Human Reaction Times: Linking Individual and Collective Behaviour Through Physics Modeling

An individual’s reaction time data to visual stimuli have usually been represented in Experimental Psychology by means of an ex-Gaussian function. In most previous works, researchers have mainly aimed at finding a meaning for the parameters of the ex-Gaussian function which are known to correlate wi...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Juan Carlos Castro-Palacio, Pedro Fernández-de-Córdoba, J. M. Isidro, Sarira Sahu, Esperanza Navarro-Pardo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-03-01
Series:Symmetry
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-8994/13/3/451
Description
Summary:An individual’s reaction time data to visual stimuli have usually been represented in Experimental Psychology by means of an ex-Gaussian function. In most previous works, researchers have mainly aimed at finding a meaning for the parameters of the ex-Gaussian function which are known to correlate with cognitive disorders. Based on the recent evidence of correlations between the reaction time series to visual stimuli produced by different individuals within a group, we go beyond and propose a Physics-inspired model to represent the reaction time data of a coetaneous group of individuals. In doing so, a Maxwell–Boltzmann-like distribution appeared, the same distribution as for the velocities of the molecules in an Ideal Gas model. We describe step by step the methodology we use to go from the individual reaction times to the distribution of the individuals response within the coetaneous group. In practical terms, by means of this model we also provide a simple entropy-based methodology for the classification of the individuals within the collective they belong to with no need for an external reference which can be applicable in diverse areas of social sciences.
ISSN:2073-8994