Relationship between Intelligence and Simple Reaction Time in Mental Defectives

Abstract

As long ago as 1926 Peak and Boring ( 3 ) observed that reaction time ( R T ) probably was related to intelligence. Since chat time only a few studies have dealt with this issue. Jones ( 1 ) reports a positive relacionship between chronological age (CA) and RT for children within the CA range 4.5 to 12.5 yr. However, no attempt was made to partial out variance due to mental zge (MA). Pomeroy ( 4 ) found a low positive correlation becween R T and intelligence of children with a CA of approximately 5.5 yr. Scott ( 5 ) obtained a relacionship becween intelligence ( IQ) and R T in children ranging in IQ from 63 to 200 and in CA from 9 to 12 yr. He suggests that the relationship is curvilinear. In a more recent study Pascal ( 2 ) , while testing [he effects of noise upon RT in defective Ss, reported a correlation of -61 between mean RT and MA for his Ss under normal conditions. He too, believed the relationship to be curvilinear. The present investigacion represents an extension of these studies chough it differs in several respects. First, we have a task, releasing a telegraph key, which probably provides the best estimate of simple RT. Second, we have utilized a large number of Ss, and finally, our design permics the scatiscical isolation of variance due to the regression of R T upon CA.