Situational Awareness, Driver’s Trust in Automated Driving Systems and Secondary Task Performance

In automated driving, the user interface plays an essential role in guiding transitions between automated and manual driving. This literature review identified 25 studies that explicitly studied the effectiveness of user interfaces in automated driving. Our main selection criterion was how the user interface (UI) affected take-over performance in higher automation levels allowing drivers to take their eyes off the road (SAE3 and SAE4). We categorized user interface (UI) factors from an automated vehicle-related information perspective. Short take-over times are consistently associated with take-over requests (TORs) initiated by the auditory modality with high urgency levels. On the other hand, take-over requests directly displayed on non-driving-related task devices and augmented reality do not affect take-over time. Additional explanations of take-over situation, surrounding and vehicle information while driving, and take-over guiding information were found to improve situational awareness. Hence, we conclude that advanced user interfaces can enhance the safety and acceptance of automated driving. Most studies showed positive effects of advanced UI, but a number of studies showed no significant benefits, and a few studies showed negative effects of advanced UI, which may be associated with information overload. The occurrence of positive and negative results of similar UI concepts in different studies highlights the need for systematic UI testing across driving conditions and driver characteristics. Our findings propose future UI studies of automated vehicle focusing on trust calibration and enhancing situation awareness in various scenarios.

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The Effects of Practice on Navigation Performance and Mental Workload with a Mirror-In-The-Sky Map

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/1071181321651060 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 65 (1) ◽

pp. 1546-1550

Author(s):

Holland M. Vasquez ◽

Justin G. Hollands ◽

Greg A. Jamieson

Keyword(s):

Task Performance ◽

Secondary Task ◽

Mental Workload ◽

Task Completion ◽

Practice Performance ◽

Global Ratings ◽

Detection Response ◽

Nasa Tlx ◽

Response Task ◽

Completion Times

Some previous research using a new augmented reality map display called Mirror-in-the-Sky (MitS) showed that performance was worse and mental workload (MWL) greater with MitS relative to a track-up map for navigation and wayfinding tasks. The purpose of the current study was to determine—for both MitS and track-up map—how much performance improves and MWL decreases with practice in a simple navigation task. We conducted a three-session experiment in which twenty participants completed a route following task in a virtual environment. Task completion times and collisions decreased, subjective MWL decreased, and secondary task performance improved with practice. The NASA-TLX Global ratings and Detection Response Task Hit Rates showed a larger decrease in MWL with MitS than the track-up map. Additionally, means for performance and workload measures showed that differences between the MitS and track-up map decreased in the first session. In later sessions the differences between the MitS and track-up map were negligible. As such, with practice performance and MWL may be comparable to a traditional track-up map.

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Secondary task performance during directed forgetting.

Journal of Experimental Psychology ◽

10.1037/h0037378 ◽

1974 ◽

Vol 103 (6) ◽

pp. 1074-1079 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

David W. Martin ◽

Richard T. Kelly

Keyword(s):

Task Performance ◽

Secondary Task ◽

Directed Forgetting

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Does Secondary Task Measure Outcome Conflict or Resource Allocation?

Proceedings of the Human Factors Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/154193129203601808 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 36 (18) ◽

pp. 1398-1402

Author(s):

Pamela S. Tsang ◽

Tonya L. Shaner

Keyword(s):

Resource Allocation ◽

Task Performance ◽

Dual Task ◽

Secondary Task ◽

Tracking Error ◽

Memory Task ◽

Primary Task ◽

Memory Probe ◽

Temporal Predictability ◽

Task Measure

The secondary task technique was used to test two alternative explanations of dual task decrement: outcome conflict and resource allocation. Subjects time-shared a continuous tracking task and a discrete Sternberg memory task. The memory probes were presented under three temporal predictability conditions. Dual task performance decrements in both the tracking and memory tasks suggested that the two tasks competed for some common resources, processes, or mechanisms. Although performance decrements were consistent with both the outcome conflict and resource allocation explanations, the two explanations propose different mechanisms by which the primary task could be protected from interference from the concurrent secondary task. The primary task performance could be protected by resource allocation or by strategic sequencing of the processing of the two tasks in order to avoid outcome conflict. In addition to examining the global trial means, moment-by-moment tracking error time-locked to the memory probe was also analyzed. There was little indication that the primary task was protected by resequencing of the processing of the two tasks. This together with the suggestion that predictable memory probes led to better protected primary task performance than less predictable memory probes lend support for the resource explanation.

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Comparison of Primary and Secondary Task Measures as a Function of Simulated Vehicle Dynamics and Driving Conditions

Human Factors The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society ◽

10.1177/001872087802000211 ◽

1978 ◽

Vol 20 (2) ◽

pp. 233-244 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

Walter W. Wierwille ◽

James C. Gutmann

Keyword(s):

Task Performance ◽

Vehicle Dynamics ◽

Secondary Task ◽

Driving Simulator ◽

Driving Performance ◽

Independent Variables ◽

Moving Base ◽

High Workload ◽

Driving Task ◽

Task Measure

In a previously reported experiment involving a moving base driving simulator with computer-generated display, secondary task measures of workload showed significant increases as a function of large changes in vehicle dynamics and disturbance levels. Because the secondary task measures appeared less sensitive than desired, driving performance measures recorded during the same experiment were later analyzed. Particular emphasis in examining the driving performance data was placed on (1) determining the degree of intrusion of the secondary task on the driving task as a function of the independent variables, and (2) on comparing the sensitivity of the primary and secondary task measures. The results showed the secondary task does intrude significantly upon the driving task performance at low workload levels, but that it does not significantly intrude at high workload levels. Also, when the four primary task measures were analyzed for sensitivity to the independent variables, new information was obtained indicating greater sensitivity than is obtained with the single secondary task measure. Steering ratio, for example, is found to affect performance at high disturbance levels—a result not obtained in examining the secondary task by itself. The merits of primary and secondary task performance analysis are discussed, and suggestions are made for future work.

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The effect of a secondary task on drivers’ gap acceptance and situational awareness at junctions

Ergonomics ◽

10.1080/00140139.2020.1822548 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-15

Author(s):

Chloe J. Robbins ◽

James Rogers ◽

Sophie Walton ◽

Harriet A. Allen ◽

Peter Chapman

Keyword(s):

Secondary Task ◽

Situational Awareness ◽

Gap Acceptance

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Influence of Driving Experience on Distraction Engagement in Automated Vehicles

Transportation Research Record Journal of the Transportation Research Board ◽

10.1177/0361198119843476 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 2673 (9) ◽

pp. 142-151 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Dengbo He ◽

Birsen Donmez

Keyword(s):

Secondary Task ◽

Driving Simulator ◽

Phase 1 ◽

Task Engagement ◽

Automated Vehicles ◽

Automated Driving ◽

Novice Drivers ◽

Driving Experience ◽

Driving Skill ◽

The Difference

State-of-the-art vehicle automation requires drivers to visually monitor the driving environment and the automation (through interfaces and vehicle’s actions) and intervene when necessary. However, as evidenced by recent automated vehicle crashes and laboratory studies, drivers are not always able to step in when the automation fails. Research points to the increase in distraction or secondary-task engagement in the presence of automation as a potential reason. However, previous research on secondary-task engagement in automated vehicles mainly focused on experienced drivers. This issue may be amplified for novice drivers with less driving skill. In this paper, we compared secondary-task engagement behaviors of novice and experienced drivers both in manual (non-automated) and automated driving settings in a driving simulator. A self-paced visual-manual secondary task presented on an in-vehicle display was utilized. Phase 1 of the study included 32 drivers (16 novice) who drove the simulator manually. In Phase 2, another set of 32 drivers (16 novice) drove with SAE-level-2 automation. In manual driving, there were no differences between novice and experienced drivers’ rate of manual interactions with the secondary task (i.e., taps on the display). However, with automation, novice drivers had a higher manual interaction rate with the task than experienced drivers. Further, experienced drivers had shorter average glance durations toward the task than novice drivers in general, but the difference was larger with automation compared with manual driving. It appears that with automation, experienced drivers are more conservative in their secondary-task engagement behaviors compared with novice drivers.

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