Cited by 328Cognitive Abilities and TestingNeural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesPsychometric Methodologies and Testing

A free, easy-to-use, computer-based simple and four-choice reaction time programme: the Deary-Liewald reaction time task.

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Deary, Ian J., Liewald, David, Nissan, Jack·2011·Behavior Research Methods

Abstract

Reaction time tasks are used widely in basic and applied psychology. There is a need for an easy-to-use, freely available programme that can run simple and choice reaction time tasks with no special software. We report the development of, and make available, the Deary-Liewald reaction time task. It is initially tested here on 150 participants, aged from 18 to 80, alongside another widely used reaction time device and tests of fluid and crystallised intelligence and processing speed. The new task's parameters perform as expected with respect to age and intelligence differences. The new task's parameters are reliable, and have very high correlations with the existing task. We also provide instructions for downloading and using the new reaction time programme, and we encourage other researchers to use it.

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  • The mean CRT latencies reported in Deary et al. (2001) were increased by 172 ms, nearly 2.0 standard deviations, in comparison with the results of Deary et al. (2011).

    “These differences were substantial: the mean CRT latencies reported in Deary et al. (2001) were increased by 172 ms, nearly 2.0 standard deviations, in comparison with the results of Deary et al. (2011).”

    From Age-related slowing of response selection and production in a visual choice reaction time task (2015) · cites this paper as Deary et al., 2011

    The ‘Background and cognitive measures’ section (page unavailable) reports a mean CRT latency of 474.5 ms for the Deary-Liewald task. It does not report a 172 ms difference or a nearly 2.0-standard-deviation difference from Deary et al. (2001); its comparison is with a numbers-box task measured in the same study. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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  • Two studies performed by the same laboratory (Deary et al., 2001, 2011) reported mean SRT latencies that differed by more than 80 ms.

    “For example, two studies performed by the same laboratory (Deary et al., 2001, 2011) reported mean SRT latencies that differed by more than 80 ms.”

    From Factors influencing the latency of simple reaction time (2015) · cites this paper as Deary et al., 2011

    The Background and cognitive measures section reports mean SRT latencies of 274.4 ms and 255.7 ms for two tasks in the 2011 study. Our copy does not give a corresponding 2001 mean or establish a difference of more than 80 ms between the studies. The greater-than-80-ms difference reported here concerns choice reaction time, not SRT. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Deary et al. (2001) found mean CRT latencies of 728 ms in a large group of 56 year old participants, while Deary et al. (2011) found mean CRT latencies of 556 ms in participants with a mean age of 48 years.

    “For example, using a similar four-choice CRT paradigm, Deary et al. (2001) found mean CRT latencies of 728 ms in a large group of 56 year old participants, while Deary et al. (2011) found mean CRT latencies of 556 ms in participants with a mean age of 48 years.”
  • Previous studies have found significant age-related slowing of visual CRT latencies across a variety of paradigms.

    “Previous studies have found significant age-related slowing of visual CRT latencies in a variety of experiments, including paradigms with two stimuli and two response buttons (Bugg et al., 2006; Feeney et al., 2013), paradigms with four stimuli and two response buttons, and paradigms with four stimuli and four response buttons (Deary et al., 2011).”

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2 of the 30 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Aufdembrinke, B., Hindmarch, I., & Ott, H. (Eds.). (1988). Psychophar- macology and reaction time. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons.
  2. Huppert, F. A., & Whittington, J. E. (1993). Changes in cognitive function in a population sample. In B. D. Cox, F. A. Huppert, & M. J. Whichelow (Eds.), The Health and Lifestyle Survey: seven years on. Aldershot, U.K.: Dartmouth.

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Authors
Deary, I. J., Liewald, D., & Nissan, J.
Affiliations
University of Edinburgh (GB)
Corresponding author
Deary, Ian J.
Venue
Behavior Research Methods
Published
2010-11-24
Volume
43
Issue
1
Pages
258-268
ISSN
  • 1554-351X (ISSN-L)
  • 1554-3528
OpenAlex
W2124025171
Cited by
328
References
30
Citations by year
2026: 25 · 2025: 55 · 2024: 34 · 2023: 33 · 2022: 31 · 2021: 26 · 2020: 28 · 2019: 22 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 13 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 5
FWCI
5.01
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Behavior Research Methods (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Edinburgh Research Explorer (University of Edinburgh) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
  • University of Edinburgh
  • Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology
  • Medical Research Council
  • Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
  • Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
  • Economic and Social Research Council
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
Keywords
reaction time, simple reaction time, choice reaction time, free software, open source software, processing speed, fluid intelligence, crystallized intelligence, age differences, reliability statistics
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Aging, Choice Behavior, Computers, Female, Humans, Intelligence, Male, Middle Aged, Psychomotor Performance, Reaction Time, Software, Wechsler Scales, Reproducibility of Results, Young Adult

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