COGNITIVE AND PERCEPTUAL ASPECTS OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL FIGURE ROTATIONS FOR COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN (CAD) SYSTEMS (ERGONOMICS, HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION)
Abstract
This research investigated two competing models of memory organization, analog or propositional, which describe how visual information is represented in memory. The analog model maintains that visual information in memory is represented as images whereas the propositional model maintains that visual information in memory is best represented by network structures. In order to differentiate between the two models three separate experiments were performed. For each experiment a factorial design was used with three levels of figure complexity, three axes of rotation, and four angles of rotation (0, 60, 120, 180) for a three-dimensional wire-frame figure rotation comparison task. For experiment one the hypothesis was proposed that reaction time, errors and percent transmitted information for the figure comparison task would differ according to the level of figure complexity across axes and angles of rotation. The results from experiment one indicated that reaction times, errors and percent transmitted information did vary across levels of figure complexity. These results supported the hypothesis and indicated that neither models for information representation fully described the reaction time data. The hypothesis for experiment two was proposed that decreasing the overall number of task questions would simplify the comparison task and result in faster reaction times than those for experiment one. The results supported the hypothesis as reaction times were significantly faster. The results indicated that task characteristics affected reaction times thus supporting the propositional model. Experiment three investigated the effects of a split-screen display for the figure comparison task. The hypothesis was proposed that use of the split screen would decrease reaction times and errors and result in an increase in information transmitted for the comparison task. The experimental results indicated that reaction time, errors, and transmitted information varied dependent on the level of figure complexity. These results supported the propositional model. In order to more fully describe the reaction time, errors, and information metric results discussed above a hybrid model for the figure comparison task was proposed in which analogical processes occur for simple figures and simple tasks, whereas propositional processes occur for complex figures and complex tasks.
Degree
Ph.D.
Subject Area
Industrial engineering
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