Driver memory for in-vehicle visual and auditory messages

Garness, SA; Hanowski, RJ; Kantowitz, BH · 1999 · ROSA P / United States. Federal Highway Administration

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Summary

This study addresses the human factors challenges associated with designing Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS) and In-Vehicle Information Systems (IVIS). Specifically, it investigates how message modality (visual, auditory, or combined) and message format (symbolic/icons or lexical/text/speech) affect driver comprehension and memory retention. The research was motivated by the need to ensure that in-vehicle information is quickly understood and retained long enough for drivers to act on it, without compromising vehicle control. The study placed particular emphasis on comparing performance between younger and older drivers to inform guidelines for inclusive system design. The research comprised three experiments conducted in a driving simulator. Experiment 5A evaluated visual messages (text and icons) with nine younger (ages 18–22) and nine older (ages 65–80) drivers. Experiment 5B assessed auditory messages (speech and symbolic "earcons") with twelve younger (ages 18–30) and six older (ages 65–80) drivers. Experiment 5C examined visual, auditory, and simultaneous visual-auditory messages, including various alert conditions, with thirty-six younger drivers. In all experiments, drivers learned specific symbols or sounds before driving. They were then tested on their ability to recognize messages immediately (comprehension) and after a 50-second delay (memory). Dependent variables included recognition accuracy, response latency, self-confidence ratings, and measures of vehicle control such as lane position, speed, and crash occurrence. The results indicated that visual messages, whether text or icons, were highly effective for both age groups. Comprehension rates were high (90% for older drivers, 99% for younger drivers), and memory retention remained strong over the 50-second delay, with older drivers showing only a slight 5% loss. In contrast, auditory symbolic messages (earcons) proved unsuitable for older drivers, who failed to learn them despite practice, whereas younger drivers performed well with both earcons and speech. Experiment 5C found that combining visual and auditory modalities did not improve comprehension or memory compared to single-modality presentations; performance remained above 96% across conditions. Crucially, no adverse effects on lateral or longitudinal vehicle control were observed in any experiment. In fact, message presentation sometimes reduced variability in vehicle positioning, suggesting drivers suppressed control actions while processing information. These findings provide critical evidence for the development of human factors guidelines for ATIS and Commercial Vehicle Operations. The study concludes that visual displays are robust and suitable for both younger and older drivers. However, designers should avoid relying on auditory icons for older populations, as they lack the capacity to learn these symbolic sounds. Furthermore, the lack of benefit from multimodal (visual plus auditory) presentations suggests that simpler single-modality designs are sufficient for maintaining high comprehension and safety. The results support the integration of visual text and icons into in-vehicle systems without fear of significant distraction or degradation in driving performance.

Key finding

Visual icons and text messages achieved high comprehension and memory retention for both younger and older drivers, while auditory icons were unsuitable for older drivers.

Methodology

simulator

Sample size: 57

Provenance

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Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.

Topics

Ranked by relevance to this paper. Hover a topic for its definition.

• feedback modes
• auditory
• auditory warnings
• visual
• haptic feedback

Information type

What kind of knowledge this paper contributes, grouped by family — independent of topic (what it is about) and method (how it was studied).

• Applied Guidance: design guidelines
• Empirical Findings: behavioral performance data
• Methodological Resource: validation psychometrics