A Reaction Time Study of Four Control-Display Linkages

Abstract

Fifteen subjects were tested on each of four different wooden models of stoves containing various control-burner arrangements. The experiment measured reaction times and errors made by subjects who matched a control to a given burner as quickly as possible. Subjects were tested for 80 consecutive trials. The data show significant improvement in performance throughout the 80 trials. No significant improvement is evident in the second half of the trials, i.e., for trials 41 through 80. Analysis of the data for trials 41 through 80 shows one control-burner arrangement to be superior to all the others. Another arrangement is significantly worse than the best, but better than the remaining two.