Evaluating the Impact of Processing Spoken Words on Driving

The potential impact on driving of the processing of a single, auditorily presented word is analyzed in this work. Because driving is a complex cognitive activity that involves the integration and coordination of multiple subprocesses, the authors narrowed the scope of the research to concentrate on one critical task involved in driving: driver braking response. If two tasks have to be performed concurrently and both of them require access to a capacity-limited system, then performance in one or both of the tasks will dramatically worsen because the two processes will compete for access to cognitive resources. It has been shown that both word recognition and driving require central resources; therefore, these tasks are likely to interfere with each other. In the experiments, participants were required to perform two tasks during simulated driving. In the word recognition task, participants had to categorize auditorily presented words. In the braking task, participants depressed a brake pedal in response to the lead car's brake lights. The interval of time between the onset of the tasks’ stimuli was varied. Braking responses were substantially slower as the overlap between tasks increased. This finding demonstrates that the processing of a single word hinders driving performance. The experiments carried out have significant implications in the field of road safety. Many situations, such as cell phone ringing, cell phone conversations, auditory tips from navigation systems, and auditory alerts from driver warning systems, are similar to those studied. The experiments suggest that all these situations can negatively affect a driver's response time, increasing the likelihood of near misses and accidents.