EFFECT OF CONTROL PLACEMENT ON INFORMATION TRANSFER RATE USING BISENSORY SIGNALS.

DESIGNED A 2 * 2 * 4 FACTORIAL EXPERIMENT TO EXAMINE THE EFFECT WHICH VARIOUS DISPLAY-CONTROL RELATIONSHIPS HAD UPON THE RATE AT WHICH 64 STUDENTS COULD TRANSMIT INFORMATION FROM A BISENSORY DISPLAY. SS WERE REQUIRED TO RESPOND TO A VISUAL SIGNAL SIMULTANEOUSLY PRESENTED WITH AN AUDITORY SIGNAL OF EQUAL UNCERTAINTY. RESPONSES WERE MADE BY DEPRESSING PUSH BUTTONS. THE RESPONSE-CODE VARIABLES EXAMINED WERE (1) THE CODE CARRIED BY EACH OF THE OPERATING LIMBS, (2) THE CODE CARRIED BY THE OPERATING DIGITS OF EACH HAND, AND (3) THE DEGREE OF SEPARATION BETWEEN THE BUTTON PAIRS. THE ONLY VARIABLE SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECTING INFORMATION TRANSFER RATE WAS FOUND TO BE THE 1ST CODE, ALTHOUGH THE OTHER 2 VARIABLES COMBINED WITH IT TO PRODUCE SIGNIFICANT INTERACTIONS. RESULTS SUPPORT THE CONTENTION THAT THE SS STIMULUS-RESPONSE EXPECTANCIES DETERMINE PERFORMANCE. THE FLEXIBILITY OF THE HUMAN COMPONENT IN MAN-MACHINE SYSTEMS IS ALSO ILLUSTRATED. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)