Stimulus-Response and Response-Effect Compatibility With Touchless Gestures and Moving Action Effects

Abstract

Objective: To determine whether response-effect (R-E) compatibility or stimulus-response (S-R) compatibility is more critical for touchless gesture responses. Background: Content on displays can be moved in the same direction (S-R incompatible but R-E compatible) or opposite direction (S-R compatible but R-E incompatible) as the touchless gesture that produces the movement. Previous studies suggested that it is easier to produce a button-press response when it is R-E compatible (and S-R incompatible). However, whether this R-E compatibility effect also occurs for touchless gesture responses is unknown. Method: Experiments 1 and 2 employed an R-E compatibility manipulation in which participants made responses with an upward or downward touchless gesture that resulted in the display content moving in the same (compatible) or opposite (incompatible) direction. Experiment 3 employed an S-R compatibility manipulation in which the stimulus occurred at the upper or lower location on the screen. Results: Overall, only negligible influences of R-E compatibility on performing the touchless gestures were observed (in contrast to button-press responses), whereas S-R compatibility heavily affected the gestural responses. Conclusion: The R-E compatibility obtained in many previous studies with various types of responses appears not to hold for touchless gestures as responses. Application: The results suggest that in the design of touchless interfaces, unique factors may contribute to determining which mappings of gesture and display movements are preferred by users.

Perception and action as viewed from the Theory of Event Coding: a multi-lab replication and effect size estimation of common experimental designs

“…Different response modalities included tool-transformed movements such as rotations via steering wheels and flight yokes (Janczyk et al, 2012c , 2015 ; Yamaguchi & Proctor, 2011 ), and the operation of one-pivot levers (Janczyk et al, 2012b ; Kunde et al, 2007 , 2012 ), as well as continuous mouse movements (Pfister et al, 2014b ; Hommel et al, 2017 ; Wirth et al, 2015 ; but see Schonard et al, 2021 ). One case where no R-E compatibility effect was observed concerned touchless gestures (Janczyk et al, 2019 ). In general though, each of these studies set out to test specific theoretical predictions or applied scenarios that go beyond the scope of this investigation.…”

Effectiveness of Lateral Auditory Collision Warnings: Should Warnings Be Toward Danger or Toward Safety?

“…For the avoidance-direction warnings, supporting evidence emerges from studies that demonstrate faster responses when signals occur on the same side as the side of the required action than when they occur on the opposite side; the phenomenon known as stimulusresponse compatibility (SRC; Fitts & Deininger, 1954;Proctor & Vu, 2016). Both attention capture and SRC are robust phenomena that have been observed numerous times in cognitive psychology research (Koelewijn et al, 2010;Kornblum & Lee, 1995;Spence & Santangelo, 2009;Proctor & Vu, 2016) and in human factors research (Janczyk et al, 2019;Kantowitz et al, 1990;Proctor et al, 2005;Terry et al, 2008). Studies concerning attention capture focus on the relative locations of a cue and a target stimulus, whereas studies concerning SRC focus on the relative locations of the target stimulus and the response.…”

Compatibility effects with touchless gestures

“…Somewhat unexpected though, Janczyk et al ( 2019 ) did not observe stable signs of an R–E compatibility effect across several experiments. Rather (see also Footnote 1 for more details in the context of the present study’s results), the R–E compatibility effect was not always significant in the expected direction and once significant but reversed, that is responses were faster in R–E incompatible trials.…”

“… a Illustration of the response device used in the present study and in Janczyk et al ( 2019 ). Participants touched a (touch-sensitive) home button with the left side of their right index finger and initiated their movement from this position.…”

“…Janczyk et al ( 2019 ) investigated compatibility effects, with a focus on R–E compatibility, in a context borrowed from interacting with an infotainment system in a car. Responses were touchless up- or downward gestures collected with the response device illustrated in Fig.…”