Critical Task Demands with Spatially versus Rapid Communication (RAP COM) Visual Displays

Payne and Lang (1991) extended research on a visual display technology dubbed RAP COM (for Rapid Communication) by Matin and Boff (1 988). Payne and Lang's results suggest that there is a speed-accuracy trade-off using RAP COM visual displays, compared to spatially distributed visual displays, when dynamic, on-line tasks are employed. Konrad, Kramer, Watson, and Weber (1996) recently reported a study in which there was no speed-accuracy trade-off for RAP COM displays. Two experiments showed that methodological differences between the Payne and Lang (1991) and Konrad et al. (1996) study may have caused the discrepant results. The results of the current study suggest that the procedures used by Konrad et al. altered critical task demands of the monitoring task. These findings indicate that RAP COM displays may be superior to spatial displays but only in relation to specific task situations. It is suggested that detailed analyses of task characteristics are required when implementing displays in realworld, complex systems.