Information Load & Response Time
Category: Sport Skills · 3-page printable PDF · Ages 7-8, 9-10 · Free for ConnectedPE members
A skill-acquisition lab built around Hick's Law — the principle that reaction time grows with the number of stimulus-response choices a performer faces. Students run timed trials at increasing information loads, record their data, and analyse the relationship between complexity and decision speed.
The lab format makes the theory unmissable: students feel their own responses slow as choices multiply, then see it confirmed in their data. The sporting implications write themselves — why coaches simplify options for developing players, why elite defenders force attackers into decisions, and why automaticity matters: practised skills free up decision capacity.
Three pages covering procedure, data recording and analysis questions, designed for Years 7–10 and senior-secondary skill-acquisition topics. Runs with minimal equipment in a gym or classroom. Pairs naturally with the Signal Detection lab and Reaction Time Lab for a complete perception-and-decision practical sequence.
What students learn
Students apply Hick's Law to a practical task, measure how reaction time changes as information load increases, and explain why simpler stimulus-response choices produce faster movement in sport.
Topics: Skill Acquisition, Reaction Time, Hicks Law, Lab Activity, Senior Secondary
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