What do drivers fail to see when conversing on a cell phone?
archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified
Summary
Simulator study investigating inattention blindness during hands-free cell-phone conversations while driving. Participants drove two 7-mile urban-highway scenarios in a PatrolSim fixed-base simulator (single-task vs cell-phone dual-task, counterbalanced); 30 objects of varying relevance were placed in the scene as targets and 30 as foils. After driving, a surprise 2-alternative forced-choice (2AFC) recognition memory test probed whether drivers had encoded scene objects. An ASL Model 501 head/eye tracker recorded gaze.
Key finding
Even when drivers' eyes fixated objects in the driving scene, hands-free cell-phone conversation reduced subsequent recognition for those objects — at both high and low relevance — supporting an inattention-blindness account in which conversation withdraws attention from the scene rather than altering gaze.
Methodology
Within-subject simulator experiment, single-task driving versus driving + hands-free cell-phone conversation, scenarios and order counterbalanced. PatrolSim high-fidelity fixed-base simulator with Ford Crown Victoria controls. ASL Model 501 head- and eye-tracker logged gaze. Surprise 2AFC recognition memory task following driving probed encoding for 30 in-scene objects against 30 foils.
Sample size: N=64 undergraduates from the University of Utah
Quality score: 5 / 5