Simple visual reaction time
This is the number people mean by "reaction time", and the honest answer for a healthy adult is 200 to 300 milliseconds with the mean near 250. Vision is the slowest of the three main senses to react to because the retina performs a chemical transduction before any signal leaves the eye, which costs time no other sense pays. The distribution is right-skewed: an individual has a hard floor and a long tail of slow trials, so the median is a better summary than the mean and almost nobody reports it.
The numbers
- Typical
- 250 ms
- Range
- 200 ms to 300 ms
- What it is
- Reaction — a decision, via the brain
- What is measured
- Press a button as soon as a light appears. One stimulus, one response, no choice to make.
- How it was measured
- Laboratory apparatus with a dedicated response button. Browser-based tests add 20 to 50 ms of display and input latency and cannot be compared with these figures.
Why this is a reaction
A reaction is a decision: signal in, processing, movement out. The floor for a human is around 150 milliseconds, and anything measured below about 100 ms is anticipation rather than response.
Where it sits against everything else
Reflexes at the top, reactions in the middle, design values off the end of the scale.
The basic senses
| What | Typical | Range | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple tactile reaction time | 155 ms | 130 ms–190 ms | Reaction |
| Simple auditory reaction time | 170 ms | 140 ms–200 ms | Reaction |
| Recognition reaction time | 340 ms | 280 ms–450 ms | Reaction |
| Choice reaction time | 380 ms | 300 ms–500 ms | Reaction |
Common questions
- How long is simple visual reaction time?
- Typically 250 ms, with a real range of 200 ms to 300 ms. Press a button as soon as a light appears. One stimulus, one response, no choice to make.
- Is that a reflex or a reaction?
- Reaction — a decision, via the brain. A reaction is a decision: signal in, processing, movement out. The floor for a human is around 150 milliseconds, and anything measured below about 100 ms is anticipation rather than response.
- Does the measurement method matter?
- Laboratory apparatus with a dedicated response button. Browser-based tests add 20 to 50 ms of display and input latency and cannot be compared with these figures.
Related pages
- Simple tactile reaction time 155 ms
- Simple auditory reaction time 170 ms
- Recognition reaction time 340 ms
- Choice reaction time 380 ms
- A reflex is not a reaction Why one is 20 ms and the other 250
- Stopping distance at every speed Reaction distance plus braking distance, computed
- Measure your own reaction time Five attempts, median reported
Sources
- A comparative study of visual and auditory reaction times on the basis of gender and physical activity levels — Jain et al., International Journal of Applied and Basic Medical Research 5(2), 2015