The effects of information relevancy on driving behavior

Abstract

Bus driving is a complex and cognitively challenging task that places high demands on bus drivers’ working memory. Increasing use of “In-Vehicle Information Systems” leads to driver distraction and is a contributing factor to many road accidents globally, and with systems for tickets, navigation, and timetables, bus drivers are more exposed to this additional workload than other actors in the traffic. This study provides insights into how bus drivers’ driving behavior is affected by auditory traffic information through a driving simulator study at the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute. A pre-study showed that many bus drivers in Gothenburg experience that a majority of the messages they receive are irrelevant to them. Difference in driving behavior was identified for conditions in which the drivers received messages irrelevant to their route, which might indicate that irrelevancy is an important factor for the workload imposed to the drivers. We hypothesize that irrelevant messages require processing in the visuospatial sketchpad, which might increase workload more than just auditory information processing. The results of this study implies that the routines for traffic communication between traffic controllers and bus drivers should be considerate, as to reduce the number of irrelevant messages that are cognitively loading the bus drivers.

The Working Memory Mechanism for Maintenance and Updating of Spatial Situation Awareness Projection

“…This suggests that spatial SA projection is not present in WM as a predetermined answer but is continuously updated along with changes in WM. This agrees with the ndings of prior studies that showed that the quality of SA depends on the quantity and quality of information stored in WM (Nilsson et al, 2021). Previous studies have either used distraction during the situation presentation phase to create a WM load, leading to a reduction in SA, as evidence of a connection between them (Xie et Kaber et al, 2016).…”

“…The negative impact of distraction on spatial SA projection may be related to WM. Prior studies have found that the limitations of WM storage time and capacity determine the upper limit of SA (Gutzwiller & Clegg, 2013;Nilsson et al, 2021). According to the theory of limited cognitive resources, the processing of distraction information competes with main task for limited cognitive resources, leading to attentional diversion (Wickens, 2002b).…”

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

“…This might become even more visible in a distracting or cognitively demanding driving condition. Lane keeping, in turn, requires sustained situational awareness and continuous monitoring and updating of visuospatial information of the environment (e.g., road winding; Papantoniou et al, 2017 ; Nilsson et al, 2020 ). Performing an additional task during driving typically increases cognitive load, thus limiting available cognitive resources.…”

“…Performing an additional task during driving typically increases cognitive load, thus limiting available cognitive resources. Additional tasks may cause interference effects on lane keeping due to limited updating capacity in older adults (i.e., capacity interference; Son et al, 2011 ; Pettigrew and Martin, 2016 ; Nilsson et al, 2020 ). Furthermore, when additional tasks require similar cognitive and perceptual resources, interference effects (i.e., structural interference) are typically more pronounced (Heuer, 1993 ; Liu and Ou, 2011 ; Stelzel and Schubert, 2011 ; Engstrom et al, 2017 ; Leone et al, 2017 ; Stelzel et al, 2017 ; Wechsler et al, 2018 ; Bohle et al, 2019 ; Perlman et al, 2019 ).…”