Chapter 5 Probability Distributions 223According to the rules, anyone who re-
acts in less than a tenth of a second must
have false-started by anticipating the
race’s start. Christie bitterly protested
the ruling, claiming that he had just
reacted very quickly. Using the reaction
times from the fi rst heat of the men’s
100-meter race, try to weigh the merits
of Christie’s claim versus the argument
of the race offi cials that no one can react
as fast as Christie did without anticipat-
ing the starting gun.
a. Open the Reaction workbook from
the Chapter05 folder and save it as
Reaction Time Analysis.
b. Create a histogram of the reaction
times. Where would a value of 0.1
second fall on the chart?
c. Calculate the mean and standard
deviation of the fi rst heat’s reaction
times. Use these values in Excel’s
NORMDIST function and calculate the
probability that an individual would
record a reaction time of 0.1 or less.
d. Create a normal probability plot of the
reaction times. Do the data appear to
follow the normal distribution?
e. Save your workbook and write a re-
port summarizing your conclusions.
Include in your summary a discus-
sion of the diffi culties in determining
whether Christie anticipated the start-
er’s gun. Are the data appropriate for
this type of analysis? What are some
limitations of the data? What kind of
data would give you better informa-
tion regarding a runner’s reaction
times to the starter’s gun (specifi cally,
runners taking part in the fi nals of an
Olympic event)?