Choice and stimulus-response compatibility affect duration of response selection

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Response times typically increase with the number of possible choices.
• This phenomenon is often linked to stimulus-response (S-R) compatibility.
• S-R compatibility influences how easily stimuli map to responses.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the interaction between the number of choices and S-R compatibility.
• To determine how different levels of S-R compatibility affect choice effects.
• To understand how stimulus characteristics and mapping influence S-R compatibility.

Main Methods:

• Participants responded to 2, 4, or 8 visual cues using a joystick.
• S-R compatibility was manipulated across stimulus type and stimulus-response mapping.
• Trials were blocked based on S-R compatibility dimensions.

Main Results:

• Choice effects were absent with high S-R compatibility.
• Moderate choice effects occurred with incompatibility in one dimension.
• Greatest choice effects were observed when incompatible in both dimensions.
• Priming effects from repeated trials also accelerated response transformations.

Conclusions:

• Choice impacts response selection at multiple stages of S-R decoding.
• The degree of S-R compatibility significantly modulates choice effects.
• Prior trial repetition enhances response efficiency through priming.