Effect of Working Memory Capacity on Vehicle Following Under Auditory and Verbal Cognitive Load
Auditory and verbal cognitive load is the main source of cognitive distraction for drivers,which easily leads to the decline of driving performance.The influence of cognitive load on driving performance is related to working memory.This paper conducted a psychological and simulated driving experiment to investigate the effect of working memory capacity on driving performance of car following under auditory-verbal cognitive load.First,auditory-verbal n-back tasks with different cognitive load levels were defined for the driving scenarios with changes in headway time distance and speed changes of the front vehicle.Then,the data were collected on working memory capacity,driver's operating behaviors and vehicle operating status.The data on 36 drivers were obtained by selecting the following speed difference,absolute acceleration,lateral stability,braking reaction time,and following distance as the analysis indexes.Then,the Analysis of variance(ANOVA)and post hoc comparisons were used to analyze the effects of cognitive load and working memory capacity on driving performance for car following,and to explore their interactive and moderating effects on driving performance.The results showed that increased cognitive load resulted in greater tendency to accelerate and decelerate and longer braking reaction time of drivers.Drivers with higher working memory capacity had smaller braking reaction times and more stable following distance,more frequent directional corrections,and better levels of lane keeping;auditory-verbal cognitive load had a moderating role in working memory capacity and braking reaction times.This study may provide insights into driver cognitive characteristics for driver safety training.
万方数据
维普
