The role of response factors in the repetition effect with a spatial-response task
Abstract
The repetition effect refers to the finding that reaction times are faster on trial n when the signal presented and/or the response required are the same as on trial n $-$ 1 than when they are different from trial n $-$ 1 (Bertelson, 1961; 1965). By using an information reduction paradigm, five experiments examined the importance of stimulus factors (Experiment 1) and response factors (Experiments 2 through 5) in obtaining the repetition effect. Experiment 1 demonstrated a need for the stimuli to be categorically mapped to responses for a response repetition effect to be observed. Experiments 2 through 5 showed that the repetition effect can be obtained across responding hands when spatial information (Experiments 2 and 4) and finger information (Experiments 2 and 5) are consistent across hands but not when only stimulus-response information is common across adjacent trials (Experiment 3). The results are interpreted as counter to Pashler and Baylis' (1991b) conclusion that the repetition effect and practice and transfer effects reflect changes to different types of underlying mechanisms. Repetition, practice, and transfer effects are all consistent with the inclusive links hypothesis proposed by Pashler and Baylis. Primarily, the results are consistent with the expectations developed by salient-features coding (Proctor & Reeve, 1986) and demonstrate the influence of both stimulus and response factors on determining what is salient in a task.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Proctor, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Psychology|Experiments
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