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Adaptive strategy changes as a function of task demands: a study of car drivers
- Source :
- Ergonomics, 47(2), 218-236. TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
- Publication Year :
- 2003
-
Abstract
- When drivers perform additional tasks while driving, research shows conflicting results: primary driving performance may deteriorate but adaptive changes such as reducing driving speed have also been noted. We hypothesized that the nature of the secondary task may be important: drivers may give more priority to tasks that serve goals of the driving task itself, for example route finding, than tasks not directly relevant for driving, for example tuning the radio. The main objective of the present driving simulator study was to test this hypothesis. Twenty subjects performed two different subsidiary tasks while driving through two levels of traffic density: a working memory (WM) task and a map reading (MAP) task. It was hypothesized that in high task demand situations, the WM task, irrelevant for the driving task, would be neglected more than the MAP task. The results confirmed the hypothesis: in MAP conditions, the WM task was indeed neglected, but map reading resulted in more swerving, indicating that the subjects looked at the map despite the high task demands. It is concluded that drivers will be highly motivated to get route information, and RG systems should therefore present their information in a readily understandable format.
- Subjects :
- Adult
Male
Engineering
Adaptive strategies
Automobile Driving
media_common.quotation_subject
Poison control
Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation
Human Factors and Ergonomics
Task (project management)
AGE
Heart Rate
Memory
Task Performance and Analysis
Humans
task demands
Function (engineering)
Simulation
COMPENSATORY CONTROL
media_common
HEART-RATE-VARIABILITY
Working memory
business.industry
Driving simulator
Alertness
WORK-LOAD
strategies
Multivariate Analysis
Task analysis
business
task priorities
DRIVING PERFORMANCE
SLEEP-DEPRIVATION
BEHAVIOR
SYSTEM
Cognitive psychology
driving behaviour
mental effort
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 00140139
- Volume :
- 47
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Ergonomics
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....07f265a6c9a457bb2988f7311bf7f3f6