Universal and culture-specific effects of display-control compatibility

Research on compatibility of displays and controls has been a staple of basic and applied experimental psychology since the work by Paul Fitts and colleagues in the 1950s. Compatibility is often defined in terms of natural response tendencies, and many behavioral studies have been conducted examining various determinants of compatibility effects. Some compatibility phenomena are universal because of constant properties of the physical environments in which people live. Others, often called population stereotypes (Loveless, 1962), are specific to particular cultural groups due to experience with unique display-control relations. Determining which compatibility phenomena are universal and which are limited to certain populations is necessary for knowing how widely various compatibility principles can be expected to hold for performance. In this article we examine the universal and cultural aspects of display-control compatibility with an emphasis on implications for understanding human performance in general and for applying the knowledge to design of interfaces that will be maximally compatible with the characteristics of the intended users.