and response that should be continued into ACL 3. A reaction to fear is faster than a response to a cue. Response time is about thinking and self-determination. Responses are methodical processes that the person uses to experience, evaluate, compare and sustain attention. The person has a sense of the experience, which is a personal idea that makes sense to them. You and I can think whatever we please, but what makes sense to them is what matters to them. What happens during their response time is what protects their identity or threatens their survival.