THE EFFECT OF REACTION TIME ON EMOTIONAL AND NEUTRAL WORDS 1
The Effect of Reaction Time on Emotional and Neutral Words
Mohammad Tahmidur Rahman
ID: 2131499630
PSY101L
Submitted To:
Raihana Sharmin
Lecturer, Department of History and Philosophy
THE EFFECT OF REACTION TIME ON EMOTIONAL AND NEUTRAL WORDS 2
Table of Contents
1. Abstract 3
2. Introduction 4
3. Literature Review 4
4. Methodology 5
5. Results 7
6. Discussion 7
7. References 9
8. Appendices 10
THE EFFECT OF REACTION TIME ON EMOTIONAL AND NEUTRAL WORDS 3
Abstract
Although people encounter numerous words every day, they do not react to them uniformly.
Their response varies for each word and each individual, leading to disputed issues. An
experiment was conducted at North South University’s psychology laboratory, employing a
design that involves only one subject to identify the debated issue. The participant's reaction time
was the dependent variable (DV), whereas the type of word, emotional or neutral, was the
independent variable (IV) for this observation. An adult male undergraduate student at North
South University was taken as a participant in the experiment. The participant was to respond to
a word list that consisted of 15 emotional words (EW) and 15 neutral words (NW) immediately,
and the reaction time was recorded for each word by the experimenter. Therefore, it was inferred
that individuals generally require more time to respond to an emotional word than a neutral one.
THE EFFECT OF REACTION TIME ON EMOTIONAL AND NEUTRAL WORDS 4
Introduction
The two most important aspects of this experiment are sensation and perception. According to
the Oxford Dictionary, sensation is “a physical feeling or perception resulting from something
that happens to or comes into contact with the body,” and perception is “the ability to see, hear,
or become aware of something through the senses.” Through our five primary senses, we watch
and feel our surroundings: touch, taste, sight, hearing, and smell. We can experience and
incorporate our surroundings into our thoughts through perception and sensation. This is how the
two words collaborate in this experiment. The following experiment, “The effect of reaction time
on emotional and neutral words,” is mainly concerned with auditory senses. It underlines the
aspect of human beings reacting to certain words and interacting with them, such as pausing after
hearing an emotional word. Several studies have been conducted on this topic, and it has been
found that reaction times vary according to the nature of the word.
Literature Review
A study conducted in May 2010 found that increased anxiety was correlated with a quicker
reaction time to words of relational, physical, and neutral aggression, while increased avoidance
was associated with a shortened reaction time to words of physical violence (Johnson, 2012).
In an independent study, Wilhelm Wundt compared the effect of neutral and emotive phrases on
reaction times through an experiment. Individuals exhibited a slower response to emotional
terms than neutral terms, as indicated by the findings (Wundt, 1879).
According to an additional study by Kousta, Vinson, and Vigliocco (2009), "Emotional words,
regardless of polarity, have a processing advantage over neutral words.”
THE EFFECT OF REACTION TIME ON EMOTIONAL AND NEUTRAL WORDS 5
Methodology
Participant
One male participant, twenty-one (21) years old, currently studying at North South University,
belongs to an upper-middle-class family.
Materials
The following instruments were required and used in this experiment:
A list of 30 words: 15 emotional (E) and 15 neutral (N) words.
A stopwatch on a smartphone
Paper and pen
Design
A single-subject design was used in this experiment.
Procedure
On the afternoon of a Tuesday, a male participant was invited to the psychology laboratory room
of North South University to grab a seat and be comfortable. The participant verbally received a
brief explanation of the experiment before it began. The participants also received a printed copy
of the written instruction, where the participant’s duty was duly explained, and they were asked
to read it carefully. The participants were given a consent form to sign so that we could confirm
their voluntary involvement in this experiment. After reading the information in both the written
instructions and the consent form, the participant signed the consent form, making this
psychological experiment voluntary. Afterward, the experiment began. The experiment
commenced with the experimenter sequentially reciting each word from the wordlist. The subject
THE EFFECT OF REACTION TIME ON EMOTIONAL AND NEUTRAL WORDS 6
was instructed to respond immediately by stating the first word that came to mind upon hearing
each word. The participant was prohibited from providing a word that is the opposite of the given
word. Nevertheless, the researcher used a smartphone's stopwatch application to track each
response's reaction time. The researcher recorded each response together with its related reaction
time. The experiment concluded once a participant responded to all 30 terms on the wordlist.
Next, the participant's response was collected, and he shared her emotions and thoughts
regarding the experiment. The participant was congratulated for her significant contribution to
the trial, marking its conclusion.
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Results
Table 1
Reaction Time to Emotional Words and Neutral Words
Types of words Total Reaction Time Average Reaction Time
(Seconds) (Seconds)
Neutral Words 79.13 5.275
Emotional Words 95.19 6.346
The above table shows that it took the participant more time to respond to emotional words than
neutral words. To be more accurate, the participant took 5.275 seconds to react to neutral words,
whereas the same participant took 6.346 seconds to respond on average.
Discussion
Based on the findings, it is evident that the response time for an emotional term is longer
compared to that of a neutral word. This outcome is entirely consistent with the hypothesis of the
experiment. Individuals typically exhibit faster reaction times while responding to neutral words,
as these words serve as a widely used means of communication. They occasionally utilize it in
their daily lives. Conversely, when individuals encounter an emotive term, they connect it with
their personal experiences and require additional time to respond. For example, the assigned
subject had a reaction time of 4.56 seconds, the longest among all participants, when responding
to the emotional word "Friend." The response to this question was "buddy," a term with
significant emotional connotations. It can be inferred that the person may have experienced a
distressing event relating to this topic; hence, they took longer to contemplate and respond to it.
THE EFFECT OF REACTION TIME ON EMOTIONAL AND NEUTRAL WORDS 8
The average word length ranged from 3 to 10 letters. In addition, the outcome of this experiment
aligns with the findings of Stephanie L. Johnson (2012) and Wilhelm Wundt (1879) in their
respective research. This study has a vast scope. This study aims to facilitate psychologists'
comprehension of individuals' behavioral patterns in reaction to specific conversations. A major
constraint of this experimental study was the setting. Due to the simultaneous administration of
the experiment at the psychology lab of North South University, alongside other students, it was
not feasible to control for extraneous variables that may have affected the participant's comfort
level with the testing environment. In addition, there was also noise pollution that could
potentially divert the participants' attention.
The user's text is empty. The investigator can modify the methods in the future by maintaining
the same independent variable (word type) while altering the dependent variable (response time)
or vice versa.
THE EFFECT OF REACTION TIME ON EMOTIONAL AND NEUTRAL WORDS 9
Reference
[APA Style]
1. sensation noun - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes | Oxford Advanced
Learner’s Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com. (n.d.).
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/sensation
2. perception noun - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes | Oxford Advanced
Learner’s Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com. (n.d.).
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/perception?q=perception
