Lab Report on Reaction Time
A. Introduction
Title: The effect of reading Shakespeare on reaction time
Research Question: Does reading a passage of Shakespeare decrease a person’s reaction time while completing a puzzle? One day in class, I was reading an interesting article about how people who read and are exposed to Shakespeare and Wordsworth and other renowned writers have better brain activity, attention spans, and can have more moments of beneficial self-reflection.
In the article, scientists and psychologists at Liverpool University monitored the brain activity of subjects as they read poetry or prose by Shakespeare, Wordsworth, and T.S Eliot. They also tested the subjects after they had translated the old time texts into a more modern and straightforward language. The tests showed that the more challenging prose ignited ore electrical activity in the brain as compared to the normal, modernized version. The research also showed that reading poetry increased activity in an area of the right hemisphere, or “creative” side, of the brain known to house the autobiographical memory. This helps the subject reflect on themselves in lieu of what they have read, and betters their ability to comprehend decisions they have made. With this, the scientists decided that reading challenging poetry and prose is more helpful mentally than self-help books.
I became curious about the article, and did some research on it. The college is making plans to join with University College London to study the effect of reading on dementia sufferers, which made me think about the other uses that challenging reading could provide benefits for. I then decided to use the idea for my Biology Internal Assessment experiment. The aim of this experiment was to test whether reading Shakespeare would increase brain activity enough to decrease a subject’s reaction time while completing a puzzle.
II. Hypothesis: If a subject reads a passage of Shakespeare, then the time taken to complete a puzzle will decrease.
III.
Title: The effect of reading Shakespeare on reaction time
Research Question: Does reading a passage of Shakespeare decrease a person’s reaction time while completing a puzzle? One day in class, I was reading an interesting article about how people who read and are exposed to Shakespeare and Wordsworth and other renowned writers have better brain activity, attention spans, and can have more moments of beneficial self-reflection.
In the article, scientists and psychologists at Liverpool University monitored the brain activity of subjects as they read poetry or prose by Shakespeare, Wordsworth, and T.S Eliot. They also tested the subjects after they had translated the old time texts into a more modern and straightforward language. The tests showed that the more challenging prose ignited ore electrical activity in the brain as compared to the normal, modernized version. The research also showed that reading poetry increased activity in an area of the right hemisphere, or “creative” side, of the brain known to house the autobiographical memory. This helps the subject reflect on themselves in lieu of what they have read, and betters their ability to comprehend decisions they have made. With this, the scientists decided that reading challenging poetry and prose is more helpful mentally than self-help books.
I became curious about the article, and did some research on it. The college is making plans to join with University College London to study the effect of reading on dementia sufferers, which made me think about the other uses that challenging reading could provide benefits for. I then decided to use the idea for my Biology Internal Assessment experiment. The aim of this experiment was to test whether reading Shakespeare would increase brain activity enough to decrease a subject’s reaction time while completing a puzzle.
II. Hypothesis: If a subject reads a passage of Shakespeare, then the time taken to complete a puzzle will decrease.
III.