Investigation into the Effects of Caffeine on Reaction Time

Abstract

How reaction time changed depending on dose of caffeine consumed was investigated by conducting an experiment where participants drank different quantities of coffee each day and measured their reaction time using a website that asked the user to tap the screen when it turned green. This was measured every 30 minutes for 7 hours after the caffeine had been fully consumed. Graphs were plotted for the results obtained and regression fits were added to analyse the data. The observed trends were that reaction time decreased when caffeine consumption was increased, which correlated with expected results. The highest administered dose deviated from this trend, however, was put down to a ‘caffeine crash’ that was experienced by the participants.
Important factors that were considered when discussing the results were pre-established caffeine tolerances as well as the diversity within the sample of participants.