Effect of a Concurrent Auditory Task on Visual Search Performance in a Driving-Related Image-Flicker Task

Abstract

The effect of a concurrent auditory task on visual search was investigated using an image-flicker technique. Participants were undergraduate university students with normal or corrected-to-normal vision who searched for changes in images of driving scenes that involved either driving-related (e.g., traffic light) or driving-unrelated (e.g., mailbox) scene elements. The results indicated that response times were significantly slower if the search was accompanied by a concurrent auditory task. In addition, slower overall responses to scenes involving driving-unrelated changes suggest that the underlying process affected by the concurrent auditory task is strategic in nature. These results were interpreted in terms of their implications for using a cellular telephone while driving. Actual or potential applications of this research include the development of safer in-vehicle communication devices.

Visual Attention in Driving: The Effects of Cognitive Load and Visual Disruption

“…Even though the safety-relevant changes were detected more reliably than were the safety-irrelevant changes, cognitive load uniformly diminished the detection of both types of changes. This finding concurs with that of Richard et al (2002), who observed that performing a nondriving secondary task impaired drivers' ability to detect driving-relevant and driving-irrelevant changes to a similar degree. The decreased confidence in detecting changes suggests that participants were aware that the cognitive load of the auditory task and the blanking both diminished their performance.…”

Distracting effect of TV watching on children's reactivity

“…Trimmel and Poelzl [19] found that background noise lengthened RT by inhibiting parts of the cerebral cortex. Richard et al [14] and Lee et al [12] found that college students given a simulated driving task had longer RT when given a simultaneous auditory task. Redfern et al [13] found that subjects strapped to a platform that periodically changed orientation had slower RT before and during platform movement.…”

How Multitasking Interacts with Visual Impairment and Age on Measures of Driving Performance

“…Richards et al report using a laboratory-based image-flicker task to determine that response times to search for change in images of driving scenes were significantly slower in the presence of a concurrent auditory task (20). In addition, results of simulator-based studies have indicated that driving performance is affected when participants must respond to a secondary task (16).…”