Effects of Information Processing Requirements on Reaction Time of the Eye.

Abstract

This experiment measured eye reaction time as a function of presence or absence of a central control task, type of command, and knowledge of target direction prior to command. It was found that eye reaction time was greater when a subject was involved in a central tracking task than when he was not; it was greater when the command was symbolic than when it was spatial; and it was longer when the target direction was unknown prior to command. These variables also interacted, so that the effect of unknown target direction was greater with a symbolic command. Results of this experiment also showed that subjects sometimes used an initial compensatory pattern of eye-head movements. There were large inter-subject differences, but use of compensation generally increased with complexity of centrally located information which required processing. It thus appears that reaction time of the eye responds to information processing variables in a manner similar to other motor response systems. (Author)

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 1978
Accession Number
ADA060099

Entities

People

  • Christine L. Nelson
  • Gordon H. Robinson
  • Robert M. London

Organizations

  • University of Wisconsin–Madison

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Analysis Of Variance
  • Biological Sciences
  • Compensation
  • Data Acquisition
  • Engineering
  • Eye
  • Eye Movements
  • Human Factors Engineering
  • Information Processing
  • Military Research
  • Motor Skills
  • Psychological Phenomena And Processes
  • Psychology
  • Reaction Time
  • Universities
  • Wisconsin

Fields of Study

  • Psychology

Readers

  • Cardiovascular Physiology
  • Team-Based Human-Centered Cognitive Task Decision Making and Information Performance.
  • Vision Science/Vision Psychology/Cognitive Neuroscience.