A comparative study of auditory reaction time among blind and blindfolded sighted subjects

ABSTRACT

Background: Reaction time refers to elapsed time between a given stimulus to an individual and its subsequent rapid voluntary response by the same individual. Mostly, it depends on processing of the stimulus, decision-making, and response programming. Aim and Objective: This study aims to see the effect of vision on auditory reaction time. Materials and Methods: For this study, two groups of subjects were taken. The first group contained 150 blind subjects and the second group contained 181 normal sighted subjects. Estimation of simple and choice auditory reaction time was done with the help of multiple-choice reaction time apparatus received from Inco Ambala Ltd. in sitting position. It has an accuracy of ±0.001 s. Three times auditory stimulus was given to each subject to record the reaction time. The minimum recorded time interval to the voluntary response was taken as final reading in each subject. Results: In this study, the blind subjects showed a mean simple and choice reaction time of 148.84 ± 14.43 and 304 ± 29.54, respectively, while the blindfolded normal subjects showed a mean simple and choice reaction time of 153.80 ± 15.84 and 314.19 ± 31.81, respectively. These were found to be statistically significant. Conclusions: Blind individuals commonly utilize tactual and auditory cues for information and orientation and they reliance on touch and audition, together with more practice in using these modalities to guide behavior, are often reflected in better performance of blind relative to sighted participants in tactile or auditory discrimination tasks.