Anger effects on driver situation awareness and driving performance

Research has suggested that emotional states have critical effects on various cognitive processes, which are important components of situation awareness (Endsley, 1995b). Evidence from driving studies has also emphasized the importance of driver situation awareness for performance and safety. However, to date, little research has investigated the relationship between emotional effects and driver situation awareness. In our experiment, 30 undergraduates drove in a simulator after induction of either anger or neutral affect. Results showed that an induced angry state can degrade driver situation awareness as well as driving performance as compared to a neutral state. However, the angry state did not have an impact on participants\u27 subjective judgment or perceived workload, which might imply that the effects of anger occurred below their level of conscious awareness. One of the reasons participants showed a lack of compensation for their deficits in performance might be that they were not aware of severe impacts of emotional effects on driving performance

Driver behaviour with adaptive cruise control

This paper reports on the evaluation of adaptive cruise control (ACC) from a psychological perspective. It was anticipated that ACC would have an effect upon the psychology of driving, i.e. make the driver feel like they have less control, reduce the level of trust in the vehicle, make drivers less situationally aware, but workload might be reduced and driving might be less stressful. Drivers were asked to drive in a driving simulator under manual and ACC conditions. Analysis of variance techniques were used to determine the effects of workload (i.e. amount of traffic) and feedback (i.e. degree of information from the ACC system) on the psychological variables measured (i.e. locus of control, trust, workload, stress, mental models and situation awareness). The results showed that: locus of control and trust were unaffected by ACC, whereas situation awareness, workload and stress were reduced by ACC. Ways of improving situation awareness could include cues to help the driver predict vehicle trajectory and identify conflicts

Examining the effects of emotional valence and arousal on takeover performance in conditionally automated driving

In conditionally automated driving, drivers have difficulty in takeover transitions as they become increasingly decoupled from the operational level of driving. Factors influencing takeover performance, such as takeover lead time and the engagement of non-driving-related tasks, have been studied in the past. However, despite the important role emotions play in human-machine interaction and in manual driving, little is known about how emotions influence drivers’ takeover performance. This study, therefore, examined the effects of emotional valence and arousal on drivers’ takeover timeliness and quality in conditionally automated driving. We conducted a driving simulation experiment with 32 participants. Movie clips were played for emotion induction. Participants with different levels of emotional valence and arousal were required to take over control from automated driving, and their takeover time and quality were analyzed. Results indicate that positive valence led to better takeover quality in the form of a smaller maximum resulting acceleration and a smaller maximum resulting jerk. However, high arousal did not yield an advantage in takeover time. This study contributes to the literature by demonstrating how emotional valence and arousal affect takeover performance. The benefits of positive emotions carry over from manual driving to conditionally automated driving while the benefits of arousal do not

RFID lecturer availability system

In process of learning in polytechnic, having a meeting with a lecturer was an importance thing to make sure that all the task given are clearly understand and submitted on time. As such, RFID Lecturer Availability System (L.A.S) will enable to identify the availability of the lecturer for the students. This will enable the students to get inputs if the lecturer is available or having different work to be done. The advantage of LAS is that it is easy to be used and low costs. This enable an efficient product to ensure students are aware of lecturer availability before commencing any meetings or appointment. In future, the study will focus on the evaluation of the prototype in measuring the usefulness of the application developed

The ‘frontal lobe’ project: A double-blind, randomized controlled study of the effectiveness of higher level driving skills training to improve frontal lobe (executive) function related driving performance in young drivers

The current study was undertaken in order to evaluate the effectiveness of higher level skills training on safe driving behaviour of 36 teenage drivers. The participants, who attended the Driver Training Research camp in Taupo (NZ) over a two week period, were 16 to 17 years old and had a valid restricted driver licence. The study focused on four main aims. Firstly, the behavioural characteristics of the sample and their attitudes to risk taking and driving were examined. Results showed that speeding was the most anticipated driving violation, and high levels of confidence were associated with a higher number of crashes and a greater propensity for risk taking. Many, often male participants, also rated their driving skills as superior to others and thought they would be less likely than others to be involved in an accident. Secondly, the relationship between driving performance and executive functioning, general ability and sustained attention was evaluated. Overall, better driving performance and more accurate self-evaluation of driving performance was related to higher levels of executive functions, in particular, working memory, and cognitive switching. In addition, higher general ability and greater ability to sustain attention were also linked to better performance on the driving related assessments. The third focus of this study was to compare the effects of both, higher level and vehicle handling skills training on driving performance, confidence levels and attitudes to risk. While both types of training improved direction control, speed choice and visual search, along with number of hazards detected and actions in relation to hazards, statistically significant improvement on visual search was seen only after higher level skills training. Vehicle handling skills training significantly improved direction control and speed choice. In addition, confidence levels in their driving skills were significantly lowered and attitudes to speeding, overtaking and close following had improved significantly in the participants after the higher level driving skills training. The final aspect to this study was to examine the effects of the training over the following 6 month period based on self-reported driving behaviour. The response rate of participants however, was not sufficient to reach any meaningful conclusion on any long-term training effects. A pilot study using GPSbased data trackers to assess post-training driving behaviour revealed some promising results for future driver training evaluation studies. The overall implications of the results are discussed in relation to improving the safety of young drivers in New Zealand

Professional Driver Training and Driver Stress: Effects on Simulated Driving Performance

Book chapter from Traffic and Transport Psychology, edited by G. Underwood, published by Elsevier, 2005

Return to driving after traumatic brain injury : a British perspective

Primary Objective: to identify current legal situation, and professional practice in assisting persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI) to return to safe driving after injury. Methods and Procedures A brief review of relevant literature, a description of the current statutory and quasi-statutory authorities regulating return to driving after TBI in the UK, and a description of the nature and resolution of clinical and practical dilemmas facing professionals helping return to safe driving after TBI. Each of the 15 UK mobility centres was contacted and literature requested; in addition a representative of each centre responded to a structured telephone survey. Main Outcome and Results: The current situation in Great Britain is described, with a brief analysis of the strengths and weaknesses both of the current statutory situation, and also the practical situation (driving centres), with suggestions for improvements in practice. Conclusion Although brain injury may cause serious limitations in driving ability, previous drivers are not routinely assessed or advised regarding return to driving after TBI

Return to driving after head injury

Objectives: To determine whether patients who return to driving after head injury can be considered safe to do so and to compare the patient characteristics of those who return to driving with those who do not. Methods: In a multicentre qualitative study ten rehabilitation units collectively registered 563 adults with traumatic brain injury during a 2.5 year period. Recruitment to the study varied from immediately after hospital admission to several years post injury. Patients and their families were interviewed around three to six months following recruitment. 383 (67.5%) subjects were interviewed within one year of injury, of whom 270 (47.6%) were interviewed within 6 months of injury. Main outcome measures were the presence or absence of driving related problems reported by drivers and ex-drivers, and scores on driving related items of the Functional Independence/Functional Assessment Measure (FIM+FAM). Results: Of the 563 patients 381 were drivers before the injury and 139 had returned to driving at interview. Many current drivers reported problems with behaviour (anger, aggression, irritability) (67 (48.2%)), memory ( 89 (64%)), concentration and attention (39 (28.1%)), and vision (39 (28.1%)). Drivers reported most driving-related problems as frequently as ex-drivers, main exceptions were epilepsy and community mobility. Current drivers scored significantly higher on the FIM+FAM (i.e. more independent), than ex-drivers. The driving group had sustained less severe head injuries than ex-drivers, nevertheless 78 (56.2%) of current drivers had received a severe head injury. Few (61, 16%) previous drivers reported receiving formal advice about driving following injury. Conclusions: The existence of problems which could significantly affect driving do not prevent patients returning to driving after TBI. Patients should be assessed for both mental and physical status before returning to driving after a head injury, and systems put in place to enable clear and consistent advice to be given to patients regarding driving

Anger Rumination, Stress, and Dangerous Driving Behaviors as Mediators of the Relationship between Multiple Dimensions of Forgiveness and Adverse Driving Outcomes

Motor-Vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teens and young adults. Research and public interventions have primarily examined the impact of external factors related to driving; however, less work has examined internal factors. Limited research has shown a negative association between trait forgiveness of others and both driving anger and driving aggression. The current study replicates previous findings and expands to include multiple dimensions of forgiveness and adverse driving outcomes as a dependent variable. It was predicted that multiple dimensions of forgiveness would be directly and indirectly related to adverse driving outcomes through the mediators of anger rumination, stress, and dangerous driving. Undergraduate students (N=759) at a regional university completed a series of self-report questionnaires online examining driving anger, driving aggression, multiple dimensions of forgiveness, adverse driving outcomes, anger rumination, stress, and dangerous driving behaviors. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to replicate previous findings (analysis 1) and multiple serial mediations as expansion (analysis 2). In replication, trait forgiveness of others was shown to have a negative bivariate correlation with driving anger and driving aggression and to be a significant predictor of driving aggression above that of driving anger (analysis 1). Multiple serial mediation demonstrated an indirect only effect of multiple dimensions of forgiveness on adverse driving outcomes through the various mediators (analysis 2); however, varied relationships were observed. As a result, forgiveness of self and of uncontrollable situations demonstrated a significant negative effect on adverse driving outcomes through the various mediators. However, although, forgiveness of others was found to have a significant negative effect through anger rumination and dangerous driving behaviors in serial, it demonstrated a positive effect with stress as a mediator. The results support and replicate previous research and demonstrate a significant indirect only effect of multiple dimensions of forgiveness on adverse driving outcomes through the current mediators. The relationships were varied, however. Therefore, multiple dimensions of forgiveness continue to be meaningful variables related to driving anger, driving aggression, and adverse driving outcomes

Silent, Unsafe...and Underestimated?. Exploring the relationships between life stress and safety issues among spanish drivers

Almost all the recent studies addressing road safety from the approach of human factors agree that stress is one of the most considerable (but underestimated) threats for safe driving. However, evidence on the relationship between stressful life events and driver performance remains scarce. Therefore, this study aimed to assess life stress-related perceptions of Spanish drivers, as well as exploring their relationships with self-reported driving performance, decision-making and other road safety-related issues. Methods: This cross-sectional research analysed the information gathered from a nationwide sample of n=840 Spanish drivers responding to an electronic survey on psychosocial issues, stress-related factors and driving issues. The results show that a high percentage (75%) consider that stress may impair their driving performance, while 76.9% of drivers report having experienced at least one major stressful life event during the last year. Despite this relatively high awareness of the negative role of stress and its associated factors for driving safety, this study found that drivers tend to 'ignore the alarm signals', as they often reported keeping driving, even when noticing their driving fitness and performance might be impaired by stress-related factors. This study highlights the need to create and apply interventions aimed at informing and training drivers to identify, manage and cope with stress from different spheres, including stressful life events, as a means of potentially improving their driving safety habits and outcome