The reaction time to macularly and extra-macularly projected stimuli of different qualities

Abstract

The investigation of the reaction time to light stimuli of different qualities was launched with the hypothesis that, going by the structure of the retina of the eye, the reaction time will differ according to the place on the retina affected by the stimuli, that is, whether the stimuli is applied onto or outside the macule lutee of the eye’s retina. Two chromatic qualities of stimuli were used: red and blue light as electromagnetic waves with the biggest and smallest wave lengths of the visible part of the specter and white light as the achromatic quality which contains all the wave lengths. Ten people participated in the investigation who, in conditions of greater or smaller illumination, had to react as quickly as possible to different light stimuli, projected as these were onto different angle distances in relation to the retinal fovea centralis. Results show that reaction time increased with the increase of the angle of application of the stimuli, especially starting with thirty degrees and onwards. This corresponds to the surface of the eye’s macule lutee which means that the reaction time to extra-macular stimuli is significantly longer in relation to the macular ones. Furthermore, results show that the time of reacting to stimuli to different qualities is different but only in conditions of weaker illumination and at greater angle distances. This is probably the consequence of the difference in the speed of recuperation of small cones and sticks in the darkness and of their concentration in the center and periphery of the retina.