Measuring cognitive distraction in the automobile
archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified
Summary
AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety technical report establishing a systematic framework for measuring cognitive distraction in the automobile across three experiments. Experiment 1 was a single-task baseline of eight in-vehicle tasks without driving; Experiment 2 paired the same tasks with a high-fidelity driving simulator; Experiment 3 ran them in an instrumented vehicle on residential streets. The team integrated primary-task, secondary-task, subjective, and physiological measures into a standardized 1–5 cognitive distraction scale, with listening to radio/audiobooks at the low end, conversation in the middle, and a speech-to-text email/messaging system producing the highest cognitive workload.
Key finding
A converging-measures framework yields a 1–5 cognitive distraction scale on which speech-to-text email systems impose substantially higher cognitive workload than passenger or hands-free phone conversation, despite drivers’ eyes remaining on the road.
Methodology
Three-experiment converging-operations design (single-task laboratory baseline, high-fidelity driving simulator, instrumented vehicle on residential roads) with eight common in-vehicle tasks; integrated primary-task, secondary-task (DRT), subjective workload, and psychophysiological (EEG/ocular) measures normalized into a standardized cognitive distraction scale.
Sample size: three experiments with separate participant samples (full Ns in report body)
Quality score: 5 / 5