The Effects of an Auditory versus a Visual Presentation of Information on Soldier Performance

This paper describes a field study that measured the effects of an auditory versus a visual presentation of position information on soldier performance. Measures of situational awareness, stress, cognitive performance, and workload were also obtained. During the study, 12 soldiers navigated wooded paths that were 3 km long. No differences were found between display conditions in navigation or target acquisition performance, or in the frequency at which information was accessed. However, the analysis indicated that the participants maintained a greater awareness of position with respect to waypoints, targets, and other units when information was presented visually than when information was presented auditorily in verbal messages. In the auditory mode, as the participants' perceptions of time demands increased, post-test scores on a logical reasoning task tended to be higher than pre-test scores. The findings of the investigation suggest differences in cognitive processing requirements between displays and the impact of attentional focus and practice on cognitive performance.