Over the last several years, there are
many people who have started using cell phones as their main form of telephone
communication with others. Unfortunately, this has also caused an increase in
people who choose to use these devices while driving and/or operating a
vehicle. Since, this rise in mobile use has occurred there has also been an
increase in traffic fatalities, property damage, and injuries due to this new
growing distraction.
With
this new growing trend, researchers have decided to study or identify how lack
of proper cognitive ability may cause safety issues when trying to
simultaneously perform both driving tasks and talking on the phone. The results
of some studies do indicate that cognitive ability is negatively affected in
several ways and this is why so many people may be experiencing traffic
accidents while performing these tasks at the same time. This is because when
an individual is driving, they may not be able to mentally carry out multiple
tasks that involve talking or texting on a phone at the same time. This is due
to a divide in attention which can then cause a delayed reaction when
attempting to complete certain driving tasks. One other issue that may affect
cognitive ability or focus while driving is when talking to a person that is
riding in the car. This is because there may be a certain level of distraction
involved during the overall conversation. Since, these issues and/or concerns
may exist within our present society this paper will further address how divided
attention may affect cognitive ability while driving, possible differences in cognitive ability when
using a hand held or hands free device, any possible differences in talking on a phone and talking to a passenger while driving, along
with, what
cognitive demands are also required when text-messaging while driving.
How does divided attention affect cognitive ability while driving?
According to (Anderson. 2010), a study by the Harvard Center for Risk
Analysis estimates that cell phone distraction results in 2,600 deaths, 330,000
injuries, and 1.5 million instances of property damage in the United States
each year” (p.85). This is because individuals may experience divided attention
in cognitive ability reaction time, when attempting to process and carry out
multiple tasks while driving. The reason that this lack in cognitive ability
occurs is due to a cognitive filtering process known as serial bottlenecks. This
is the point when all incoming information may no
longer be processed at the same time because it interferes with the procession
of an individual stimuli and/or message. Therefore, when driving a person may
need to carry out various tasks but will only be able to focus or filter attention
on one particular task and/or stimuli at a time. This would also support
Treisman’s Attenuation Theory which believes that individuals process multiple stimuli or messages while
being filtered through the unattended channel based on word importance of the stimuli.
This process is also known as the threshold effect. Stimuli with a low
threshold are more likely to be filtered into one’s conscious awareness, while
stimuli with a high threshold are more likely to get filtered out by one’s
conscious awareness. Since, this is the case there may also be a decrease of focused
attention on important stimuli and an increase in focused attention on stimuli
that is more familiar or pleasant to the individual. Therefore, when this
occurs, the individual may be more likely to miss or (filter out) certain
environmental stimuli like traffic lights that have turned red or exits that
are supposed to be taken. Since, this is
the case, many accidents can occur simply because certain environmental stimuli
has been filtered out versus being filtered in the way it should to accomplish safe
driving.
Are there differences in cognitive
ability when using a hand held or hands free device?
Although,
research has confirmed that serial bottlenecks affect one’s ability to
successfully carry out the tasks of talking on a phone and driving, some people
question if using a hands free phone device may be safer. This is because many
assume that an individual may be able to focus better attention on all of the
environmental stimuli that is required to drive safely, while talking to a
hands free phone device that doesn’t require physical contact. Although, many
believe this to be true, research has shown that there is no difference in the
level of divided attention that occurs during this process. One particular
study was conducted by the University of Utah which included an analysis
of cell phone records that were acquired from 699 drivers who had been in car
accidents. According to (Marinova. 2001), the results indicated that the risk
of getting in to an accident when talking on a cell phone had increased by four
times and that “a hands free cell phone did not seem to reduce the risk of an
accident, compared to a hand held phone” (p.7). This is because the drivers
where distracted due to certain stimuli and had filtered out the type that could
have prevented an accident from occurring. Since, this is the case, many
researchers believe that when talking on a hand held phone or a hand’s free
phone, there will still be serial bottlenecks that occur and therefore,
cognitive ability to complete these mental processes simultaneously have a
greater chance of being unsuccessfully
completed.
Is there a difference between
talking on a phone and talking to a passenger while driving?
Although, there is a significant lack in
cognitive ability when trying to focus attention on driving and talking on a
cell phone, some may wonder if this improves when only talking to a passenger
that is riding in the car. This is because many may believe that simply having
a conversation with someone in the car is safer and less distracting then
talking on a hand held or hands free phone device. However, research has
indicated that there may be no difference when trying to accomplish this type
of cognitive multi-tasking when driving. According to (Horrey & Wickens.
2004), a meta-analytical study was conducted to determine if
lack of focus and performance may be different among hands on and hands free
cell phone use and conversations that take place with a passenger in the car.
This included sixteen studies and results were
acquired after closer analysis of 37 total entries. These results indicated that overall
“driving performance were roughly equivalent whether the
conversation was with a passenger or whether over a cell phone” (p.1). This is
because certain distractions were present in all of these situations. Therefore,
the conclusion is that a lack of cognitive attention and focus can be affected
no matter which of these tasks are being performed while driving.
What additional task demands are
required when text-messaging while driving?
After learning that communication via a hand
held phone, hands free phone, and with passengers can cause issues with focused
attention, one other aspect that must be considered is how texting may affect
cognitive ability while driving. This is because performing the action of
texting may also require other aspects of one’s focused attention or cognitive
ability. One major thing that must be done is that the driver will need to
physically type when carrying on a conversation with others. When the person
chooses to complete this physical action, most of the time, he or she will need
to look at the phone screen in order to properly type a message. While, a
second major issue is that the driver will need to look at the phone screen to
read any incoming messages in order to reply. Since, this is the case, the
individuals attention will most likely be directed
toward typing or reading versus environmental stimuli that is occurring outside
of that action. This can also cause several accidents because important stimuli
may be focused out during the minutes or seconds that it takes to focus on
stimuli associated with texting or reading. Since this is the case, completing
these additional demands in attention has quickly become another major cause of
accidents and fatalities among drivers.
Summary
Over the last few years, a dramatic
increase in cell phone use has occurred within our society. Unfortunately, this
has also caused an increase in people who regularly use this device while
driving. Since this is occurring, there has also been a dramatic increase in traffic
fatalities and other injuries which are directly related to performing this
action. In order to address this growing need, researchers have also been
studying how lack of proper cognitive ability may cause safety issues when
trying to simultaneously perform both driving tasks and talking on the phone.
The results of these studies indicate that cognitive ability is negatively
affected because when an individual is driving, they may experience delayed
reaction time due to a divide in attention and/or focus on more crucial stimuli.
This is also true when an individual chooses to use a hand held phone versus
that of a hands free device, when talking to a person that is riding in the car,
and when texting on a mobile device. Since, these issues are a growing concern
within our society, I also chose to further address how divided attention can
specifically affect cognitive ability and/or focus when; using a hand held device,
hands free device, talking to a passenger, and text-messaging while driving. This
issue is also extremely important because if more people learn that a lack of
proper attention and focus affect driving, then less may be killed or injured.
References:
Horrey, J. W. Wickens, D. C. (2044). The impact of cell phone conversations on driving: A Meta-Analytic Approach. Retrieved on October 7 2012 via the World Wide Web at http://www.humanfactors.illinois.edu/Reports&PapersPDFs/TechReport/04-02.pdf
Anderson, R. J. (2010). Cognitive psychology and its implications (7th Edition). Worth Publishers. New York, NY.
Marinova, M. (2001). Testing driver cognitive distraction caused by cell phone use. Retrieved on October 6 2012 via the World Wide Web at http://web.mit.edu/16.62X/www/Marinova_Margarita_621.pdf
