Responsiveness: Function, Tasks, Role & Diseases

Reactivity or responsiveness is the ability of a person to respond as quickly and appropriately as possible to stimuli from the environment. After an auditory, visual, or haptic stimulus, we always respond with a motor response.

What is responsiveness?

Reactivity or responsiveness is the ability of a person to respond as quickly and appropriately as possible to stimuli in the environment. Reactivity describes the ability to respond appropriately quickly to stimuli. It shows how quickly we are ready when it matters. Reactivity or responsiveness differs according to stimulus type and stimulus response. Reactivity is clearly seen in ball games within two groups. Reactivity is influenced by phasic attentional parameters. Various physiological performances are required to produce a response behavior to the external stimuli. Humans have diverse attentional functions that can be impaired. In selective attention, we focus on specific aspects of a task. This allows us to respond quickly and ignore stimuli that are not relevant. Focusing attention on a goal or concrete task is the basic prerequisite for general performance and necessary for solving cognitive tasks. Responsiveness can be promoted so that the reaction time between stimulus and response behavior is reduced to a minimum.

Function and task

Responsiveness varies in each person, but should be faster in a young person than in an old person. For example, the stimulus response can be a simple motor response, but it can also be a complex motor response. Our attention to environmental stimuli is influenced by our physiological status, but also by our own emotions and by the intensity of the external stimuli, the colorfulness, the spatial relationship and its classification. If the stimuli are novel and very intense, they have a particularly high information content and our attention is automatically directed to them. Responsiveness follows an action-oriented attention model. According to this, it proceeds in four phases: At the beginning there is perception, followed by the identification of the relevant stimulus, we choose a reaction and immediately afterwards a motor program unwinds. These processes run automatically, but can be interspersed with analytical processes. Each reaction is divided into individual phases. In anticipation of a stimulus, the level of attention becomes higher. The stimulus is presented, followed by the latency phase as decision time and then the motor action. The reaction time is the time interval between the offer of the stimulus and the execution of the motor response. The latency period is the time it takes for the excitation to travel through the neural pathways to the muscles. Decision time defines the duration of information processing. Medicine differentiates between simple responses and choice responses. In choice reactions, we perceive multiple stimuli but respond to only one critical stimulus. In multiple choice reactions, we are supposed to react to several critical stimuli. Multiple responses are also influenced by the type of signal, the type of differentiation, the frequency of the stimulus, and the ability to perform associative coupling between stimulus and response. The response can only occur if the stimulus meaning has been correctly interpreted. Thus, to respond appropriately to an appropriate stimulus, we need intact senses such as intact hearing, good vision, and intact responsiveness.

Diseases and ailments

Attention, alertness, and anticipation of a response are basic mental processes. Attention protects us from danger. From this follows the planning, initiation and execution of an action. A healthy person is capable of cognitive reorientation, can coordinate the respective information, accurately divide his actions, as well as monitor their goal. In sick people these processes can be limited. Different disorders lead to deficits in the ability to react. These can include, for example, hearing disorders that make it difficult for the person affected to follow a conversation or to perceive background noises. Their reaction is either delayed or non-existent. Stress also affects the ability to react, as does neurological damage.The reaction behavior of patients is measured with determination tasks. Here, parameters such as the number and type of errors, the time required or the quantity of tasks processed are queried. This diagnostic approach allows a better classification of symptoms. Attention disorders result in a slowing down of action or cause a higher error rate when solving various tasks. Acquired brain damage, for example, can lead to neuropsychological performance deficits. Even the common cold can severely limit the ability to react. For this reason, doctors recommend that people with flu symptoms refrain from driving. Medications that affect the brain also have an impact on editorial speed. They often cause drowsiness and decreased alertness, making driving a danger to the driver and others. Painkillers and cough blockers have similar effects. It is also known that alcohol limits the ability to react. Even one glass of wine can impair vision, especially night vision. Parkinson’s disease is also associated with impaired responsiveness. As a result, these patients have a greater risk of falling. However, people with motor impairments or mental deficits can train their reaction speed. Over time, they gain more efficiency. Training goals can vary. There are many different therapies available, depending on the needs of those who are ill. Therapeutic horseback riding can also enhance the senses and increase a sense of rhythm, orientation skills and reaction time.