Control-display alignment determines the prevalent compatibility effect in two-dimensional stimulus-response tasks

• Published in: Psychonomic bulletin & review 2016-04, Vol.23 (2), p.571-578
• Main Authors: Lee, Samuel, Miles, James D., Vu, Kim-Phuong L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Brief Report; Cognitive Psychology; Female; Humans; Male; Psychology; Psychomotor Performance - physiology; Space Perception - physiology; Studies; Visual Perception - physiology; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1069-9384; 1531-5320
• DOI: 10.3758/s13423-015-0899-z

Responses are faster and more accurate when they are spatially compatible with a stimulus than when they are incompatible (the stimulus-response compatibility (SRC) effect). In studies using two-dimensional (2-D) stimulus and response sets in which stimuli and responses have both vertical (top-bottom) and horizontal (right-left) spatial relations, SRC effects are generally larger along the horizontal dimension, an effect called right-left prevalence. Several accounts have been posited to explain this asymmetry, including frames of reference to the body and spatio-anatomical constraints. We propose a new account of the right-left prevalence effect in which prevalence effects are largely determined by the spatial alignment between elements on the stimulus display and response locations on the control panel—the control-display alignment (CDA). For example, when responses are aligned below a display, 2-D stimulus and response sets share a common vertical midline that emphasizes a right-left distinction. When responses are to the right or left of the display, the shared midline is horizontal, emphasizing the top-bottom distinction and should instead lead to top-bottom prevalence effects. Participants completed two-choice, 2-D SRC tasks in four control-display configurations with a response panel centered above, below, left, and right of a projected display. As hypothesized, right-left prevalence was elicited using vertical CDA and top-bottom prevalence was elicited using horizontal CDA. The findings demonstrate that CDA largely determines prevalence effects and should be taken into account when using multidimensional stimulus and response sets.