Attention and automation: New perspectives on mental underload and performance

There is considerable evidence in the ergonomics literature that automation can significantly reduce operator mental workload. Furthermore, reducing mental workload is not necessarily a good thing, particularly in cases where the level is already manageable. This raises the issue of mental underload, which can be at least as detrimental to performance as overload. However, although it is widely recognized that mental underload is detrimental to performance, there are very few attempts to explain why this may be the case. It is argued in this paper that, until the need for a human operator is completely eliminated, automation has psychological implications relevant in both theoretical and applied domains. The present paper reviews theories of attention, as well as the literature on mental workload and automation, to synthesize a new explanation for the effects of mental underload on performance. Malleable attentional resources theory proposes that attentional capacity shrinks to accommodate reductions in mental workload, and that this shrinkage is responsible for the underload effect. The theory is discussed with respect to the applied implications for ergonomics research

Effets des types de conduite sur la consommation de carburant

This bibliographical report analyzes the researchs on the influence of driver behaviour upon the fuel consumption of cars. More particularly two themes are dealt with:- the effect of different types of driving upon the parameters of mechanical vehicle use and upon fuel consumption,- the efficiency of indicators and aids to vehicle driving in the field of fuel consumption.Among the numerous results, we note in particular that the inter-individual variability, i.e. the differences in fuel consumption between drivers is comprised between 8 and 10 % but can reach 50 % between the extreme consumption levels; intra-individual variability, i.e. the difference of the fuel consumption of the same driver related to different motivations, is comprised between 8 and 23 % but can reach 25 % between the extreme consumption levels. These variabilities of fuel consumption are related to vehicle use parameters, such as acceleration, variability of acceleration, normal running of engine, speed, etc.In conclusion, we propose new methodological approach which while taking into account vehicle and road environnement parameters put the stress upon the analysis of driver behaviour and driving strategies, as well as the interaction of the road-vehicle-driver system in order to determine "economic" driving models.Ce rapport bibliographique analyse les recherches sur l'influence du comportement du conducteur sur l'utilisation du véhicule automobile et sur la consommation de carburant résultante. Plus précisément deux thèmes sont étudiés :- l'effet des types de conduite sur les paramètres d'utilisation mécanique du véhicule et sur la consommation de carburant,- l'efficacité des aides à la conduite sur la consommation de carburant.Parmi les nombreux résultats, nous retiendrons particulièrement que la variabilité interindividuelle, c'est-à-dire les différences de consommation de carburant entre conducteurs est comprise entre 8 et 10 % en moyenne mais peut atteindre 50 % entre consommations extrêmes ; la variabilité intra-individuelle, c'est-à-dire la différence de consommation pour le même conducteur en fonction de motivations différentes, est comprise entre 8 et 23 % mais peut atteindre 25 % entre consommations extrêmes. Ces variabilités dans la consomma¬tion de carburant sont en relation avec les paramètres d'utilisation du véhicule tels que accélérations, variabilités de l'accélération, régimes moteur, vitesses, ... etc.En conclusion, nous proposons une nouvelle approche méthodologique de recherche qui, tout en prenant en compte les paramètres des véhicules et de l'environnement routier, met l'accent sur l'analyse des comportements, straté¬gies de conduite des conducteurs et l'interaction route-conducteur-véhicule pour déterminer des modèles de conduite économique

Effect of aging on spatial representation

International audienceno abstrac

The effect of aging on route memorization.

International audienceWhen we follow a route in an unknown city, we build a mental representation of the environment, which is stored in long-term memory and could be used later in different kind of tasks like recognizing the place, redoing the route, or drawing a map. In this experiment, we focus on the cognitive resources that are used to build and then manipulate that mental representation, and the effect of aging on the spatial representation. Previous research has demonstrated age-related decline in the use of spatial representation, but the spatial representation is complex and requires the integration of many components that may show differential susceptibility to aging. Different tasks were used to assess the effect of aging on different components of the spatial representation. The video of an unfamiliar route in a city near Paris was projected to the young and older participants twice. After the presentation, four tasks were used to assess the mental representation of the participants (visual recognition task, direction decision task, order decision task, and statement verification). Different tests were used to identify the factors that explain individual differences in the performance. The results show that older adults have poorer performance than younger adults in the 4 tasks. Analyses of mediation show that the effect of aging on visual recognition task would be explained by the impairment of episodic memory. Moreover, the effect of aging on the direction task would be explained by the impairment of working memory

Effect of aging on spatial representation

International audienceno abstrac

Effect of aging on spatial representation

International audienceno abstrac

Effet du vieillissement sur la mémorisation d'itinéraires réels : l'importance de la mémoire de travail et de la mémoire épisodique

International audienceno abstrac

Les effets d'une exposition au bruit a long terme sur le sommeil et sur les performances

SIGLECNRS-CDST / INIST-CNRS - Institut de l'Information Scientifique et TechniqueFRFranc

Analyse du comportement du conducteur automobile. Relations entre variables; styles de conduite et consommation de carburant

SIGLECNRS RP 400 (529) / INIST-CNRS - Institut de l'Information Scientifique et TechniqueFRFranc