Sensitivity Evaluation of the Visual, Tactile, and Auditory Detection Response Task Method while Driving.

CONCLUSIONS: None of the three methods of presenting DRT stimuli showed a consistent advantage in sensitivity in differentiating multiple levels of cognitive load if all response time, hit rate, and secondary task performance are considered. If only response time is considered, the visual presentation of the DRT stimulus used in this study showed some advantages. In interpreting this data, it should be noted that the methods of DRT stimulus presentation varied somewhat from currently proposed draft ISO standard and it is possible that the relative salience level of the visual DRT stimulus influenced the findings. It is further suggested that more than two levels of difficulty of the n-back task should be considered for further investigation of the relative sensitivity of different DRT stimuli modalities. Parameters that indicate change in cognitive load (response time, hit rate, task performance) should be analysed together in assessing the overall impact on the driver and not individually, in order to get a fuller insight of the assessed cognitive load. PMID: 27588336 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Traffic Injury Prevention - Category: Accident Prevention Authors: Tags: Traffic Inj Prev Source Type: research