Laws of the simple visual reaction time.

Fourteen studies from the literature on the reaction time (RT) to a flash of light provided sufficient methodological detail and data to allow for a quantitative analysis of the effects of the following selected variables: luminance, duration, size of stimulus, response to onset versus termination of the signal, and monocular versus binocular viewing. Mathematical relationships were developed which can be used to predict binocular rts over a wide range of luminance, signal duration, and signal size. It was also shown that the product of rt and luminance may be used to represent a response criterion in the sense implied by the theory of signal detection as developed in recent latency models. The results were interpreted as suggesting two general energy processing activities--criterion development and an impulse countdown--going on in parallel which are in series with a sensory delay.