Effects of Information Automation and Decision-Aiding Cueing on Action Implementation in a Visual Search Task

Abstract

A visual search paradigm was used to examine the effects of status information as well as decision-aiding automation in a target detection and processing task. Manual, information automation, and decision-aiding automation conditions were manipulated with the size of the distractor set. Participants were required to respond to the presence or absence of a target in a time-limited trial. In the information automation condition, status information regarding target presence was presented to the participant. The participants were informed that the information automation was not perfectly reliable. A significant detection performance improvement was observed in the information automation condition. This improvement was more marked in the conditions with the higher number of distractors. Additionally, response times were improved when the information automation cue was present. Effects of cue validity and incorrect responses are presented. Implications of the results and future studies are discussed.

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