Response Latencies in Matching and Oddity Performance: Effects of Format, Stimulus, and Demand Variables

Abstract

A series of eight experiments investigated response latencies in matching-to-sample and oddity tasks. Latency increased with delay between presentation of sample and comparison stimuli, an effect mainly due to a readiness factor. Latencies were shorter when Ss were allowed to pace their own trials than when they were presented with one trial after another under E's pacing. Latencies increased with decreasing stimulus intensity. Color stimuli produced shorter latencies than form stimuli and redundant information tended to facilitate the response. Irrelevant information slowed the response, with irrelevant color producing a much greater impairment than irrelevant form. Adding conditional judgments to the task produced large increases in response latencies of human Ss.