Design characteristics of a workload manager to aid drivers in safety-critical situations

The objective of this study was to evaluate a workload manager designed to supervise the presentation of in-vehicle information for two age groups of drivers during safety-critical situations. The benefits of a workload manager were compared in various dual-task conditions involving a preceding or a concurrent in-vehicle alert during critical traffic situations. Objective measures such as drivers’ brake response times and secondary task response times as well as subjective measures of driver workload were used. Although older drivers performed worse in the dual task scenario with longer response times and poorer performance on the secondary task in comparison to the younger drivers, results indicated that both age groups benefited from the implementation of a workload manager. There was a consistent trend of improved driving and secondary task performance when the workload manager delayed non-critical information during safety-critical situations, indicating benefits for some otherwise distracted drivers. Implications for the design of a workload manager are discussed

The influence of driver’s mood on car following and glance behaviour: Using cognitive load as an intervention

Driving safety relies on a driver’s ability to maintain their attentional focus and that mood is one of the factors which influences this ability. This driving simulator study used mind wandering theory to understand the changes in car following behaviour and driver glance patterns when affected by neutral, happy, sad and angry moods during car following. Two types of cognitive load were used to investigate ways of disengaging drivers from the mind wandering state. The moods were induced via music and mental imagery and assessed via self-reports and physiological measures. The results show that mood valence and arousal have different effects on driving safety, with negative moods resulting in the most dangerous driving, regardless of arousal. The cognitive load, in some cases, disengaged drivers from mood-related mind wandering. However, more detailed research is needed to understand the amount of load necessary for this disengagement in different moods. The importance of using driving-related measures together with glance patterns in mood research was highlighted to overcome ambiguities resulting from conclusions based on single measurements

The influence of mood and cognitive load on driver performance: using multiple measures to assess safety

Emotions and moods are an inevitable part of human life. Previous research suggests that positive and negative moods affect human performance in many aspects: decision making, perception, reasoning and memory. The influence of mood on drivers’ behaviour has been studied to a less extent and mainly with respect to negative emotions. The studies reported in this thesis are based on psychological theories regarding the differences in the effects of positive and negative moods on information processing and mind wandering. The thesis describes two studies: a desktop study and a driving simulator study, which measure drivers’ responses to the actions of other traffic, their observational patterns and driving behaviours in a variety of scenarios. The effects of neutral, happy, sad and angry moods were studied. The simulator study also investigated possible ways to disconnect drivers’ minds from mood induced mind wandering by using different types of cognitive load. The results suggest that mood valence and arousal have different effects on driving safety, with negative moods resulting in the most dangerous driving. In order to draw conclusions about the effect of mood, a combination of multiple measures (e.g. glance patterns, driving performance and drivers’ physiological measures) should be analysed. The results also suggest that some amount of cognitive load, applied while driving, can have a positive effect on drivers’ attention. Further research is needed to establish the amount and type of the cognitive load necessary to improve drivers’ ability to maintain their attention on the driving task. Studies with a larger number of participants and field studies are needed to validate the findings. It is suggested that the findings are used to improve in-car assistance systems able to both detect the harmful effects of a driver’s emotional state and re-direct their attention to the primary task of driving