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You cannot change how fast a signal travels through your body, and nothing on this page promises that your time will fall by any amount. For orientation, the average of adults in a published study was ",{"t":169,"v":170},"num","230.8",{"t":166,"v":172}," ms",{"t":174,"id":175,"n":176},"cite","woods-2015",1,{"t":166,"v":178},". Rest, one steady device and a calm start take some of the swing out of the numbers you get from one try to the next.",[180,194,216,246,270,313,324],{"role":181,"section":182},"section",{"heading":183,"blocks":184},"What you can change and what you cannot",[185,190],{"type":186,"text":187},"paragraph",[188],{"t":166,"v":189},"Your reaction time is made of several steps: seeing the signal, deciding to act, sending the command to your hand and pressing. The body part of that chain is mostly fixed for you. What you can change is how ready you are when the signal comes, how smoothly you press, and how much delay comes from your device and not from you.",{"type":186,"text":191},[192],{"t":166,"v":193},"So the useful goal is not a record. It is a steady, fair result that you can compare with your own earlier ones, and that shows you whether a change in how you take the test did anything.",{"role":181,"section":195},{"heading":196,"blocks":197},"Get the conditions right first",[198],{"type":199,"items":200},"list",[201,204,207,210,213],[202],{"t":166,"v":203},"Be rested. A tired mind is slower, and rest is the cheapest thing you can do for your results.",[205],{"t":166,"v":206},"Use one device every time. A phone, a laptop with a trackpad and a desktop with a mouse each add their own delay, so a change of device looks like a change in you.",[208],{"t":166,"v":209},"Sit comfortably with the screen straight in front of you and your hand already on the button or the mouse.",[211],{"t":166,"v":212},"Close other tabs and programs so that the page has the computer's attention and does not stall at the wrong moment.",[214],{"t":166,"v":215},"Take the test at about the same time of day when you compare days.",{"role":181,"section":217},{"heading":218,"blocks":219},"A short practice routine",[220,242],{"type":221,"items":222},"steps",[223,226,233,236,239],[224],{"t":166,"v":225},"Open the reaction time test and use its first try, which does not count, to settle in. It is there for exactly that.",[227,229,231],{"t":166,"v":228},"Take the ",{"t":169,"v":230},"5",{"t":166,"v":232}," tries of a run with your eyes on the middle of the screen, and press as soon as you see green, not before.",[234],{"t":166,"v":235},"Stop after a few runs. Short sessions on several days beat one long session, because attention and care fade as a session drags on.",[237],{"t":166,"v":238},"Look at your middle result across the week and not at your best single try, which is mostly luck.",[240],{"t":166,"v":241},"Change one thing at a time, such as your seat or your hand position, and see whether the middle result moves.",{"type":186,"text":243},[244],{"t":166,"v":245},"Practice at a task usually makes that task quicker, with the biggest gains early on and then a long flat stretch. Do not expect practice on this test to make you quicker at a different task, such as driving or a game with choices in it, because each of those is a different skill.",{"role":181,"section":247},{"heading":248,"blocks":249},"Do not guess the signal",[250,258],{"type":186,"text":251},[252,254,256],{"t":166,"v":253},"The most common way to spoil a result is to try to predict the green. If you press when you think it is about to appear, you will sometimes be early, and sometimes a lucky guess will look like a very fast reaction. The test treats a press that comes sooner than ",{"t":169,"v":255},"100",{"t":166,"v":257}," ms after the signal as a guess and does that try again, and a press before the signal is done again too.",{"type":186,"text":259},[260,262,264,266,268],{"t":166,"v":261},"Because the wait before the signal changes every time, between ",{"t":169,"v":263},"1.5",{"t":166,"v":265}," sec and ",{"t":169,"v":267},"4.5",{"t":166,"v":269}," sec, a steady rhythm of guesses does not work. React to what you see. Staying relaxed and watching the whole screen works better than leaning forward in tension.",{"role":181,"section":271},{"heading":272,"blocks":273},"Your hardware counts too",[274,294],{"type":186,"text":275},[276,278,280,282,284,286,288,290,292],{"t":166,"v":277},"Part of the delay between the signal and your result belongs to the machine. A ",{"t":169,"v":279},"144",{"t":166,"v":281}," Hz screen shows a new picture sooner than a ",{"t":169,"v":283},"60",{"t":166,"v":285}," Hz screen, and a ",{"t":169,"v":287},"1000",{"t":166,"v":289}," Hz mouse tells the computer about your press sooner than a ",{"t":169,"v":291},"125",{"t":166,"v":293}," Hz one. Neither makes you quicker. They remove delay that was never yours.",{"type":186,"text":295},[296,298,301,303,305,307,311],{"t":166,"v":297},"You can look at your own screen and mouse with the ",{"t":299,"v":300,"to":99,"key":98},"link","refresh rate test",{"t":166,"v":302}," and the ",{"t":299,"v":304,"to":96,"key":95},"polling rate test",{"t":166,"v":306},". A web page cannot see the rest of the chain, which is why a result online reads a little higher than a laboratory figure, as the page on the ",{"t":299,"v":308,"to":309,"key":310},"average reaction time","\u002Faverage-reaction-time","norms-reaction-time",{"t":166,"v":312}," explains.",{"role":181,"section":314},{"heading":315,"blocks":316},"What age does",[317],{"type":186,"text":318},[319,321,322],{"t":166,"v":320},"In the cited study, reaction time grew longer with age",{"t":174,"id":175,"n":176},{"t":166,"v":323},". The change from one year to the next was small, but over decades it adds up. If you want to know whether you are improving, compare yourself with your own results from last month, not with someone much younger or older.",{"role":181,"section":325},{"heading":326,"blocks":327},"What to expect, honestly",[328,332],{"type":186,"text":329},[330],{"t":166,"v":331},"Your results will go up and down from day to day, whatever you do, and a run that is quicker than your usual is often just a good moment. Judge a change by the middle of several runs on several days. If a week of steady practice moves that middle a little, you have learned the task. If it does not move, the numbers are showing you your normal range, which is useful to know too.",{"type":333,"tone":334,"text":335},"note","info",[336],{"t":166,"v":337},"This site has no way to check that a particular supplement, gadget or eye exercise makes you quicker, so it makes no such promise. A reaction test is a game for curiosity, not a way to judge anyone's health or ability.",[339,342,345,348],{"key":12,"path":13,"title":340,"description":341},"Reaction time test","Free reaction time test: tap or click when the screen turns green. Your middle time is set beside a published study of adults. No sign-up, no email.",{"key":310,"path":309,"title":343,"description":344},"Average reaction time","The average reaction time of adults in a published study, how far people spread around it, and how much delay your devices add to a result.",{"key":23,"path":24,"title":346,"description":347},"Aim trainer","Free aim trainer: hit round targets of three sizes as fast as you can and see your time per target, your accuracy and a Fitts throughput score. No sign-up.",{"key":349,"path":350,"title":351,"description":352},"facts-human-reaction-time","\u002Ffacts\u002Fhuman-reaction-time","What is a really good reaction time?","What is a really good reaction time? What studies of adults, sprinters and racing drivers found, and why a phone or browser makes your time look slower.",[354,358,360],{"key":355,"path":356,"name":357},"home","\u002F","What would you like to test?",{"key":8,"path":9,"name":359},"Reaction tests",{"key":156,"path":361,"name":163},"\u002Fguides\u002Fimprove-reaction-time",[363],{"n":176,"id":175,"kind":364,"authors":365,"year":366,"title":367,"venue":368,"doi":369,"url":370,"participants":371,"population":372},"sample","Woods, D. L., Wyma, J. M., Yund, E. W., Herron, T. J., & Reed, B.",2015,"Factors influencing the latency of simple reaction time","Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 9, 131","10.3389\u002Ffnhum.2015.00131","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.frontiersin.org\u002Fjournals\u002Fhuman-neuroscience\u002Farticles\u002F10.3389\u002Ffnhum.2015.00131\u002Ffull","1,469","Community volunteers in Rotorua, New Zealand, aged 18 to 65 (mean age 45.8, 40% men)",{"heading":374,"items":375},"Questions",[376,383,390,397],{"q":377,"a":378},"How can I improve my reaction time?",[379],{"type":186,"text":380},[381],{"t":166,"v":382},"Be rested, use the same device each time, practise in short sessions on several days, react to what you see instead of guessing, and judge yourself by the middle of several runs.",{"q":384,"a":385},"Can you train your reflexes?",[386],{"type":186,"text":387},[388],{"t":166,"v":389},"Practice usually makes the task you practise quicker. Do not expect it to make you quicker at other tasks, and do not expect big changes in your basic speed.",{"q":391,"a":392},"Does a faster screen or mouse improve my reaction time?",[393],{"type":186,"text":394},[395],{"t":166,"v":396},"It does not make you quicker, but it can remove delay that comes from the device, so the result shows more of you.",{"q":398,"a":399},"Why does my reaction time change so much between tries?",[400],{"type":186,"text":401},[402],{"t":166,"v":403},"Attention, tiredness and chance all play a part, which is why a test counts the middle of several tries rather than the best one.","Keep reading",{"label":406,"to":13,"key":12},"Take the reaction time test","Sources",[409,425,447,458,484,502],{"section":6,"hub":9,"cards":410},[411,414,418,422],{"key":12,"test":12,"path":13,"title":340,"line":412,"minutes":176,"devices":413},"Find out how fast you react when the screen turns green.",{"mouse":14,"touch":14,"keyboard":14},{"key":16,"test":16,"path":17,"title":415,"line":416,"minutes":176,"devices":417},"F1 reaction test","Find out how quickly you can start when five red lights go out.",{"mouse":14,"touch":14,"keyboard":14},{"key":19,"test":19,"path":20,"title":419,"line":420,"minutes":176,"devices":421},"Audio reaction test","Find out how fast you react to a beep.",{"mouse":14,"touch":14,"keyboard":14},{"key":23,"test":23,"path":24,"title":346,"line":423,"minutes":176,"devices":424},"Find out how fast and how exactly you can hit targets.",{"mouse":14,"touch":14,"keyboard":21},{"section":26,"hub":29,"cards":426},[427,431,435,439,443],{"key":32,"test":32,"path":33,"title":428,"line":429,"minutes":176,"devices":430},"CPS test","Find out how many times a second you can click.",{"mouse":14,"touch":14,"keyboard":21},{"key":35,"test":35,"path":36,"title":432,"line":433,"minutes":176,"devices":434},"Spacebar clicker","Find out how fast you can press the space bar.",{"mouse":21,"touch":21,"keyboard":14},{"key":38,"test":38,"path":39,"title":436,"line":437,"minutes":176,"devices":438},"Click counter","Keep a tally of anything you like with one big button.",{"mouse":14,"touch":14,"keyboard":14},{"key":41,"test":41,"path":42,"title":440,"line":441,"minutes":176,"devices":442},"Tap BPM","Tap along to a beat and find out how fast it is.",{"mouse":14,"touch":14,"keyboard":14},{"key":44,"test":44,"path":45,"title":444,"line":445,"minutes":176,"devices":446},"APM test","Find out how many actions a minute you make with keyboard and mouse.",{"mouse":14,"touch":21,"keyboard":14},{"section":47,"hub":50,"cards":448},[449,453],{"key":53,"test":53,"path":54,"title":450,"line":451,"minutes":176,"devices":452},"Typing test","Find out how fast and how accurately you type.",{"mouse":21,"touch":14,"keyboard":14},{"key":56,"test":56,"path":57,"title":454,"line":455,"minutes":456,"devices":457},"Reading speed test","Find out how fast you read while still understanding the text.",3,{"mouse":14,"touch":14,"keyboard":14},{"section":59,"hub":62,"cards":459},[460,464,468,472,476,480],{"key":65,"test":65,"path":66,"title":461,"line":462,"minutes":456,"devices":463},"Number memory test","Find out how many digits you can hold in mind.",{"mouse":14,"touch":14,"keyboard":14},{"key":68,"test":68,"path":69,"title":465,"line":466,"minutes":456,"devices":467},"Visual memory test","Find out how many squares you can remember on a growing grid.",{"mouse":14,"touch":14,"keyboard":14},{"key":71,"test":71,"path":72,"title":469,"line":470,"minutes":456,"devices":471},"Sequence memory test","Find out how long a sequence of lit squares you can repeat.",{"mouse":14,"touch":14,"keyboard":14},{"key":74,"test":74,"path":75,"title":473,"line":474,"minutes":456,"devices":475},"Verbal memory test","Find out how many words you can tell apart as seen or new.",{"mouse":14,"touch":14,"keyboard":14},{"key":77,"test":77,"path":78,"title":477,"line":478,"minutes":456,"devices":479},"Chimp memory test","Find out how many numbers you can remember after they vanish.",{"mouse":14,"touch":14,"keyboard":21},{"key":80,"test":80,"path":81,"title":481,"line":482,"minutes":456,"devices":483},"Stroop test","Find out how well you can ignore a word while you name its colour.",{"mouse":14,"touch":14,"keyboard":14},{"section":83,"hub":86,"cards":485},[486,490,494,498],{"key":89,"test":89,"path":90,"title":487,"line":488,"minutes":176,"devices":489},"Keyboard tester","Press your keys and see which ones work.",{"mouse":21,"touch":21,"keyboard":14},{"key":92,"test":92,"path":93,"title":491,"line":492,"minutes":176,"devices":493},"Mouse tester","Check every button and the wheel of your mouse.",{"mouse":14,"touch":21,"keyboard":21},{"key":95,"test":95,"path":96,"title":495,"line":496,"minutes":176,"devices":497},"Polling rate test","Find out how often your mouse reports where it is.",{"mouse":14,"touch":21,"keyboard":21},{"key":98,"test":98,"path":99,"title":499,"line":500,"minutes":176,"devices":501},"Refresh rate test","Find out how many pictures a second your screen shows.",{"mouse":14,"touch":14,"keyboard":14},{"section":101,"hub":104,"cards":503},[504,509,514,519,523,527,532,537],{"key":107,"test":107,"path":108,"title":505,"line":506,"minutes":507,"devices":508},"Big Five personality test","A long, careful look at five broad traits, with more detail for each.",20,{"mouse":14,"touch":14,"keyboard":14},{"key":110,"test":110,"path":111,"title":510,"line":511,"minutes":512,"devices":513},"Personality test","Fifty short statements about how you usually are, for five broad traits.",8,{"mouse":14,"touch":14,"keyboard":14},{"key":113,"test":113,"path":114,"title":515,"line":516,"minutes":517,"devices":518},"Quick personality test","Ten short statements: a quick sketch of five broad 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questionnaire about how you see yourself.",{"mouse":14,"touch":14,"keyboard":14},1791315174767]