{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.010658307210031349, 'fraction_numerical': 0.0, 'mean_word_length': 5.283464566929134, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Effects of Physiological Relaxation on Response Time

Due to the damaging psychological and physiological effects of prolonged stress, researchers have put forth significant effort in determining methods to reduce excessive levels of stress and promote relaxation. This study attempted to take this previous research and determine if a more relaxed person can indeed function better—as measured by a reaction time test—than someone who is not allowed to relax. Male and female college students were randomly split into a control and experimental group in which the control group conversed with researchers for three minutes and then performed a computerized reaction time test, while the experiment group was required to relax for the three minute time period and then perform the reaction time test. Relaxation was measured using EEG and heart rate data. Reaction time was compared between the control and experimental groups, and significance was evaluated. Heart rate measurements showed a significant decrease in beats per minute between the two groups, and EEG alpha wave amplitude likewise showed a significant difference between control and experimental subjects. However, it was determined that there was no significant difference in reaction times between the control and experimental groups. The brevity of the relaxation/conversation times as well as the simplicity of the reaction time test that was used could explain this. A test that measures accuracy under a time limit rather than a reaction time test might be a more rigorous measurement of improvement due to stress reduction.