Abstract
Spatial stimulus-response (S-R) compatibility was investigated for two-finger choice reactions with irrelevant stimulus location. Subjects responded with either their index or their middle finger of one hand to a bicolor diode emitting either green or red light in the right or left visual field. Three conditions were tested, in which subjects responded (1) with palms facing down; (2) with palms facing up, alternating the hands between blocks of trials; and (3) again with palms facing down, but using the same hand throughout an experimental session. For all three conditions, results show a strong S-R compatibility effect for fingers. In addition, a small S-R compatibility effect for hands (especially for the left) was obtained in experimental Condition 3 (nonalternating hands), but not in Conditions 1 and 2 (alternating hands). In general, the results strongly support the coding hypothesis of spatial S-R compatibility. A modified attentional hypothesis is proposed to supplement the coding hypothesis to account for the results obtained in Condition 3.
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The experimental work reported here was carried out at the Institut fur Arbeitsphysiologie, Dortmund.
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Heister, G., Ehrenstein, W.H. & Schroeder-Heister, P. Spatial S-R compatibility with unimanual two-finger choice reactions: Effects of irrelevant stimulus location. Perception & Psychophysics 42, 195–201 (1987). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03210508
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03210508