PROCESSING OF SEQUENTIALLY PRESENTED SIGNALS IN INFORMATION-COMBINING TASKS,
Abstract
Human performance theory has relied heavily upon an experimental paradigm in which speeded performance, or reaction time, is measured as a function of the time intervening between two successive stimuli. The study examined a special form of the two-signal paradigm in which the first stimulus provided the 'rule' or 'operator' for defining the appropriate response to the second stimulus. This form of the two-signal experimental paradigm is called an information-combining task. The aim of the present series of experiments was to examine temporal factors in an information-combining task in order to discriminate among alternative human performance theories. Specifically, the number of alternative operators and the number of alternative second signals were independently varied over a range of intervals between the operator and the second signal. In some tests the interstimulus interval was held constant from trial to trial; in other tests the interstimulus interval varied between successive trials. The findings rejected single-channel theories of information processing in favor of a flexible, capacity-sharing model. The results also suggested that subjects performed sophisticated strategy adjustments to take advantage of subtle features of these information-combining tasks. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1969
- Accession Number
- AD0691728
Entities
People
- Arthur S. Kamlet
Organizations
- University of Michigan