Description/Abstract/Artist Statement

Vigilance decrement is the decline in the ability to monitor and detect behaviorally important signals over time, a phenomenon that can arise even after 30 minutes of watch (Mackworth, 1948). Recently, McCarley & Yamani (2021) found bias shifts, sensitivity losses, and attentional lapses contribute to vigilance decrement, but when each effect is isolated, there was little evidence that sensitivity loss affected vigilance decrement. With the introduction of partially autonomous vehicles, vigilance decrement may be problematic for drivers who must monitor the autonomous system for failures and takeover requests. Thus, this pilot study aims to extend McCarley and Yamani (2021) and test the three mechanisms of vigilance in a realistic partially automated driving task.

Nine participants from Old Dominion University (ODU) underwent random assignment to manual or automated simulated driving conditions. Each included a three-minute practice or 4 five-minute test drives in a high-fidelity simulator. Concurrently, they engaged in an auditory task and discriminated between tones (350 - 650 Hz) and responded to those above 500 Hz by pressing a button.

The manual group demonstrated lower response accuracy and a response bias that was more conservative than the automated driving group. No evidence for vigilance decrement in either group was found. This might reflect that the drivers of the partially automated vehicle can split their limited attention to monitoring of the vehicle and detecting auditory signals. Those in the manual group could have depleted limited attention for the driving task, requiring them to be more cautious in the simultaneous auditory task.

Presenting Author Name/s

Luca Brooks

Faculty Advisor/Mentor

Yusuke Yamani

Faculty Advisor/Mentor Department

Department of Psychology

College Affiliation

College of Sciences

Presentation Type

Oral Presentation

Disciplines

Computer Sciences | Human Factors Psychology

Session Title

College of Sciences 5

Location

Learning Commons @Perry Library, Room 1311

Start Date

3-30-2024 12:00 PM

End Date

3-30-2024 1:00 PM

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Mar 30th, 12:00 PM Mar 30th, 1:00 PM

Auditory Vigilance Decrement in Drivers of a Partially Automated Vehicle: A Pilot Study Using a High-Fidelity Driving Simulator

Learning Commons @Perry Library, Room 1311

Vigilance decrement is the decline in the ability to monitor and detect behaviorally important signals over time, a phenomenon that can arise even after 30 minutes of watch (Mackworth, 1948). Recently, McCarley & Yamani (2021) found bias shifts, sensitivity losses, and attentional lapses contribute to vigilance decrement, but when each effect is isolated, there was little evidence that sensitivity loss affected vigilance decrement. With the introduction of partially autonomous vehicles, vigilance decrement may be problematic for drivers who must monitor the autonomous system for failures and takeover requests. Thus, this pilot study aims to extend McCarley and Yamani (2021) and test the three mechanisms of vigilance in a realistic partially automated driving task.

Nine participants from Old Dominion University (ODU) underwent random assignment to manual or automated simulated driving conditions. Each included a three-minute practice or 4 five-minute test drives in a high-fidelity simulator. Concurrently, they engaged in an auditory task and discriminated between tones (350 - 650 Hz) and responded to those above 500 Hz by pressing a button.

The manual group demonstrated lower response accuracy and a response bias that was more conservative than the automated driving group. No evidence for vigilance decrement in either group was found. This might reflect that the drivers of the partially automated vehicle can split their limited attention to monitoring of the vehicle and detecting auditory signals. Those in the manual group could have depleted limited attention for the driving task, requiring them to be more cautious in the simultaneous auditory task.