Cognitive Studies/Psychology/Visual Studies 201:
COGNITIVE SCIENCE IN CONTEXT

Effects of Cell Phone Use on Driving Performance: Investigating the Mechanism of Interference

Laboratory Module (Spring Version)

by Leon Rozenblit
Department of Psychology, Cornell University
(now at Yale University, leonid.rozenblit@yale.edu)
Edited and updated by Doug Elrod

1. INTRODUCTION
   1. BACKGROUND SIGNIFICANCE
   2. A BRIEF REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ON DRIVING PERFORMANCE AND TELEPHONING -- SOME FACTORS TO CONSIDER
   3. EXAMPLE: A TENTATIVE TWO FACTOR MODEL OF INTERFERENCE
2. EQUIPMENT
   1. DRIVING SIMULATOR
   2. MACINTOSH COMPUTERS
   3. CORDLESS PHONES
   4. EYE-TRACKER
3. LABORATORY EXERCISES
   1. MEASURING THE EXTENT OF TELEPHONING INTERFERENCE WITH DRIVING
   2. EFFECTS OF CONVERSATION CONTENT
4. FINAL LABORATORY REPORT FOR THE DRIVING MODULE

   Appendix A: Data Analysis

   Appendix B: Scenario Editing Instructions

5. BIBLIOGRAPHY
   1. BOOKS AND CHAPTERS
   2. ARTICLES SPECIFICALLY RELEVANT TO DRIVING AND TELEPHONING

I. Introduction

A. Background Significance

Are cellular phones really a road menace? While cognitive science may not be in the position to resolve the critical public policy issues involved in the debate (e.g., the value of mobile phone use versus the cost of increased risk to life and property), it may shed light on this exciting controversy by investigating several questions: Why is talking on the phone while driving dangerous? Is it any more dangerous than talking to a passenger while driving? If so, why? How does varying the content of conversation and familiarity with equipment effect driving performance? What do the results tell us about the cognitive processes involved? By explicating the mechanism of interference, cognitive science may be able to identify especially dangerous driving situations, as well as conditions that allow drivers to talk on the cellular phone without significantly increasing the risk of accidents.

In this laboratory module you will investigate these exciting and socially relevant questions. You will use several tools to help with the investigation. First, you will use the STISIM driving simulator designed to emulate actual driving conditions. Second, you will use a portable phone intercom system that approximates the important features of a cellular phone.

Reading Assignment One

• Moray, N., "Designing for Attention", in Baddeley, A. D. & Weisenkrantz, L., eds. 1993. Attention: Selection, awareness, and control. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 111-134.
• Violanti, J.M., & Marshall, J.R. (1996). Cellular phones and traffic accidents: An epidemiological approach. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 28(2)(Apr), 265-270.

Theoretical Background

Discussion

• In light of your readings, why do you think talking on the phone would interfere with driving? [key ideas: divided attention, cognitive load, limited cognitive resources]
• How is talking on the phone while driving different from, or similar to, talking to a passenger? [key ideas: shared visual environment, operating unfamiliar equipment demands visual attention]
• How is talking on the phone while driving different from, or similar to, operating a car radio? Listening to a car radio? [key ideas: visual attention vs. auditory attention, automatic vs. control processing]

Keep the ideas you have discussed in mind. They will come in handy shortly. Below, we will try to develop a tentative model of a driving-telephoning interference following a brief review of the literature, which points out several factors as important to driving performance under a verbal interference task.

A cognitive model attempts to describe human activities in terms of information processing. A cognitive model begins by considering the informational inputs, and the behavioral outputs of a particular task; the model must then suggest, given the constraints on human information processing, a plausible way in which the individual transforms the informational inputs into the behavioral outputs. A tentative example of a cognitive model is presented in Part B of the Introduction.

B. A Brief Review of the Literature on Driving Performance and Telephoning -- Some Factors to Consider

• Drivers' Experience
  Novice drivers made less efficient eye movements during a driving task than experienced drivers (Cohen & Studach, 1977; Mourant & Rockwell, 1972; Shinar, McDowell, & Rockwell, 1977).
• Drivers' Age
  Effects of interference were significantly stronger for older subjects (over 50) than for younger subjects (McKnight & McKnight, 1993).
• Automatic vs. Non-Automatic Driving Tasks
  An early study concluded that telephoning has a minimal effect on the more automated driving skills, but that perception and decision-making may be critically impaired by switching between visual and auditory inputs (Brown, Tickner, & Simmonds, 1969). A more recent model of driving behavior emphasizes automaticity and control processing as crucial to understanding driver error (Ranney, 1994).
• Normal vs. Difficult Driving Conditions
  If automatic driving behaviors are relatively resistant to interference from concurrent phone conversation, we would expect little interference with easy driving tasks, and more interference with difficult driving tasks. Contrary to predictions, however, Alm reported that the strongest interference effects were found when the subjects were exposed to the easy driving task (Alm & Nilsson, 1994). Briem found, on the other hand, that using a cellular phone, and especially manipulating the instrument, interfered far more severely with driver performance under difficult (slippery) road conditions than under normal driving conditions (non-slippery road) (Briem & Hedman, 1995).
• Hands-Free Phone Operation
  Subjects who operated the hands-free telephone showed better control over the test vehicle than subjects who operated the hand-held telephone, as measured by steering wheel movements (Brookhuis, de Vries, & de Waard, 1991).

Discussion

• Try to integrate the findings mentioned above into a cognitive model of driving and telephoning.
• Which findings support your model?
• Which findings are the most problematic?
• How would you test your model? Sketch out a tentative study design.

C. Example: A Tentative Two Factor Model of Interference

Second, using the cellular phone places additional demands on the visual system when the driver is required to perform visually-guided manipulation of the phone equipment. This factor would be independent of conversation difficulty, but would vary with driving conditions: operating the telephone equipment would interfere more with driving under difficult driving conditions that require more intensive visual processing than with driving under normal conditions that is not visually intensive. N.B. This tentative model is only offered as an example; feel free to develop your own.

II. Equipment

A. Driving Simulator

Starting Up

1. Test information.
2. Run driving simulation.
3. Atmospheric conditions.
4. Edit Files.
5. Shell to DOS.
6. Quit.

Restarting the PC

Starting Up the Simulator Without Restarting the PC

To get to the prompt screen from the DOS prompt (that is, if you accidentally quit the program and find yourself staring at something like this: "C:>") type the following commands:

CD \STISIM [takes you to the STISIM directory]
SIMMASTR [runs the utility program]

Turning on the Speakers

Set Atmospheric Conditions

To change the atmospheric conditions, select "Atmospheric conditions" from the main prompt menu. Remember, you can do this using either the arrow keys or by pressing the "a" key. Now, select the option most appropriate to your experiment.

Provide Test Information

If you need to correct a Test Information entry before moving to another field, the Backspace key on the keyboard will move you to the left on a line and erase as it moves. The left and right arrows on the keyboard will move you left and right on a line without erasing. After you have finished entering the information for one field, move down from that field to the field below, e.g., from Patient Name to Patient Number, by pressing the Enter key on the keyboard.

To record the subject's test information, first select "Test Information" from the main menu (remember, you can do this using either the arrow keys or by pressing the "t" key). STISIM should enter the date and time automatically. Just press Enter. Next, type the subject's name (in the quaintly named "patient's name" field), the subject number in the "Patient code" field (each subject should have a unique subject number assigned to them), and a run number. Be very careful not to mistype the subject's name, and to use exactly the same name for the subject from trial to trial. For consistency, use three-digit subject numbers (e.g., 101, 102, 111).

Note, STISIM will try to guess the correct subject number and run number for each subject by looking at the data files already present in the SIMDATA directory; it's usually accurate, but you must be the final judge.

Finally, fill in the "comments" field. Here, you should provide information that will make this run easy to identify in the subsequent data analysis. You should clearly note the exercise number, the condition (e.g., no conversation, light conversation, heavy conversation), and any additional subject information you believe may be useful (e.g., driver's experience).

If you make a mistake filling out the subject test information, you can always press F9, and start over. To record the test information and proceed, press F10.

Driving

Now select "Run driving simulation" from the main prompt menu. Select either "Urban" or "Suburban" (following the specific instructions for your experiment) from the next menu. STISIM will ask for a scenario number. We have created several driving scenarios to reduce any learning effect of repetition.

You will be using one of the following scenarios in the first experiment:

Suburban 11 (practice)
Suburban 21 (first run)
Suburban 31 (second run)

Urban 12 (practice)
Urban 22 (first run)
Urban 32 (second run)

That's it! You're on your way!

Note: Before beginning the experiments, the subject should "warm up" by driving through at least one Urban and one Suburban scenario. (Try Urban and Suburban scenarios 01 through 06) Make sure you clearly label the data generated by the warm-up exercises so as not to confuse them with the real data. (I recommend assigning all warm-up exercises the Patient code "000," and typing "Warm Up" in the name field).

Saving Your Data

How Are the Data Files Named?

1. Test information: The first block from the top contains the test information you entered at the beginning of the run.
2. Divided attention data: you will not be using this information during the exercises.
3. Driver performance data: you will use some information in this block to determine how closely a driver came to colliding with another car during the run.
4. Driver mistakes: a count of the mistakes the driver made during the run, with different types of mistakes tabulated separately.
5. Individual mistakes: a record of the time and the coordinates of each mistake the driver made during the simulation run.

Moving the Data Files to a Mac-Compatible

1. Quit STISIM.
2. Type CD SIMDATA
   (this puts you in the directory where your data were saved)
3. Insert your 3.5" diskette into the floppy drive.
4. For each datafile "filename.ext", type
   COPY filename.ext A:

Cleaning Up Your Data File with Excel

If you are unfamiliar with Excel, now is a good time to get a feel for it. On the Mac-compatible, open Excel (you can select Excel form the Microsoft Office menu at the top of the screen). Once Excel has launched, select Quick Preview from the Help menu (the yellow balloon with a question mark -- second icon from the right on the menu bar). When you are done with the Preview, select Examples and Demos (at least the first 7 topics). A complete on-line manual is also available (in the Microsoft Office folder). You may find the first few chapters quite useful.

To clean up the summary data files with Excel:

1. Make a copy of the data file on the hard drive (or your Zip disk)
2. Launch Excel.
3. Select Open from the file menu.
4. Navigate to the data file you wish to open.
5. Click the Open button -- this will bring up the Text Import Wizard window.
5.1. In the Step 1 window, make sure:
5.1.1. Original Data Type is set to "Fixed Width."
5.1.2. Start Import row is set to 1.
5.1.3. File Origin is set to DOS.
5.1.4. Click the Next button.
5.2. In the Step 2 window:
5.2.1. Delete the three left-most break lines (by double-clicking on them). The two rightmost lines should remain unchanged.
5.2.2. Click the Next button.
5.3. In the Step 3 window, click the Finish button.
6. Excel will now create a new document (a workbook) with the data imported from the summary file. In the new workbook:
6.1. Increase the column width of Column A so that you can see all the text in the column. (You can increase the width by clicking on the column divider and dragging right.)
6.2. You will notice that the last block of data (Individual Mistakes block) is "lumped" into a single column. You will organize the data into multiple columns:
6.2.1. Select all the Individual Mistakes cells in Column A (i.e., the cells with the text and two sets of numbers in them).
6.2.2. Select Text to Columns from the Data menu.
6.2.3. Click Next on the first two windows of the Text to Columns Wizard, and Finish on the last window. The data is now in a row/column format.
6.3. Format the data to match the Example worksheet:
6.3.1. Open your copy of the Driving Raw Data DB workbook.
6.3.2. The very first worksheet in the workbook is called "Example." Format your data to look like the first three columns of the Example worksheet.
6.3.3. Delete extraneous information. For example, we have not collected any divided attention data; therefore you should delete the Divided Attention block:
6.3.3.1. Select the rows of the Divided Attention Data.
6.3.3.2. Choose Delete from the Edit menu.
6.3.4. Use the Insert and Edit menus to insert and delete rows, as necessary. (As a check, make sure that "Mean time to collision" line is in row 28, the "Off-road Accidents" line is in row 33, and the "Length of Run" line is in row 40.)
7. Insert a new worksheet into your copy of Driving Raw Data DB.
8. Copy the cleaned up summary data into the new worksheet.
9. Rename the worksheet using the subject number and run number for identification. (The STISIM file name will work nicely -- just be consistent.)
10. Now, copy the computational formulas in columns E and F of the Example worksheet (outlined by a heavy box) into the matching location on the new worksheet. If everything worked, the computational formulas should yield a performance score in cell F4.

Note: you can probably save some time by hand-copying the information on the blue summary screen into your lab notebook, and then typing it into the your personalized Excel Driving Raw Data DB.

B. Macintosh Computers

1. Open the Excel file called "DrivingDataBook template".
2. Choose Save As from the File menu.
3. Save on your Zip Disk as DrivingDB.YOURNAME.

C. Cordless Phones

Pressing the Intercom button on either phone causes the other one to ring. Press the Phone button to respond to the call, or hang up the call when you are through. Talk as you normally would on the telephone.

The phones have headsets which plug into the small jack behind the rubber flap on the right side of the phone. You will be using these during the experiments. The headsets work best when the microphone is a couple of inches directly in front of the mouth, and a little below (around the chin).

D. Eye-Tracker

III. Laboratory Exercises

Laboratory Exercise One: Measuring the Extent of Telephoning Interference with Driving

Reading Assignment Two

• Brookhuis, K.A., de Vries, G., & de Waard, D. (1991). The effects of mobile telephoning on driving performance. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 23(4), 309-316.
• Consiglio, W.; Driscoll, P.; Witte, M.; and Berg, W.P. (2003). Effect of cellular telephone conversations and other potential interference on reaction time in a braking response. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 35(4), 495-500.
• McKnight, A.J., & McKnight, A.S. (1993). The effect of cellular phone use upon driver attention. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 25(3), 259-265.

Discussion

• How would you test the extent to which telephoning interferes with driving?
• Are the laboratory experiments ecologically valid?
• Are the most ecologically valid experiments ethical?

Goal

Note that you must balance the order in which the subjects experience the two conditions to control for any experience-related improvement. (It's possible, for example, that subjects tend to do better on the later runs of the simulator because they have learned how to use the simulated controls over earlier trials. Thus, if you always ran the telephone interference condition trials first, the data would appear to indicate that subjects drove better without telephone interference, even if that were not the case.)

You will use a simple method of controlling for order of trials -- half of the subjects will run in the no interference condition first, the other half will run in the interference condition first. A simple way to keep track of who is running what condition in what order is to number subjects consecutively (say starting at #101), and running all the odd-numbered subjects with the non-interference condition first and all the even-numbered subjects in the telephoning condition first. (Note also, this method of controlling for order effects makes it desirable that you run an even number of subjects in your experiment.)

The second problem is choosing an appropriate telephone conversation to use as an interference task. You will explore how the content of the telephone conversation may relate to the degree of interference in a subsequent exercise. For now, to simplify things a little, you will use a sample conversation script.

Method

The driver's task will be to complete the driving scenario as quickly as possible while driving safely and obeying the rules of the road. During the telephone interference trials, the driver must answer the telephone unit when it rings, and attempt to accurately respond to the questions posed by the caller on the other end of the line.

In the course of the experiment, each subject will complete six different driving scenarios in six simulation runs. Three of the runs will be in the telephone interference condition, the remaining three will be in the no-interference condition. Drivers with odd subject numbers will perform the three no-interference runs first and the three telephone interference runs second. Drivers with even subject numbers will perform the three telephone interference runs first and the three no-interference runs second.

In the course of the experiment, each subject will complete six different driving scenarios in six simulation runs. Two of the runs will be Practice, two will be in the telephone interference condition A, the remaining two will be in the telephone interference condition B. Drivers will run the six scenarios in two trial sets (each composed of three trials): a Suburban driving trial set, and an Urban driving trial set. Each trial set will begin with a Practice run. Within each trial set, drivers with odd subject numbers will perform the no-interference condition runs second and the interference condition runs third. Drivers with even subject numbers will perform the interference condition runs second and the no-interference condition runs third.

The summary table below may help you visualize the structure of the experiment.

	Practice Condition (don't collect data)	No Interference Condition (odd numbers do this first)	Telephone Interference Condition (even numbers do this first)
Trial Set 1 (Suburban)	Suburban 11	Suburban 21	Suburban 31
Trial Set 2 (Urban)	Urban 12	Urban 22	Urban 32

During the telephone interference trials the driver will receive a telephone call from the caller. The caller will call the driver 15 to 30 seconds after the beginning of each run. The caller will ask the driver questions specified by a script, record whether the answers are appropriate, and make general comments. The caller will continue to ask scripted questions until the driver has indicated she has reached the end of the simulation run. During the second interference trial, the caller will begin the scripted questions with the first question that was unasked during the first interference trial.

The dependent variable in this experiment is the number of mistakes the driver makes during each trial. The independent variable is the presence or absence of a telephone conversation during driving.

Note: you will want to collect data from at least four subjects in this exercise.

Instructions

NOTE: Please see Equipment instructions above on how to use the driving simulator.

If the subject's number is odd (certainly true for subject #101), his or her first non-practice trial should be in the no-interference condition . If the subject's number is even, his or her first non-practice trial should be in the telephone interference condition.

Suburban trial set

Urban trial set

Running subjects in the Interference Condition

Prior to beginning the simulation run, the caller will sit at one of the Mac-compatible computers with a telephone base near it. On the Mac-compatible computer, the caller will:

1. Open the Driving Module folder.
2. Open the Telephone Scripts folder.
3. Open the Microsoft Excel file called "phone script 1".
4. Read the instructions highlighted in green at the beginning of the script.
5. Read over the script to become familiar with the questions.
6. From the File menu choose Save As.
7. Save the file in your personal folder (on your Zip disk). If you don't have a folder for the Driving Module you can create one now:
   1. Navigate the Save As dialog box to your Zip disk.
   2. Create another folder on your Zip disk called Driving Module.
   3. Open the newly created Driving Module folder.
   4. Change the name of the "phone script 1" file to "ps1.data.YOURNAME".
   5. Save a copy of the script in your folder.
   Note: Put all files you wish to keep on your Zip disk, not on the hard disk, where they are liable to be deleted.

1. Mark the time the driver begins the run.
   • The caller should have a watch with a seconds hand, else she will have to "count Mississippis".
   • Run begins at the moment the driver pushes the shift lever forward.
2. Call the subject at a specified (in the Excel file) time after the beginning of each run by:
   1. Picking up the handset
   2. Pushing the Intercom button
3. Ask the subjects questions specified by the script.
4. Record the answers, where relevant (the answers that need to be recorded are few and brief; they are marked in RED to make them easy to identify).
   • The caller will find space for recording answers in the Recorded Answers column.
   • The recorded answers will be in response to several factual questions about the driver's background.
   • Since answers to the driver background questions may prove useful in later analysis the caller ought to strive to record them accurately.
5. Mark whether the subject is answering the questions appropriately.
   • An "Inappropriate Response" column is provided for that purpose.
   • The caller should enter a "1" if the response is inappropriate, nothing if the response is appropriate to the question.
   • Some of the questions in the script can be objectively marked correct or incorrect (e.g., what is 3 plus 4?). An incorrect response to an objective question is inappropriate and should be marked by a "1."
6. Make brief comments about any unusual activity (for example, the subject is taking a very long time to answer a question).
   • A "Caller Comments" column is provided for that purpose.
   • Use this column sparingly; you may use abbreviations for common events, as long as you don't forget to indicate what they mean in the NOTES, which are highlighted in purple at the top of the spreadsheet (for example, you can simply type "s" to indicate a slow response).
7. When the driver has indicated the run is over, the caller should hang up the phone, marking the last question she asked on the script in preparation for the next run.

Suburban trial

1. Get the driver ready to start the correct suburban scenario (See Equipment instructions and the Methods section, above):
2. Make sure the scenario is ready to run (the driver should be looking at a blue screen that's prompting him to "push the right button")
3. Make sure the caller will be able to mark the time at which the driver pushes the shift lever forward to begin the run.
4. Make sure the phone script file is open and ready for use.
5. Run the scenario.
6. Save your data.

Urban trial

1. Now repeat the above five steps with the appropriate Urban scenario (see the Methods section, above).
   You will want to follow the same procedures you did for running the Urban interference scenario, with one exception -- the caller should read the telephone script from the point where she stopped at the end of the last run, not from the beginning. (You don't want to ask the subject the same set of questions twice.)
2. Save your data.

Questions

• Does the data allow you to conclude that telephoning interferes with driving? Why or why not?
• What additional studies can you do to answer the question more decisively?

Laboratory Exercise Two: Effects of Conversation Content

Reading Assignment Four

• Allport, A. 1993. Attention and Control: Have we been asking the wrong questions? A critical review of 25 years. In Meyer, D. E. and Kornblum, S., eds. Attention and performance 14: Synergies in experimental psychology, artificial intelligence, and cognitive neuroscience. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 183-218.
• de Ribaupierre, A. 2000. "Working memory and attentional control" in Perrig, W. J. & Grob, A., eds. Control of human behavior, mental processes, and consciousness. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 147-164.

Discussion

• What sorts of conversation do you suspect will interfere with driving the most? The least? Why?
• What sort of interference task would work best for this experiment? Why?
• Write a sample script for a verbal interference task based on what you have learned from the readings.
• How is your interference task different from a typical cellular telephone conversation? What does a typical cell phone conversation sound like?
• Write a script for a verbal interference task that closely resembles a typical cell phone conversation.

Goal

You will perform this exercise in three steps. First, you will determine what dimension of conversation content you will test. Second, you will produce two script representing the extremes of the conversation content dimension you would like to test. (Feel free to use the scripts you generated during your discussion as a starting point.) Third, you will have the subjects drive while conversing on the telephone in both interference conditions.

Method

The driver's task will be to complete the driving scenario as quickly as possible while driving safely and obeying the rules of the road. During the telephone interference trials, the driver must answer the telephone unit when it rings, and attempt to accurately respond to the questions posed by the caller on the other end of the line.

In the course of the experiment, each subject will complete three different driving scenarios in three simulation runs. One of the runs will be Practice, one will be in the telephone interference condition A, the remaining one will be in the telephone interference condition B.

The trial set will begin with a Practice run. Within the trial set, drivers with odd subject numbers will perform the Conversation Condition A runs second and the Conversation Condition B runs third. Drivers with even subject numbers will perform Conversation Condition B runs second and the Conversation Condition A runs third. To save time, you will use the data you collected in Exercises One and Two to estimate driver performance in the no-interference condition.

The summary table below may help you visualize the structure of the experiment.

	Practice Run (don't collect data)	Telephone Interference Condition A (odd numbers do this first)	Telephone Interference Condition B (even numbers do this first)	No-Interference Condition B (use data from prior experiments)
Trial Set 1: Easy Driving Condition	Suburban 11	Suburban 21	Suburban 31	Use no-interference condition data from Exercise One

During each trial the driver will receive a telephone call from the caller. The caller will call the driver 15 to 30 seconds after the beginning of each trial. The caller will ask the driver questions specified by a script, record whether the answers are appropriate, and make general comments. The caller will continue to ask scripted questions until the driver has indicated she has reached the end of the simulation run. During the second interference trial, the caller will begin the scripted questions with the first question that was unasked during the first interference trial.

The dependent variable in this experiment is the number of mistakes the driver makes during each trial. The independent variable is the type of telephone conversation engaged in while driving.

Instructions

1. High vs. low cognitive load (e.g., difficult arithmetic problems vs. simple arithmetic problems)
2. Spatial reasoning vs. nonspatial reasoning (e.g., ask driver to give walking directions from one campus building to another vs. ask driver to give cooking directions)
3. High emotional content vs. low emotional content (e.g., ask driver to tell you why stealing is wrong vs. ask driver to tell you why abortion [or making abortion illegal] is wrong)
4. Automatic processing vs. control processing (shadowing task v. paraphrasing task)

2. Type up the scripts On your Mac-compatible computer

1. Open the Driving Module folder.
2. Open the Telephone Scripts folder.
3. Open the Microsoft Excel file called "phone script base".
4. Read the instructions highlighted in green at the beginning of the script.
5. From the File menu choose Save As.
6. Save the file in your Driving Module folder (on your Zip disk) as "psA.data.YOURNAME".
7. Once more select Save As from the File menu.
8. Save the file in your Driving Module folder (no need to navigate any subdirectories) as "psB.data.YOURNAME".

• Type the questions in the Questions column.
• Type the answers, where necessary, in the Answers column.
• The phone script you will produce will be very similar in form to "phone script 1" from Exercise One.

There are several ways to do this. One is to write the questions in modular form, with interchangeable elements. Example: [arithmetic problem ] {one digit number} {plus} a {two digit number}; {three digit number} {minus} {a three digit number}. You can then let Excel shuffle the elements around randomly before each trial. Another way is to have a large pool of potential questions. You can use Excel to randomly choose a subset of questions to ask for each trial. (You can use Excel to assign each question a random number prior to each trial, then sort the questions by the random number field.)

However, the simplest way to do this is for each experimenter to produce their own scripts (or a sufficiently large set of questions) so that the remaining members of the group never have to answer questions they are familiar with. 3. Run the driving simulations Finally, you are ready to put your scripts to work. Assign the subject a unique number. Start with #301. The subsequent subject numbers should be consecutive, if possible. NOTE: Please see Equipment instructions above on how to use the driving simulator.

The subject should "warm up" by driving through at least one Urban and one Suburban scenario. Make sure you clearly label the data generated by the warm-up exercises so as not to confuse them with the real data. (I recommend assigning all warm-up exercises the Patient code "000," and typing "Warm Up" in the name field.

Remember, if the subject's number is odd, run the two trials in the Conversation Condition A first. If the subject's number is even, run the two trials in the Conversation Condition B first.

Easy Driving Trial Set

Conditions

Practice condition

Conversation Condition A

Get the driver ready to start the scenario. (See Equipment instructions above).

1. Make sure the scenario is ready to run (the driver should be looking at a blue screen that's prompting him to "push the right button").
2. Make sure the caller will be able to mark the time at which the driver pushes the shift lever forward to begin the run.
3. Make sure the phone script file (psA.data.YOURNAME in the Driving Module folder on your Zip disk) is open and ready for use.
4. Run the scenario.
5. Save your data to your Zip disk.

Conversation Condition B

1. Open the Your personal Driving folder.
2. Open the psB.data.YOURNAME file you created earlier.
3. Proceed exactly as you did for Conversation Condition A.

General Questions

• How is the amount of interference related to the conversation content conditions you've tested?
• What does your data suggest, so far, about the danger of using cell phones while driving?
• Suggest at least two other studies that would investigate different dimensions of conversation contents' relationship to the amount of interference.

  IV. Final Laboratory Report for the Driving Module

  After you have completed the final Laboratory Exercise of the Driving Module, you will be ready to prepare a final written report in journal article format (select a journal that represents an interest of yours. Follow its 'Instructions to Authors' and its general format in preparing your report). Laboratory Exercises One and Two should be included in your report either as part of a series of formal experiments, including statements of methods, full results, and brief discussions, or as 'preliminary experiments', alluded to but not presented in any detail. In either case, the results of the final Laboratory Exercise should be presented in detail, all results discussed, and appropriate conclusions drawn. If you choose to include Exercises One through Four as part of the series of regular experiments, there should be a final general discussion section for all four experiments.

  Appendix A: Data Analysis

  Appendix B: Scenario Editing Instructions

  V. Bibliography

  Books and Chapters

  General Works on Attention
  • Allport, A. (1993). Attention and Control: Have we been asking the wrong questions? A critical review of 25 years. In Meyer, D. E. and Kornblum, S., eds. Attention and performance 14: Synergies in experimental psychology, artificial intelligence, and cognitive neuroscience. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
  • Allport, A. (1989). Visual attention. In Posner, M. I., ed. Foundations of cognitive science. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
  • Baddeley, A. D. & Weisenkrantz, L., eds. (1993). Attention: Selection, awareness, and control. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.
  • Posner, M. I. (1988). Structures and functions of selective attention. In Ball, T. and Bryant, B., eds. Clinical neuropsychology and brain function: Research measurement, and practice. Washington, DC: APA. Works Specifically Relevant to Divided Attention
  • Duncan, J., Williams, P., Nimmo, S. I., Brown, I. (1993). The control of skilled behavior: Learning, intelligence, and distraction. In Meyer, D. E. and Kornblum, S., eds. Attention and performance 14: Synergies in experimental psychology, artificial intelligence, and cognitive neuroscience. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
  • Greenfield, P. M., deWinstanley, P., Kilpatrick, H., Kaye, D. (1996). Action video games and informal education: Effects on strategies for dividing visual attention. In Greenfield, P. M. and Cocking, R. R., eds. Interacting with video. Advances in applied developmental psychology, Vol. 11. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corp.
  • Perryman, K. M. and Fitten, L. J. (1994). Impact of attentional deficits on driving performance of the elderly and individuals with mild Alzheimer's disease. In Fitten, L. J., ed. Facts and research in gerontology: Dementia and cognitive impairments. Facts and research in gerontology (Supplement). New York: Springer Publishing.
  • Plude, D. J., Doussard-Roosevelt, J. A., (1990). Aging and attention: Selectivity, capacity, and arousal. In Lovelace, E. A., ed. Aging and cognition: Mental processes , self-awareness, and interventions. Advances in psychology, 72. Amsterdam, Netherlands: North-Holland.
  • Navon, D. (1990). Do people allocate limited processing resources among concurrent activities? In Green, L. and Kagel, H., eds. Advances in behavioral economics, Vol. 2. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corp.
  • Neumann, O. (1987). Beyond capacity: A functional view of attention. In Heuer, H. and Sanders, A. F., eds. Perspectives on perception and action. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
  • Recarte, Miguel A. and Nunes, Luis M. (2000). Effects of verbal and spatial-imagery tasks on eye fixations while driving. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 6(1), 31-43.

  Articles Specifically Relevant to Driving and Telephoning

  • Alm, H., & Nilsson, L. (1994). Changes in driver behaviour as a function of handsfree mobile phones: A simulator study. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 26(4), 441-451.
  • Briem, V., & Hedman, L.R. (1995). Behavioural effects of mobile telephone use during simulated driving. Ergonomics, 38(12), 2536-2562.
  • Brookhuis, K., de Waard, D., & Mulder, B. (1994). Measuring driving performance by car-following in traffic. Ergonomics, 37(3), 427-434.
  • Brookhuis, K.A., de Vries, G., & de Waard, D. (1991). The effects of mobile telephoning on driving performance. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 23(4), 309-316.
  • Brown, I.D., Tickner, A.H., & Simmonds, D.C. (1969). Interference between concurrent tasks of driving and telephoning. Journal of Applied Psychology, 53(5), 419-424.
  • Cohen, A.S., & Studach, H. (1977). Eye movements while driving cars around curves. Perceptual & Motor Skills, 44(3, Pt 1), 683-689.
  • Liu, Y. (2003). Effects of Taiwan in-vehicle cellular audio phone system on driving performance. Safety Science, 41(6), 531-542.
  • McKnight, A.J., & McKnight, A.S. (1993). The effect of cellular phone use upon driver attention. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 25(3), 259-265.
  • Mourant, R.R., & Rockwell, T.H. (1972). Strategies of visual search by novice and experienced drivers. Human Factors, 14(4), 325-335.
  • Ranney, T.A. (1994). Models of driving behavior: A review of their evolution. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 26(6), 733-750.
  • Shinar, D., McDowell, E.D., & Rockwell, T.H. (1977). Eye movements in curve negotiation. Human Factors, 19(1), 63-71.
  • Violanti, J.M., & Marshall, J.R. (1996). Cellular phones and traffic accidents: An epidemiological approach. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 28(2)(Apr), 265-270.
  This page is maintained by Doug Elrod