Navy Tactical Data Information Display Complexity Effects on Visual Search Reaction Time and Response Accuracy.

The purpose of the experiment was to evaluate pre-defined display formatting from the standpoint of response accuracy and reaction time for use with a tactical information display for the U.S. Navy. Subjects were required to retain a single consonant probe in short term memory while searching one of six pre-formatted displays for a target lable. Upon detecting the target a keyboard entry was made reflecting the data associated with that target label. The subject was then presented with a two or four letter set from which he was to indicate the presence or absence of the memory probe. Reaction time increased and response accuracy decreased to a highly correlated and statistically significant level as the number of elements in the display screen increased. The secondary memory probe task was not found to have a statistically significant effect on the search reaction time among the 24 subjects who participated in the experiment. Author