Perceptual and Cognitive Factors Governing Performance in Comparative Arrival-Time Judgments

Four experiments were conducted to investigate factors affecting relative arrival-time judgments in the transverse plane. Across experiments, results indicated an overreliance on relative distance information. The levels of relative velocity and distance used in the arrival-time task were proved discriminable, and performance in both relative velocity and distance judgments predicted performance in the relative arrival-time task. Despite the distance bias, an attempt to integrate relative velocity and distance information was also evidenced. The distance bias appears to have resulted from resource limitations on the concurrent processing of relative velocity and distance information, causing relative velocity information to become resource limited. The final experiment assessed the stability of performance in each of the tasks over time and provided evidence of individual differences in the ability to coordinate information from multiple sources.