Spatial stimulus-response (S-R) compatibility effect of visual signals and hand controls in transverse and longitudinal dimensions

Past research studies on spatial compatibility have shown that when the positions of stimulus and response could be concurrently interpreted in terms of horizontal (right-left) and vertical (top-bottom) dimensions, the use of the former one was found to be much stronger than the latter one in compatibility. This phenomenon is known as 'right-left prevalence' effect [1-3]. In this study, the stimulus and response sets were varied along the transverse (right-left) and longitudinal (front-rear) dimensions so that the four possible stimulus and response positions were used concurrently. Results showed salient spatial compatibility effect between visual signals and controls in transverse and longitudinal dimensions, however, there was no indication of prevalence effect of right-left over front-rear dimension. Responses with right hand were found faster than that with left hand for right-handed subjects. The results were translated into practical recommendations for the design of control-horizontal display configuration. The more we know about human performance in different display-control configurations, the better and more effective will be human-machine interfaces designed for more effective operation. © 2009 American Institute of Physics.