Monotonous driving induces shifts in spatial attention as a function of handedness

AbstractCurrent evidence suggests that the ability to detect and react to information under lowered alertness conditions might be more impaired on the left than the right side of space. This evidence derives mainly from right-handers being assessed in computer and paper-and-pencil spatial attention tasks. However, there are suggestions that left-handers might show impairments on the opposite (right) side compared to right-handers with lowered alertness, and it is unclear whether the impairments observed in the computer tasks have any real-world implications for activities such as driving. The current study investigated the alertness and spatial attention relationship under simulated monotonous driving in left- and right-handers. Twenty left-handed and 22 right-handed participants (15 males, mean age = 23.6 years, SD = 5.0 years) were assessed on a simulated driving task (lasting approximately 60 min) to induce a time-on-task effect. The driving task involved responding to stimuli appearing at six different horizontal locations on the screen, whilst driving in a 50 km/h zone. Decreases in alertness and driving performance were evident with time-on-task in both handedness groups. We found handedness impacts reacting to lateral stimuli differently with time-on-task: right-handers reacted slower to the leftmost stimuli, while left-handers showed the opposite pattern (although not statistically significant) in the second compared to first half of the drive. Our findings support suggestions that handedness modulates the spatial attention and alertness interactions. The interactions were observed in a simulated driving task which calls for further research to understand the safety implications of these interactions for activities such as driving.

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Monotonous driving induces shifts in spatial attention as a function of handedness

10.31234/osf.io/83stw ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Dilushi Chandrakumar ◽

Scott Coussens ◽

Hannah AD Keage ◽

Siobhan Banks ◽

Jill Dorrian ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Spatial Attention ◽

Current Evidence ◽

Time On Task ◽

Opposite Pattern ◽

Simulated Driving ◽

Attention Tasks ◽

Task Effect ◽

Driving Task ◽

The Right ◽

Simulated Driving Task

Current evidence suggests that the ability to detect and react to information under lowered alertness conditions might be more impaired on the left than the right side of space. This evidence derives mainly from right-handers being assessed in computer and paper-and-pencil spatial attention tasks. However, there are suggestions that left-handers might show impairments on the opposite (right) side compared to right-handers with lowered alertness, and it is unclear whether the impairments observed in the computer tasks have any real-world implications for activities such as driving. The current study investigated the alertness and spatial attention relationship under simulated monotonous driving in left- and right-handers. Twenty left-handed and 22 right-handed participants (15 males, mean age=23.6y, SD=5.0y) were assessed on a simulated driving task (lasting approximately 60 minutes) to induce a time-on-task effect. The driving task involved responding to stimuli appearing at six different horizontal locations on the screen, whilst driving in a 50km/h zone. Decreases in alertness and driving performance were evident with time-on-task in both handedness groups. We found handedness impacts reacting to lateral stimuli differently with time-on-task: right-handers reacted slower to the leftmost stimuli, while left-handers showed the opposite pattern (although not statistically significant) in the second compared to first half of the drive. Our findings support suggestions that handedness modulates the spatial attention and alertness interactions. The interactions were observed in a simulated driving task which calls for further research to understand the safety implications of these interactions for activities such as driving.

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Speech Shadowing While Driving

Psychological Science ◽

10.1111/1467-9280.02439 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 14 (3) ◽

pp. 251-256 ◽

Cited By ~ 58

Author(s):

Charles Spence ◽

Liliana Read

Keyword(s):

Spatial Attention ◽

User Interfaces ◽

Dual Task ◽

Spatial Location ◽

Auditory Information ◽

Simulated Driving ◽

Driving Task ◽

Task Conditions ◽

Simulated Driving Task ◽

Speech Shadowing

We investigated the role of cross-modal links in spatial attention in modulating the efficiency of dual-task performance. The difficulty of combining speech shadowing with a simulated driving task was modulated by the spatial location from which the speech was presented. In both single- and dual-task conditions, participants found it significantly easier to shadow one of two auditory streams when the relevant speech was presented from directly in front of them, rather than from the side. This frontal speech advantage was more pronounced when participants performed the demanding simulated driving task at the same time as shadowing than when they performed the shadowing task alone. These results demonstrate that people process auditory information more efficiently (with a lower overall dual-task decrement) when relevant auditory and visual stimuli are presented from the same, rather than different, spatial locations. These results are related to recent findings showing that there are extensive cross-modal links in spatial attention, and have clear implications for the design of better user interfaces.

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