Responding to One of Two Simultaneous Messages

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Abstract
Operators (20) were given a task which required answering 1 of 2 simultaneous voice messages. The task was performed under a variety of conditions produced by cominations of 4 experimental "aid" variables: horizontal spatial separation of the sound sources, aural shaping filters which made the tone quality different in each channel, visual cues which indicated the channel about to call the operator, and facilities to switch a desired message from the initial source into a headphone or a loudspeaker near the operator''s ear. It was found that the use of horizontal separation or filtered messages or both greatly improved the operator''s performance. Visual cues had no apparent effect on ability to answer the message except when used with switching facilities. Some speculations are advanced about the nature of recognizing and attending to a message in the presence of another message.

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