Does information predicting "when" and "what" facilitate target detection interactively?

Abstract

Human responses to environmental stimuli are essential for adapting to surroundings. Cue informativeness (how accurately a cue provides information about events requiring an action) can be pivotal in guiding behavior. Similarly, timing predictability (the extent to which people can predict when events will occur) influences their responses. However, the interactive effects of these factors on responses remain unclear. This study examined whether cue informativeness and timing predictability jointly influence target detection responses. Participants completed a cued go/no-go task in which we manipulated both factors via an online experiment. We used a constant cue-target delay in the timing predictable condition and variable delays in the timing unpredictable condition. Informative cues indicated a high probability of a go target, whereas non-informative cues signaled equal probabilities for go and no-go targets. In Experiment 1, both informative cues and predictable timing facilitated responses to go targets, with no evidence of interaction. Experiment 2 replicated these findings under more challenging conditions by introducing shorter delays, varying go targets, and adding rev-informative cues, which indicated a low probability of a go target, to mitigate response bias. These findings advance our understanding of cognitive processes in human operators interacting with assistance systems and offer insights for optimizing system design.