L7 - Lifestyle Choices

• Alcohol is a drug and increases reaction time (you take longer to respond to a stimulus). People can become addicted to alcohol and long term damage includes liver disease, circulatory disease, heart disease and cancer of the mouth, liver and stomach.
• Reaction time investigation:This could be done where one group has caffeine and the other group doesn't. The method would be:

  • Hold the ruler just above an open hand
  • Drop the ruler
  • Person catches the ruler as quickly as they can
  • Record the distance the ruler travelled through the hand
  • Repeat 4 more times and calculate a mean

  Now split into two smaller groups. Give one group coffee and give the other group water. Repeat the experiment to see how this affects reaction times.
• Controls variables for the reaction time investigation:

  • Same volume of coffee/water
  • Concentrations of coffee
  • Background noise
  • Distance between fingers
  • Drop from same height above hand
  • Time since drinking coffee
  • Same position of hand on table
  • Same hand (left/right)
• Drugs change various chemical processes in the body and this can also result in increased or decreased reaction times (depending on the drug). Drugs can also lead to addiction. Some drugs are classified as illegal drugs and they can have a negative impact on the body e.g. withdrawal
• There is a link between obesity and disease. This shows that there is a link between lifestyle choice and disease.
• Obesity has been linked to:

  • Diabetes (Type 2)
  • Heart and circulatory disease
  • Joint problems and mobility issues
  • Cancer