Operation:

There are two different kinds of events to which people must react; random events and anticipated ones. This tester allows a person to test both. It also allows people to test how well they can synchronize with each other.

• Random events These are the kinds of events that most reaction time tests use. They are events which cannot be predicted. For example, when driving a car, when a child dashes out into the street from between two parked cars, this would be a rnadom event, and the time taken to hit the brakes would be similar to what this test measures.
• Anticipated events These are events which can be predicted, and the objective is to try and respond at the correct instant by anticipating it. For example, when a batter in baseball or cricket swings the bat, the objective is to meet the ball at a precise time.

In both tests, once the "start" button is pressed, after a certain delay all three dots will be red. The objective is to press the "stop" button at the instant the dots all turn red. (There are actually two stop buttons which can be used. One registers the time when the button is pressed, and the other registers the time when the button is released. Either one can be used.)

For the anticipated event test, at fixed intervals the dots will turn red individually before they all change, and the interval from the bottom dot changing to all three changing is identical to the other intervals. The fixed interval can be changed.

For the random event test, boundaries for the random interval can be changed as well. It is possible for a reaction time to be negative for the anticipated test, but for the random test a negative time is simply a wild guess.

In either case, (random or anticipated), activating the "stop" button before all three dots go red will be indicated by only the lowest dot being red.

To test synchronization, one person, (the "initiator") uses the keypad and the other (the "responder") uses the mouse. In synchronized mode, once the start button is pressed, the dot sequence will advance each time a key is pressed on the keyboard. The goal is for the responder to click the "Stop" button at the same instant as all of the dots turn red. Positive and negative times are both possible, as for the anticipated event test. As in the other tests, activating the "stop" button before all three dots go red will be indicated by only the lowest dot being red.
Note: In synchronized mode, the initiator should use letter or number keys, rather than the enter key, spacebar, etc. as those may result in strange behaviour.