Volume 6, Number 6, Abstract 872, Page 872a doi:10.1167/6.6.872 http://journalofvision.org/6/6/872/ ISSN 1534-7362
Mobile phone use in a driving simulation task: Differences in eye movements
Stacy A. Balk
Department of Psychology, Clemson University
[e-mail]
Kristin S. Moore
Department of Psychology, Clemson University
Jay E. Steele
Department of Computer Science, Clemson University
William J. Spearman
Department of Computer Science, Clemson University
Andrew T. Duchowski
Department of Computer Science, Clemson University
Abstract

Every year there are nearly 43,000 traffic fatalities and it is estimated that 25% of crashes involve some degree of driver inattention (NHSTA, 2005,2000). A recent survey revealed 21% of crashes/near crashes reported by respondents involved at least one driver using a mobile phone (Seo&Torabi, 2004). The current study examined the effects of mobile phone use on drivers' attention and eye movements in a low-fidelity simulator. Sixteen Clemson University undergraduate students viewed 24 driving scenarios and responded to questions about vehicular events in the scenes. Eight participants simultaneously performed a language learning task (simulating a mobile phone conversation). The language learning group answered fewer questions about the driving scenes correctly (M=9.3) than the non-language group (M=16). Overall, participants' correctly responded to more scenarios with 4 cars (M=7.3/12) than with 7 cars (M=5.3/12). The total number of fixations on the vehicle(s) involved in the critical event in each scenario was greater for the non-language group (M=471.7) than for the language group (M=300.5). Additionally, participants in the language group who answered the event question correctly spent the same percentage of the total time looking at the vehicle of interest during the event (M=13.5%) as those people who answered incorrectly (M=12.4%). This finding provides support for the 'look but fail to see' phenomenon. The mean duration of total fixations was also greater for people in the non-language group (M=9574.5ms) than the language group (M=6523.4ms). This study supports previous findings that increasing mental workload (through mobile phone use, and/or increased traffic) decreases driving performance.
Dr. Leo Gugerty

History
Received March 23, 2006; published June 1, 2006
Citation
Balk, S. A., Moore, K. S., Steele, J. E., Spearman, W. J., & Duchowski, A. T. (2006). Mobile phone use in a driving simulation task: Differences in eye movements [Abstract]. Journal of Vision, 6(6):872, 872a, http://journalofvision.org/6/6/872/, doi:10.1167/6.6.872.
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