Locus of the Information Familiarity Effect in the Search of Computer Menus

Preliminary empirical findings (Somberg, Boggs, & Picardi, 1982) concerning the search of computer menus indicated that one's familiarity with the information being sought had an effect on the speed with which the correct item was selected from the menu, but did not influence the scan rate per se. Results from three experiments which attempted to determine the locus of that effect are presented here. It was hypothesized that the familiarity of the desired information has an effect on either (1) the time needed to activate the category that described the information or (2) the time needed to confirm that a selected item was the correct one. As neither hypothesis received empirical validation, it was determined that the accuracy, rather than the duration, of the category activation stage is the causative agent. Category activation errors, which are more frequent when the desired information is unfamiliar, necessitate additional cognitive processing which increases the overall response latency.