Principles of S-C-R Compatibility with Spatial and Verbal Tasks: The Role of Display-Control Location and Voice-Interactive Display-Control Interfacing

Abstract

A pilot's tasks may be categorized into those that demand predominantly verbal operations and those that are spatial. We describe two experiments that define two principles of compatibility of interfacing such tasks with displays and controls. The first, based upon hemispheric laterality effects, defines compatibility according 10 the display location and the response hand; the second defines compatibility according to the modality of display (auditory and visual) and response (manual and speech). Verbal tasks are best served by auditory inputs and speech response, whereas spatial tasks are best served by visual-manual channels. In both experiments, these principles of compatibility are confirmed under dual-task conditions. We describe their implications for cockpit design.