Reaction time test

How fast are your reflexes? Tap when the box turns green, and see how your average compares with research on thousands of people.

By the Daily Recall team. Updated October 25, 2026, with 12 sources.

How this reaction time test works

This is a simple reaction time test, the same basic task psychologists have used for over a century. There’s one signal and one response: wait for the box to turn green, then tap. The delay before green is random, between 1.5 and 4.5 seconds, so you can’t predict it. You get five rounds, and your result is the average. A single tap can be lucky or unlucky; an average of five is more reliable.

What is a good reaction time?

The most useful modern benchmark comes from a 2015 study of 1,469 adults aged 18 to 65. Their average simple visual reaction time was 231 milliseconds. The researchers measured how much delay their own screens and mice added, about 18 ms, and corrected for it, giving a true average of about 213 ms.

Online tests are slower than lab tests, because your browser, screen and input device all add delay. A 2020 timing study found browsers alone added roughly 8 to 67 ms depending on the setup, and a standard USB keyboard can add another 20 to 40 ms. So here’s a rough guide to scores on this page:

These bands are a guide, not a norm. The fairest comparison is with yourself: take the test on the same device at different times of day and watch how your average moves.

Sound and touch are faster than sight

We react to sounds faster than to lights. Classic studies put visual reaction time at roughly 180 to 200 ms and auditory at 140 to 160 ms, and a 2015 study of 120 students confirmed auditory responses were reliably faster. Touch can be quicker still. That’s why sprint races start with a gun, not a light.

What slows your reaction time

Lack of sleep. This is the big one. A meta-analysis of 70 studies found that short-term sleep deprivation hits simple attention and reaction time much harder than complex reasoning. In a 2003 study, people who slept 6 hours or less for two weeks performed as badly as people kept awake for up to two nights straight, and they barely noticed their own decline. Our guide to sleep and memory explains why.

Being awake too long. A study in Occupational and Environmental Medicine found that after 17 to 19 hours without sleep, performance was as bad as, or worse than, at a blood alcohol level of 0.05%, with responses up to 50% slower on some tests.

Alcohol. Alcohol slows processing directly. See alcohol and the brain.

Age, but later than you’d think. In a study of 7,130 UK adults, simple reaction time changed little until about age 50. Choice reaction time, where you have to pick the right response from several, slowed steadily across adulthood.

Fatigue within a session. Even in the 2015 study, average times crept up from 228 to 237 ms over the course of testing. If you’re doing many rounds, take breaks.

What speeds it up

Being alert. Low to moderate doses of caffeine improve alertness, vigilance and reaction time in many studies, especially when people are tired. The effect isn’t universal, though: a 2021 meta-analysis in athletes found no clear effect on simple reaction time. More in caffeine and memory.

Action video games. Research from Daphne Bavelier’s lab found that playing fast-paced action games speeds up responses without making players less accurate, and that the improvement carries over to tasks outside the game.

Focus. Reaction time is really a measure of attention. If your phone buzzes mid-test, you’ll see it in your score. See attention span and multitasking.

Simple vs choice reaction time

This test measures the simplest case: one signal, one response. Real life usually involves choices. Brake or swerve? Left pad or right pad? Hick’s law, from a 1952 study, describes how reaction time rises as the number of options grows, roughly with the logarithm of the number of choices. Doubling your options adds a fixed amount of time rather than doubling it. Our daily Signal test adds choice and memory: four pads, a pattern to remember, and timing to match.

What reaction time says about your brain

Reaction time is one of the simplest measures of how quickly your brain processes information, and researchers take it seriously. In one Scottish study that followed 898 people from age 56 to 70, slower reaction time was linked to a higher risk of death from any cause, and it accounted for the link between IQ and mortality. That’s an association, not a cause, and a single slow score means nothing on its own. But it’s a reminder that processing speed reflects overall brain health, which sleep, exercise and other habits support. See brain health.

How to get your most accurate score

• Use the same device each time, ideally a computer with a wired mouse, or the space bar.
• Close other tabs and silence notifications.
• Take the test a few times and look at your typical average, not your single best.
• Try it at different times of day, and after a good or bad night’s sleep. The difference is often surprising.

Sources

1. Woods et al. (2015), Frontiers in Human Neuroscience: Factors influencing the latency of simple reaction time
2. Bridges et al. (2020), PeerJ: The timing mega-study, comparing online and lab software
3. Jain et al. (2015), International Journal of Applied and Basic Medical Research: visual and auditory reaction times
4. Der & Deary (2006), Psychology and Aging: Age and sex differences in reaction time in adulthood
5. Lim & Dinges (2010), Psychological Bulletin: A meta-analysis of the impact of short-term sleep deprivation on cognition
6. Van Dongen et al. (2003), Sleep: The cumulative cost of additional wakefulness
7. Williamson & Feyer (2000), Occupational and Environmental Medicine: Sleep deprivation compared with alcohol intoxication
8. McLellan, Caldwell & Lieberman (2017), Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews: caffeine and cognitive performance
9. Lorenzo Calvo et al. (2021), Nutrients: caffeine and reaction time in athletes, a meta-analysis
10. Dye, Green & Bavelier (2009), Current Directions in Psychological Science: Increasing speed of processing with action video games
11. Hick (1952), Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology: On the rate of gain of information
12. Deary & Der (2005), Psychological Science: Reaction time explains IQ’s association with death

Frequently asked questions