<p>Complex reaction times have been extensively studied and broken down into underlying processing stages. <a href="https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~saul/discoveryprocessingstages.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Sternberg (1969) [Acta Psychologica, 30, 276-315.]</a> was one of the first systematic attempts at using reaction time to understanding cognitive processing. For simple reaction times (like responding to a brief sound or light), <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Larry_Thompson2/publication/17284303_Premotor_and_components_of_reaction_time/links/54644cf20cf2c0c6aec50636.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Botwinick (1966) [Journal of Experimental Psychology, 71(1), 9-15.]</a> split reaction time into pre-motor and motor components and found the motor component accounted for 50 ms of a simple reaction time task that took about 250 ms. I am not aware of anyone who has split apart the remaining 200 ms into addiitional stages.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-01T15:22:32.640Z
Not sure I have time to dig up the references right now but the remaining time has definitely been split into additional stages.
Bryan Krause
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-01T17:28:49.887Z
@BryanKrause would like to see the references when you get a chance. It is not really my area of expertise so I bet some stuff has been done since the late 60s.
StrongBad
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-03T01:40:01.357Z
Thank you! I'll take some time to read through those. @BryanKrause I'd be really interested in those references if you ever get a chance.
MarielS
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-01T15:06:41.420Z
2019-04-01T15:06:41.420Z
StrongBad
<p>It's claimed that the average human reaction time in response to a visual stimulus is 0.25 seconds (<a href="https://backyardbrains.com/experiments/reactiontime" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://backyardbrains.com/experiments/reactiontime</a>). This article by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1068%2Fp160049" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Mcleod (1987)</a> may be a better, more reliable benchmark for my question, as it comes from a more reputable source and states both the low and high bounds  of tested human reaction times (p. 49):</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Traditional  laboratory  estimates  suggest  that  <strong>it  takes  from  200-300  ms  to  pick  up  visual  information</strong>  about  an  uncertain  event  in  the  outside  world  and  to  use  this to  initiate  an appropriate  action</p>
</blockquote>

<p><strong>Do we know/have any way of knowing what percentage of this time is taken up by any given part of the reaction process?</strong> aka how much time is the eye converting what it sees, how much is the nerve signals doing their job and reporting to or from the brain, how much time does the brain spend processing, how much is the time the muscles take to contract, etc.?</p>

<p>I've been recently studying reaction times, so would be really interested in the breakdown of this total given time between the various processes involved. Can anyone help me out with this?</p>

<p><sub>
McLeod, P. (1987). <a href="https://doi.org/10.1068%2Fp160049" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Visual reaction time and high-speed ball games.</a> Perception, 16(1), 49-59.
</sub></p>

<reaction-time>
Dissecting human reaction time
MarielS
# Dissecting human reaction time

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-03-31)

It's claimed that the average human reaction time in response to a visual stimulus is 0.25 seconds (<https://backyardbrains.com/experiments/reactiontime>). This article by [Mcleod (1987)](https://doi.org/10.1068%2Fp160049) may be a better, more reliable benchmark for my question, as it comes from a more reputable source and states both the low and high bounds of tested human reaction times (p. 49):

> Traditional laboratory estimates suggest that **it takes from 200-300 ms to pick up visual information** about an uncertain event in the outside world and to use this to initiate an appropriate action

**Do we know/have any way of knowing what percentage of this time is taken up by any given part of the reaction process?** aka how much time is the eye converting what it sees, how much is the nerve signals doing their job and reporting to or from the brain, how much time does the brain spend processing, how much is the time the muscles take to contract, etc.?

I've been recently studying reaction times, so would be really interested in the breakdown of this total given time between the various processes involved. Can anyone help me out with this?

McLeod, P. (1987). [Visual reaction time and high-speed ball games.](https://doi.org/10.1068%2Fp160049) Perception, 16(1), 49-59.

**Tags:** reaction-time


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2019-04-01. Score: 2

Complex reaction times have been extensively studied and broken down into underlying processing stages. [Sternberg (1969) [Acta Psychologica, 30, 276-315.]](https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~saul/discoveryprocessingstages.pdf) was one of the first systematic attempts at using reaction time to understanding cognitive processing. For simple reaction times (like responding to a brief sound or light), [Botwinick (1966) [Journal of Experimental Psychology, 71(1), 9-15.]](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Larry_Thompson2/publication/17284303_Premotor_and_components_of_reaction_time/links/54644cf20cf2c0c6aec50636.pdf) split reaction time into pre-motor and motor components and found the motor component accounted for 50 ms of a simple reaction time task that took about 250 ms. I am not aware of anyone who has split apart the remaining 200 ms into addiitional stages.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: Not sure I have time to dig up the references right now but the remaining time has definitely been split into additional stages.  
> **username_1**: @BryanKrause would like to see the references when you get a chance. It is not really my area of expertise so I bet some stuff has been done since the late 60s.  
> **username_0**: Thank you! I'll take some time to read through those. @BryanKrause I'd be really interested in those references if you ever get a chance.  

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