Reaction time and age of subject.

Children learn quickly, don't they? Adults are slow, plodding creatures in the classroom and it is the quickwitted child who beats them every time. So, a child is quicker than an adult in every way...right? Wrong.

Though a child is smaller and therefore there is less distance for nerve signals to travel around their bodies, the reaction time of a child is SLOWER than an adult's. In fact, there is an inverse linear relationship between age and reaction time. In other words, the older you are, the faster you are (to a limit). Indeed, one source I noted declared that reaction time in the first grade may be TWICE as long as reaction time in the sixth grade. So these age differences are marked indeed.

I think it is important for parents to know this. Don't expect a child to react with the swiftness of an adult. Not only will they not - but they can't.

In experiments on subjects of various ages, using two different stimuli - one a light which goes on and off (visual stimulus), the other a buzzer which sounds (audible stimulus), the mean reaction times were determined.

There are not only differences for age, but differences for sex, too.

I shall list the results for male subjects first.

Age: 20. Stimulus seen: 240 milliseconds. Stimulus heard: 230 milliseconds.
Age: 30. Stimulus seen: 220 milliseconds. Stimulus heard: 190 milliseconds.
Age: 40. Stimulus seen: 260 milliseconds. Stimulus heard: 240 milliseconds.
Age: 50. Stimulus seen: 270 milliseconds. Stimulus heard: 250 milliseconds.
Age: 60. Stimulus seen: 380 milliseconds. Stimulus heard: 370 milliseconds.

Reaction time results for female subjects:

Age: 20. Stimulus seen: 320 milliseconds. Stimulus heard: 310 milliseconds.
Age: 30. Stimulus seen: 260 milliseconds. Stimulus heard: 200 milliseconds.
Age: 40. Stimulus seen: 340 milliseconds. Stimulus heard: 300 milliseconds.
Age: 50. Stimulus seen: 360 milliseconds. Stimulus heard: 300 milliseconds.
Age: 60. Stimulus seen: 44o milliseconds. Stimulus heard: 420 milliseconds.

The big surprise in these figures is that 30 year olds are faster than 20 year olds, for both male and female subjects.

The other notable feature is that male subjects have faster reaction time than females at all ages.

I was somewhat shocked to note the very sudden slowing of reactions at the age of 60. They are markedly slower and less responsive than only ten years younger. It seems that we really do "slow down" as we get older. I just hadn't realized how marked the decline was.

An awareness of these charts can help us understand the needs of both the young and old. It also instils a new respect for 30 year olds. They are actually faster than teenagers! (I don't think too many teenagers will believe it though.)

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and one month, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and six months, and Tiarnan, twenty-three months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

A tale of two taxi drivers

Singapore's taxi drivers are famous for many things: for disappearing when you just need them, so that you will be forced to call them out; for taking circuitous routes whenever they think they can get away with it - and for simply not knowing where they are going in one of the world's geographically simplest cities.

I wish to add two more things they should be known for, so that those who come to take a cab, when they have to, might look out for them.

Today we had an early birthday party for Tiarnan. It was at Orchid Country Club. There was no other way to get there, except by cab - so we broke our "no cab" rule, and took a cab there and a cab back.

I found the behaviour of the drivers quite surprising, given the fact that fares have already risen excessively.

The outward bound cab: SHA 3666J, already had the metre running before we got in. It showed 3 dollars on the metre. It should have showed $2.80, so it had been running long enough to have rolled up already. It wasn't the quantum of the deceit that annoyed me, it was the fact he would try to do this, even though the fares have already risen dramatically. It was the principle that a price is a price, and nothing should be done to inflate it.

I confronted him as he got out to see to a problem with the boot.

"Why was the metre running before we got in?"

"Eh?"

"Why was the metre running before we got in?"

"Sorry, I no understand English."

"You understand metre:" his face registered the word, "why is the metre running?"

"OK, OK."

When we got in, he seemed to adjust the metre as if to restart it. He didn't seem to know how to use it and had great trouble adjusting it.

After he had finished fiddling with it, it still showed a sum above the starting fare. He hadn't changed it at all.

Communicating with him was such a struggle - and he was so clearly not going to be honest about it, that I gave up and resolved to complain later.

The driver on the way home tried another trick: one that was almost funny to watch, so farcical was it. His cab was SHA 4441J.

When we stopped at our house, he didn't stop the metre. He fiddled with the gear stick. He adjusted the steering. He looked at the metre. It still hadn't changed. So he fiddled with his ignition key. It still hadn't changed. So, then he looked out of the window, into the distance, as if struck by a great thought that needed attention. (No doubt it went a bit like this: "I must get that extra 20 cents.")

So, I told him: "Stop the metre."

He didn't. He just waited.

"Stop the metre."

He didn't. He just waited.

"Stop the metre...don't take six hours to do so, like all the other drivers!"

Finally, he reached out very slowly, to stop the metre. No doubt he hoped it would change before his finger touched the key.

He said nothing. He didn't acknowledge his intent. Except in his face: that seemed to say..."This passenger is cheating me out of my fair, traditionally entitled, overcharge!"

I haven't taken a cab in a very long time. In fact, it is at least a couple of weeks since I last took one. The new fares struck me as unfair, so I gave taxis up, as a bad habit. They are a bit like cigarettes - only they cause a cancer of the pocket.

Now that I have sampled the new service, I can say that the drivers are behaving even more dishonestly than before. They are not satisfied with fares that can mean a doubling of the charges. They have to try to squeeze more out of every passenger. Maybe this is because there are fewer passengers.

So, if you take a cab, check that the meter does not start until you actually board. Often the meter will already have been running for a while. When you get to your destination, note whether the driver has stopped the meter. Often they won't - they will distract you until the fare has suitably increased. Some of them never stop it all and will just bill you the highest amount it reaches before you manage to get out of the cab.

It seems as if taking cabs are now even more fun than they used to be. It is now a battle of the wits between driver and passenger: the driver trying every ruse he can to secure a higher fare, the passenger trying his or her best not to get ripped off. I suppose that is called public entertainment.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and one month, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and six months, and Tiarnan, twenty-three months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

You'd think they would be satisfied with official robbery, without adding a little private robbery of their own.

All quiet on the Blogosphere front

Some of the commenters on my Xiaxue post, have remarked that the Singaporean Blogosphere has quietened since the NLB announced its remarkable choices for archiving. Some notable bloggers have, it seems, set their keyboards aside, in a mute protest at being thought unworthy of selection - at least, it seems that way. Either that, or their sudden silence is an inexplicable coincidence.

I am somewhat surprised at this reaction. My own thinking on the matter is that if an external body, handing out approval and recognition - which is what the NLB is doing in this case - does not approve or recognize one's work, the proper response is to plow on and continue to write. The writing itself is its own justification - and it needs no official approval to make it worthy.

I can understand that it is disheartening to see others of lesser worth - some might even say, utterly worthless, in fact - to be chosen, when one's own carefully chosen words are ignored and considered not worth noting. However, one should not be disheartened. Those who do not choose to recognize one's words say nothing about those words - their action speaks only of themselves, and their values. Through the NLB's choices, is the nature of the NLB's criteria revealed. So, by their choice, we learn of them. We do not learn of the merit or otherwise of a particular blogger. The blogger remains as good as the blogger actually is. So, I would not fall silent, simply because an authority failed to notice one's efforts. I would urge all those bloggers who have fallen silent, to resume writing and express once more, the thoughts that, before the Blogosphere, would not have been known.

The Blogosphere is here to allow you to speak your mind - so do so.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and one month, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and six months, and Tiarnan, twenty-three months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Prince Charles on Human Achievement.

In 2004, Prince Charles commented on the aspirations of young people today. His comments were widely reported and were critically attacked. Many people thought he was trying to say that people shouldn't try to rise above their station, in life. They thought he was being, in some way, feudal. However, I don't think he really intended that. Let us look at what he is quoted to have said:

"What is wrong with everyone nowadays? Why do they all seem to think they are qualified to do things far beyond their technical capabilities? This is to do with the learning culture in schools as a consequence of child-centred system which admits no failure. People think they can all be pop stars, High Court judges, brilliant TV personalities or infinitely more competent heads of state without ever putting in the necessary work or having natural ability. This is the result of social utopianism which believes humanity can be genetically and socially engineered to contradict the lessons of history."

He is observing what is evident in young people in the Western world (and perhaps elsewhere, too): they seem to think they are going to be great. By this, I mean, that a typical teenager believes he or she is going to be one of the things that Prince Charles refers to: a pop star, a TV personality, a High Court Judge, a Head of State. One could extend the categories: a film star, a footballer, a millionaire (a billionaire), a model...etc, etc...Young people of today think their success is assured. They think that they stand above others now and ever will in the future. From the perspective of an experienced adult, who has actually seen the world in action, such an abundance of exuberant ambition is sobering to witness. It is sobering precisely because it is unrealistic.

What Prince Charles was grappling with is the simple fact that all of these aspirations that the children hold, require something most of the children will not have: natural ability, for one, and often a degree of willingness to work hard towards one's goals. For instance, any child can kick a ball. Many a child can dream of being the next David Beckham - but how many of those children actually have a significant athletic ability? How many of them have signicantly greater an athletic ability than their fellow children? How many of them, furthermore, are willing to hone their skills and their bodies through long years of training? Very, very few, indeed, I expect. They see the glamourous end: the famous footballer jetting about the world, from game to game, enchanted fans in hot pursuit. What they don't see is what that footballer had to go through to get there. They are able to envisage the beautiful life they would have, as a famous footballer, but not the life that is actually led to reach those goals.

Prince Charles was much criticized for his views - but I don't think that people were right to do so. I think that the media, in general, failed to understand what he was trying to say. He was saying that the youth of today had aspirations beyond their ability to achieve them. They aspired to be famous film stars, when they couldn't act and were not beautiful. They aspired to be pop stars, when they could neither dance nor sing, and did not delight the eye. They aspired to be High Court judges, when their academic prowess was only mediocre at best. His view is that the children had unrealistic expectations. His view was that the school system, which never chastised the children for mediocrity, never used the word "failure" in their general direction, did not acquaint the children with the idea that failure was possible. While this is good for self-esteem, it may lead to children who have unjustifiably high self-esteem. These are children who really, really, really, believe in themselves - but who really, really, really, lack justification for that self-belief. It was Prince Charle's implicit view that this situation was not rare, but common. Most youngsters of today fell into that trap. Most of them thought of themselves as great people, for whom great success was assured. Sadly, of course, almost all of them are going to fail. Statistics alone guarantee it. If you have a nation of 60 million people of whom 20 million aspire to be film stars and that nation only has enough room for 20 such film stars in that generation...how many are going to fail in their aspiration? 999,999 out of every 1,000,000. Only one in a million will see their dream come true. It is the same for all their other aspirations. So many people will be aspiring to their positions of success than there are places in those respective realms. The result is, of course, that almost all of them are destined for failure in their primary goals. Almost all of them will have to revise their goals, along the way, and settle for something else.

This is the reality of which they are unaware that, I think, Prince Charles was trying to awaken them to. The modern media world has conditioned people to believe that great success is available to all. The modern media creates stars out of nobodies, through reality shows. The modern media creates the belief in people that celebrity and wealth and a life of ease, are available to all, when in fact that they have always been and always shall be available only to the few. This is the "lesson of history" to which I think he refers. Great success has always been a rarity and always will be.

Prince Charles is not saying that people should not rise above their station - as some media criticized him. He is saying that they should have a realistic understanding of who they are, so that they might aspire to something they can actually achieve. A life spent chasing pop stardom when one doesn't have the requisite and multiple, native abilities, is going to be a life wasted. What if that person has, instead, other skills that might be better employed as a nurse or a doctor? Then that person really should look at the medical field. It is a question of finding a good match, in terms of career, for who you are. Too many people waste their lives aspiring to dreams that have no realistic possibily of coming true, simply because the people in question lack the requisite abilities.

Thus there is wisdom, not foolishness, in Prince Charles' advice.

Aim for what is a reasonable choice, for you. Do not aim for iconic cultural roles such as footballer or film star - unless you really have what it takes to succeed in such fields.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and one month, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and six months, and Tiarnan, twenty-three months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

When is a hand big enough?

There was a story, some time ago, distributed by a news agency, based in America, about Ainan. They put together this story without checking any of the facts with us - and so it came out, rather distorted.

The story was a simple one. They said that "boy genius" Ainan was too small for the labs at Nanyang Technological University, and that his hands were not large enough to hold beakers and the like.

Well, it is true that NTU have expressed reservations on Ainan with regards to his size, in their labs. The benches, for instance, are rather tall. Yet, simple measures could be taken to obviate this. A simple platform, for instance.

That, however, is not my concern in this post. My interest is in just how big or small my son's hands are, in relation to what they need to be, for NTU's labs (or any other lab).

Today, quite spontaneously, Ainan measured his hand span. He then set about measuring everyone else's. He asked me what the average span for his age was...and that gave me an idea. How, indeed, did Ainan's hand compare to other children's?

Ainan's handspan measured at 18.5 cm. Now, is this too small for a lab? I checked out a website that detailed the mean size of Canadian students. The data was taken from 2004/5. In this survey the mean span of a TWELVE year old CAUCASIAN boy's hand was 18.52 cm. Thus Ainan's hands, far from being small, as declared in the American article (which didn't check with us), are actually very large for his age. He has the hand size of a Canadian twelve year old boy.

Readers should note that Ainan is not Caucasian - he is Eurasian - so the norms for hand size would be correspondingly smaller. In a Singaporean context, therefore, Ainan's hands are even larger than a twelve year old's would be. He has a teenager's hands.

How do Ainan's hands compare to those of an adult? Well, 19 year old male students in Canada had an average hand span of 20.22 cm. Thus an adult span, as typified by a Canadian, is just 1.7 cm greater than Ainan's.

I found that rather revealing. We have been consistently denied access to labs by certain institutions - on the basis that Ainan would be "too small". Yet, this is an assumption. None of these places actually checked his size. None of them actually measured him against the requirements of the labs in question. They just looked at his age and assumed.

Assumption is not a substitute for thinking - but in many places, it does seem to be used as such.

Ainan's hands are more than large enough to handle the physical requirements of experimental work. They are the hands of an Asian teenager - or a small adult. They are not diminutive hands in the least.

This observation is supported by experience. Ainan has had no trouble manipulating his experimental environment on the eight occasions that he has managed to gain access to labs. He has been able to carry out all experiments without any physical problems at all. He may be smaller than an adult - but he is not so small as to be unable to accomplish all tasks required.

The next time someone questions his suitability based on size, I rather think I will point their way to the Canadian handspan chart. Hopefully, that will make the point.

No longer will I let anyone make the "handy" excuse, that Ainan's hands are too small. They are not.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and no months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and five months, and Tiarnan, twenty-two months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

A Singaporean Lullaby

Last night, as I lay in bed, considering sleep, I heard the thump of a car on a car, followed by a second thump and the long screech of brakes applied in panic. A third thump did not follow. Just silence.

Such are the sounds that lull a man to sleep in Singapore, of a night.

Thinking of it now, I have a picture of the crash I didn't see. One car struck another, without braking - so someone was being inattentive, at least, then either the same car struck a second car, or a second car struck another. Then and only then, did someone start to brake.

What is clear to me from what I heard is that the reaction times of all involved were very slow. Was this due to the late hour (I don't know the exact time but I would estimate that it was past 1 am.)? Or was it due to intoxication (which slows reactions)? Whichever was the case, it was clear that these were crashes at the highest speed. There was no slowing before impact. There was just sudden impact.

Nothing broke the silence that followed the crashes - not even sirens. There appeared to be no reaction from Singapore, that late at night. Perhaps sirens are not allowed to be sounded, so late.

I looked out of the window, to try to see what had happened. From no vantage, however, could I find the crash. It was near enough to hear, but not within sight. It might have been just through the trees that ring our apartments.

This evening, as I returned with my wife, from the local supermarket, she remarked: "There was a crash today."

I was not surprised. "I heard it last night."

"No, not that one - another one."

"Another?"

Sure enough, there, before us, on an island in the middle of the road, was the detritus of yet another pile up. There was a complete radiator grill from a car, lying there. The emergency services had, as usual, been very lax in clearing away all of the pieces of car, the latest smash had left behind. There were always bits of car or motorcycle on the road next to our house. It was a virtual graveyard for cars and drivers alike.

"There were three cars.", she explained.

Just like the one last night, had seemed.

"It had happened by the time I came back at six."

"So, that's two pile-ups, here, in fifteen hours."

Living where we do, next to a main road, provides us with a kind of absurdist comedy. So frequently are we presented with pieces of vehicle to step over, as we cross the road on the way to the shops, that it seems like a dark comedy, of a particularly brutal kind. When, oh when, will something be done to improve road safety?

In the time since we moved here, I have personally witnessed two fatalities - and several other crashes. I find that odd, since I only encounter the road perhaps two to four times a day. The rest of the time, I am not around to observe it. So, the implication is that there were a lot more fatalities in that period, that I just did not notice.

I would rather a different sound to usher me towards sleep than the "music" of cars, crunching upon cars. Singapore is, as most people know, an overcrowded city (figures for 2004 indicate that it was then the fourth most densely populated city on Earth...it is probably the third, now. Its population density then was just a tad under famously and grossly overpopulated Hong Kong.) One consequence of overcrowding is that cars don't have vast open spaces to drive in. There is always another car just up ahead. That, however, doesn't stop youngsters from speeding. Today, as we walked to the supermarket, for instance, a car raced by well in excess of 100 mph, zipping ironically past a sign that said: "Slow down now."

No police siren sounded. No speed camera snapped an image. He got away with it. At least, that time. No doubt, the young driver will one day make "music", as he dies, crashing at high speed, while I, or another, tries to sleep.

There are road laws, here, as there are everywhere. I am not, however, entirely sure that they are adequately enforced.

No-one should have to fear being rammed by an out of control, high speed car, while shopping. Yet, such an event could easily have happened, today, outside the supermarket, where a sign reads "Slow down now".

Why does the sign ask drivers to slow? Well, because there is a bend, up ahead. That crazy driver did slow, just in time...but still took the bend at very high speed.

It is difficult to know his precise speed, but when I say over 100 mph, I mean WELL over. Perhaps 120 to 140 mph...something like that, when he passed us. Then he began to slow sharply for the bend.

There should be stiff penalties for driving like that. I say this because I am tired, very, very tired, of watching people die or be injured on the road outside my own house. The mad drivers who create this carnage shouldn't be on the roads, at all. Once identified, they should be denied the right to drive, at all, at the very least.

I doubt that anyone in a position to influence events on Singapore's roads will read this post - but if they do, I ask this of you: stop the carnage, now...and take the speed crazy drivers off the roads, permanently.

Two multiple car crashes, in fifteen hours, in one tiny area of Singapore, is more than enough of an indication of the size of the road safety problem facing Singapore. It is time for something serious to be done about it.

How about some automated speed cameras, on every road, and some stiff penalties for aggressive driving - such as confiscation of the car? That should bring down the death figures. A compulsive speeder can't kill anyone if he (or she) hasn't got a car to drive.

In the meantime, my family will treat the road outside our house with infinite caution. Pretty though the area is, an absurd number of people seem to die, suddenly, just where we have to cross the road, to get to the shops.

It shouldn't be this way.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and no months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and five months, and Tiarnan, twenty-two months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)