If you are driving and suddenly notice a pedestrian at a crosswalk, the time in which we notice the pedestrian, decide to slow down at https://raisetwice.com/improvement/reaction-time-exercises/, and perform that action is reaction time. This cognitive ability can save us from a lot of accidents.
In a boxing match or a soccer game, it is extremely important to detect your opponent's movement in time, anticipate his actions, and react as quickly and accurately as possible. Good reaction time will be key to the outcome. You are in a building and suddenly notice a fire. In this case, reaction time is the time you will need to find the nearest fire extinguisher immediately after detecting the fire.
The child is in gym class and must start running at the teacher's signal. The time taken to start after the teacher's signal will be the response time.
When a guard detects suspicious activity, the time it takes for him to respond can be crucial to a successful intervention. If he detects a theft, for example, the response time will be the time interval between the time he notices the theft and the beginning of the pursuit.
Reaction Time Pathologies and Disorders
Any type of disorder in which perception, information processing, or motor skills are impaired will also affect reaction time. This is why reaction time is a cognitive ability that is very sensitive to various impairments. For example, problems with vision or hearing, such as blindness or deafness, can lead to a decrease in reaction time due to a perceptual impairment. Patients with bradypsychia (mental retardation) or dementia, such as those suffering from Alzheimer's disease, may have a decreased rate of information processing, resulting in slower reaction times. Conversely, impulsive people or those with ADHD may also have problems with information processing, and therefore reaction time. In terms of response time itself, people with akinesia or bradykinesia (as in patients with Parkinson's disease), or motor problems such as hemiparesis or other types of paralysis, may also have difficulty initiating a motor response. In general, any neurodegenerative disease, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, or Huntington's chorea, will have impaired reaction time as a result of brain damage during the course of the disease. Finally, brain damage caused by head trauma or stroke can also affect any of these three processes and negatively affect reaction time.