Reaction Time to Accelerating Lines and Dots on a Cathode-Ray Tube

Abstract

Two experiments recorded the simple RT of 13 and 10 airline pilots, respectively, to accelerating lines and dots on a cathode-ray tube. In Exp. 1, dotted lines of six lengths moved in-line or frontally, and downward or to the right. Exp. 2 compared seven different in-line-moving solid lines with dot pairs of corresponding separations, and with single dots. RT increased with the length of in-line-moving solid lines but not when dotted lines were used. RT decreased with frontal movement of dotted lines. RT to dot pairs was shorter than to solid lines or single dots. Results indicate the importance of three factors: amount of movement information, visual angle, and inhibition of the retinal area stimulated.