A solution for measuring accurate reaction time to visual stimuli realized with a programmable microcontroller

Abstract

T. Ohyanagi, ohyanagi@sapmed.ac.jpTiming accuracy in measuring reaction times (RTs) on computer systems has been studied by many researchers. It is known that monitor displays, devices for responding to stimuli, operating systems (OSs) of the computers used, and software for presenting stimuli were major technical factors influencing the timing accuracy. Krantz (2000) has discussed some issues with regard to the presentation of stimuli on monitor displays. Wiens et al. (2004) compared display technologies for presenting brief pictures and reported that LCD and TFT displays had poor accuracy. Plant, Hammond, and Whitehouse (2003) tested response devices, including a sample set of mice, a standard keyboard, and an E-Prime Deluxe response box, and showed that even changing the mouse could have an effect on RT measurement. Shimizu (2002) investigated the response characteristics of PC keyboards by comparing keyboards and joystick inputs. Forster and Forster (2003) developed DMDX software for solving timing errors in measuring RTs. Plant, Hammond, and Turner (2004) reported that there was a delay in displaying a stimulus on the screen even if the software was carefully developed to synchronize with the refresh rate. McKinney, MacCormac, and Welsh-Bohmer (1999) and De Clercq, Crombez, Buysse, and Roeyers (2003) solved the problem of timing errors by using external hardware and software capable of detecting the onset of the stimulus on the screen to measure RTs accurately. Forster and Forster pointed out that the cost-benefit ratio of the solution by McKinney et al. might be high, since the solution required the user to purchase additional expensive hardware. The solution by De Clercq et al. required an additional two PCs other than the PC under test. Recently, some commercial hardware and software products that measure RTs with millisecond accuracy have been developed. The Vienna Test System provides a self-calibration option to ensure the precision of RTs (Häusler, Sommer, & Chroust, 2007). The Black Box Toolkit is an external calibration system that can be used with other test systems, such as E-Prime and SuperLab, to correct measurements manually (Plant et al., 2004). These systems, however, were developed mainly for use in laboratory settings and would not be easy to use for health professionals working in clinical settings.This article presents our new solution for measuring accurate RT (SMART). The SMART was realized with a Cypress Programmable System-on-Chip (PSoC) mixedsignal array microcontroller. We developed new firmware running on the PSoCs. We herein first explain the hardware and firmware of the SMART and then report three experiments using the SMART. The results indicate that the SMART is a simple and practical solution to accurately measure RTs in both laboratory and clinical set-A solution for measuring accurate reaction time to visual stimuli realized with a programmable microcontroller TOSHIO OHYANAGI AND YASUHITO SENGOKU Sapporo Medical University, Sapporo, JapanThis article presents a new solution...

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