An experimental paradigm for the assessment of realistic human multitasking

Bock, Otmar; Drescher, Uwe; Janouch, Christin; Haeger, Mathias; Winsum, Wim van; Voelcker‐Rehage, Claudia

doi:10.1007/s10055-018-0342-7

Cited by 13 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…These tasks were modeled after typical real-life activities often performed during driving. To increase realism and to mimic the varying demands of everyday car driving, we provided different stimulus modalities (visual input on the windshield = in-vehicle display, auditory input via headphones = passengers, radio, or GPS), cognitive-motor task loads (i.e., baseline driving = no task, typing = dashboard operations, reasoning = conversation with passengers), and response modalities (typing = visuomotor responses, reasoning = verbal responses; Bock et al, 2018 , 2019a ). The number of trials (total trials N = 60) was equally distributed across the different task types and presentation modalities in both project phases.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Tasks were scheduled in a mixed order and at irregular distance intervals. The driving scenario and the order and type of additional tasks was identical for all participants within each project phase (same seed; Bock et al, 2019a ). Participants were instructed not to prioritize the driving or the additional task, but to respond as fast and as accurately as possible to the additional task.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The rationale for using a driving simulator was to provide a safe virtual environment in which participants can engage in complex and potentially hazardous (dual-task) situations while driving (Bock et al, 2018 ). In addition, virtual environments can be fully controlled regarding the implementation of additional tasks as well as environmental conditions such as ambient light, traffic sounds, other traffic participants, or weather (Bock et al, 2019a ). A driving simulator, thus, ensured the same conditions for all participants.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Benefits of Higher Cardiovascular and Motor Coordinative Fitness on Driving Behavior Are Mediated by Cognitive Functioning: A Path Analysis

Stojan

Kaushal

Bock

et al. 2021

Front. Aging Neurosci.

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Driving is an important skill for older adults to maintain an independent lifestyle, and to preserve the quality of life. However, the ability to drive safely in older adults can be compromised by age-related cognitive decline. Performing an additional task during driving (e.g., adjusting the radio) increases cognitive demands and thus might additionally impair driving performance. Cognitive functioning has been shown to be positively related to physical activity/fitness such as cardiovascular and motor coordinative fitness. As such, a higher fitness level might be associated with higher cognitive resources and may therefore benefit driving performance under dual-task conditions. For the first time, the present study investigated whether this association of physical fitness and cognitive functioning causes an indirect relationship between physical fitness and dual-task driving performance through cognitive functions. Data from 120 healthy older adults (age: 69.56 ± 3.62, 53 female) were analyzed. Participants completed tests on cardiovascular fitness (cardiorespiratory capacity), motor coordinative fitness (composite score: static balance, psychomotor speed, bimanual dexterity), and cognitive functions (updating, inhibition, shifting, cognitive processing speed). Further, they performed a virtual car driving scenario where they additionally engaged in cognitively demanding tasks that were modeled after typical real-life activities during driving (typing or reasoning). Structural equation modeling (path analysis) was used to investigate whether cardiovascular and motor coordinative fitness were indirectly associated with lane keeping (i.e., variability in lateral position) and speed control (i.e., average velocity) while dual-task driving via cognitive functions. Both cardiovascular and motor coordinative fitness demonstrated the hypothesized indirect effects on dual-task driving. Motor coordinative fitness showed a significant indirect effect on lane keeping, while cardiovascular fitness demonstrated a trend-level indirect effect on speed control. Moreover, both fitness domains were positively related to different cognitive functions (processing speed and/or updating), and cognitive functions (updating or inhibition), in turn, were related to dual-task driving. These findings indicate that cognitive benefits associated with higher fitness may facilitate driving performance. Given that driving with lower cognitive capacity can result in serious consequences, this study emphasizes the importance for older adults to engage in a physically active lifestyle as it might serve as a preventive measure for driving safety.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Benefits of Higher Cardiovascular and Motor Coordinative Fitness on Driving Behavior Are Mediated by Cognitive Functioning: A Path Analysis

Stojan

Kaushal

Bock

et al. 2021

Front. Aging Neurosci.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…6) events have been implemented (see Table 1) to increase the cognitive workload and approach a real-life driving experience. The presence of distractors is one element that distinguishes laboratory and real-life settings (Bock et al 2019). Therefore, it can increase the ecological validity of an experiment.…”

Section: Virtual Reality Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Promoting eco-driving behavior through multisensory stimulation: a preliminary study on the use of visual and haptic feedback in a virtual reality driving simulator

et al. 2021

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This paper describes the design and preliminary test of a virtual reality driving simulator capable of conveying haptic and visual messages to promote eco-sustainable driving behavior. The driving simulator was implemented through the Unity game engine; a large street environment, including high-speed and urban sections, was created to examine different driving behaviors. The hardware setup included a gaming driving seat, equipped with a steering wheel and pedals; the virtual scenarios were displayed through an Oculus Rift headset to guarantee an immersive experience. Haptic stimulation (i.e., vibrations) was delivered to the driver through the accelerator pedal, while visual stimuli (i.e., icons and colors) were shown on a virtual head-up display. The sensory feedbacks were presented both alone and in combination, providing information about excessive acceleration and speed. Four different virtual scenarios, each one including a distracting element (i.e., navigator, rain, call, and traffic), were also created. Ten participants tested the simulator. Fuel consumption was evaluated by calculating a mean power index (MPI) in reference to the sensory feedback presentation; physiological reactions and responses to a usability survey were also collected. The results revealed that the haptic and visuo-haptic feedback were responsible for an MPI reduction, respectively, for 14% and 11% compared with a condition of no feedback presentation; while visual feedback alone resulted in an MPI increase of 11%. The efficacy of haptic feedback was also accompanied by a more relaxing physiological state of the users, compared with the visual stimulation. The system’s usability was adequate, although haptic stimuli were rated slightly more intrusive than the visual ones. Overall, these preliminary results highlight how promising the use of the haptic channel can be in communicating and guiding the driver toward a more eco-sustainable behavior.

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“…It is often assumed that findings from laboratory studies can serve to explain human behavior in everyday life situations outside the lab. However, this assumption is not always valid: Laboratory and daily life settings differ in a variety of aspects (e.g., Bock & Hagemann, 2010;Bock et al, 2019), and empirical effects observed in a laboratory context cannot always be transferred to contexts outside the lab. For example, substantial differences between performance on classical laboratory tasks on the one hand, and performance on everyday or everyday-like tasks on the other hand, have been observed for locomotion (Bock & Beurskens, 2010), for manual grasping (Bock & Züll, 2013;Steinberg & Bock, 2013) and its age-related decay (Bock & Baak, 2013;Bock & Steinberg, 2012), as well as for age-related changes of cognitive skills (Verhaeghen, Martin, & Sędek, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive Multitasking: Inhibition in Task Switching Depends on Stimulus Complexity

Schuch¹,

Bock

Freitag³

et al. 2020

Journal of Cognition

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We report a series of three experiments investigating inhibition in task switching, using N-2 repetition costs as an empirical marker. The experiments were structurally identical, employingastandardexperimentalparadigmwhereparticipantsswitchbetweenthree different categorizationtasks.Theexperimentsdifferedwithrespecttothestimulusmaterial. According to prominent theories of cognitive control, N-2 repetition costs should be observed in all three experiments. To our surprise, this is not what we observed: N-2 repetition costs did not occur in Experiment 1, where we used static pictures from a driving simulator environment showing an oncoming car, embedded in a car-driving scene. In contrast, we observed robust N-2 repetition costsinExperiment2,whereweusedstaticpicturesoffaces,andinExperiment 3,wherethe identical car stimuli from Experiment 1 were used, but without the surrounding visual scene. These results suggest that N-2 repetition costs depend on the complexity of the stimulus material. We discuss two aspects of complexity: 1) When the relevant stimulus feature is embedded in a complex visual scene, task-irrelevant features in that scene might trigger additional task sets, and thus induce additional task switches, attenuating N-2 repetition costs among the instructed task sets. 2) The presence of distractors might lead to additional covert or overt shifts of spatial attention, which in turn might reduce the size of N-2 repetition costs. Onamoregenerallevel,theresultsillustratethedifficultyoftransferringlaboratorytasksto settings that bear more similarity to everyday life situations.

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An experimental paradigm for the assessment of realistic human multitasking

Cited by 13 publications

References 39 publications

Benefits of Higher Cardiovascular and Motor Coordinative Fitness on Driving Behavior Are Mediated by Cognitive Functioning: A Path Analysis

Benefits of Higher Cardiovascular and Motor Coordinative Fitness on Driving Behavior Are Mediated by Cognitive Functioning: A Path Analysis

Promoting eco-driving behavior through multisensory stimulation: a preliminary study on the use of visual and haptic feedback in a virtual reality driving simulator

Cognitive Multitasking: Inhibition in Task Switching Depends on Stimulus Complexity

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