A communication response control method for distributing, from a specific station with the TTRT value (Target-Token Rotation Time) to be set, the TTRT values for all the other stations and forcibly seating the specific station to an arbitration mode in order to set the TTRT values of the whole network. As a result, the desired TTRT values can be set from any station on the network, dispensing with the trouble of setting the TTRT values for the respective stations, and allowing communication response control in cyclic data transmission and event transmission to be more simplified.