The students were videotaped hitting a ball from their instructor back to the instructor. The instructor stayed at the back right (or deuce) baseline, and hit to any place on the student's side of the court that was in bounds. The videotaped tennis strokes were timed, from the point when the ball hit the instructor's racquet until the student began to react. The students were taped before and after they used the software. The control group playing video games showed no significant change. In fact, their raw scores for reaction time dropped a little. The experimental group's reaction times improved thirty percent, or about a tenth of a second.
What do these results mean? The AEL software was able to provide the kind of information that is used in decision-making, inspection, recognition, and detail. The students knew more and were able to apply it immediately and unconsciously. In interviews after the taping and before the results were known, the students said the instructor seemed to be moving slower, and it was easier to hit the ball back. In fact the students who had used the AEL software improved in their hitting efficiency as well, which would be the expected result if they were, indeed, getting to the ball sooner because they had reacted sooner.
Thirty minutes or less on the AEL software improved reaction times thirty percent, and the increased speed allowed them to recognize and react faster. This process and outcome will apply to many decision-making, inspection, recognition, and awareness applications. The tennis instructors said they saw more improvement in half an hour than they had seen in six months. Further studies will be conducted to refine the technique and discover more about how the brain learns and processes information.
