Judgments of relative motion in tactical displays

Two experiments examined the speed with which the direction of relative motion could be inferred from static tactical displays. In Exp I, 12 25-40 yr old experienced right-handed male naval officers responded more rapidly to displays depicting target motion to the right than to the left, but 12 inexperienced officers did not. For both groups, 1 of the 3 tactical geometries yielded significantly longer response times than the others (a "tactic" effect). In Exp II, the influence of decision strategy on the tactic effect was evaluated in 18 22-52 yr old naive Ss. Control of strategy through instruction and order of problem presentation did not reduce the tactic effect but did interact with the directional bias related to target motion. The tactic effect is discussed in terms of directional incongruity among displayed and inferred stimulus elements. Implications for training are discussed. (27 ref)