Cognitive distraction impairs drivers' anticipatory glances: An on-road study
DOI: 10.17077/drivingassessment.1546
archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified
Summary
On-road study (n=25 undergraduates, mean age 23) testing how cognitive distraction affects anticipatory glances at intersections, addressed as a real-vehicle replication of Taylor et al. (2013). Participants drove a 2.75-mile loop with 34 intersections (18 high-priority with crosswalk/stop sign/stoplight, 16 low-priority) in an instrumented 2010 Subaru Outback while completing eight increasingly demanding tasks (single-task, radio, audiobook, passenger, handheld, hands-free, voice-based email/text via NaturalReader, OSPAN). Four high-definition cameras recorded scanning, coded frame-by-frame. As task cognitive demand rose, drivers reduced anticipatory glances; the high-fidelity voice email/text system reduced the probability of a complete intersection scan by 11% versus no-distraction baseline.
Key finding
Cognitive load from secondary tasks (especially voice-based email/text) reduces anticipatory visual scanning at familiar real-world intersections, lowering the probability of complete intersection scans by up to 11%.
Methodology
Exp 1: 10 participants, repeated measures across 6 sessions from 26 total. Exp 2: 20 participants, Old/New sequence comparison. On-road driving paradigm with DRT and NASA-TLX measures.
Sample size: Exp 1: N=10; Exp 2: N=20
Quality score: 5 / 5