Final answer:
In measuring reaction time, the body engages visual sensory areas for stimulus perception, integrates areas for processing, and motor areas for executing the physical response, such as catching a falling ruler or applying car brakes.
Step-by-step explanation:
Parts of the body involved in measuring reaction time include various sensory areas, particularly the visual sensory areas, which perceive the stimulus. The integrating areas of the brain process the information and decide on a response.
Following this, motor areas that are responsible for muscle movement are engaged to perform the physical action, such as catching a falling ruler between your fingers or moving your foot from the gas pedal to the brake in a vehicle.
The reaction time measurement process commences with visual perception of the stimulus. This activity engages the visual cortex. Next, signal integration occurs in the brain where the prefrontal cortex plays a vital role.
Finally, the response is executed by activating motor areas that control the thumb and index finger to catch the ruler, or the leg muscles to move the foot between pedals.
Functional MRI (fMRI) scans during reaction-based tasks show that these processes involve a significant amount of the brain's energy, debunking the myth that humans only use 10 percent of their brain.
In the Take-Home Experiment described, acceleration due to gravity is a factor in calculating the reaction time when catching a ruler. The experiment can also relate to real-life scenarios, such as driving, where reaction time impacts how far a car would travel while the driver reacts to a signal change.