Department of Psychology, MacKinnon Building, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ont., Canada, N1G 2W1.
Accid Anal Prev. 2010 Nov;42(6):1661-71. doi: 10.1016/j.aap.2010.04.005. Epub 2010 May 15.
Research on how older drivers react to natural challenges in the driving environment is relevant for both the research on mental workload and that on age-related compensation. Older adults (M age=70.8 years) were tested in a driving simulator to assess the impact of three driving challenges: a visibility challenge (clear day, fog), a traffic density challenge (low density, high density) and a navigational challenge (participants followed the road to arrive at their destination, participants had to use signs and landmarks). The three challenge manipulations induced different compensatory speed adjustments. This complicated interpretation of the other measures of driving performance. As a result, speed adjustment indices were calculated for each condition and participant and composite measures of performance were created to correct for speed compensation. (These speed adjustment indices correlated with vision test scores and subscales of the Useful Field of View.) When the composite measures of driving performance were analyzed, visibility x density x navigational challenge interactions emerged for hazard RT and SD of lane position. Effects were synergistic: the impact of the interaction of challenge variables was greater than the sum of independent effects. The directions of the effects varied depending on the performance measure in question though. For hazard RT, the combined effects of high-density traffic and navigational challenge were more deleterious in good visibility conditions than in fog. For or SD of lane position, the opposite pattern emerged: combined effects of high-density traffic and navigational challenge were more deleterious in fog than in clear weather. This suggests different aspects of driving performance tap different resources.
研究老年驾驶员在驾驶环境中对自然挑战的反应，既与心理工作量研究有关，也与与年龄相关的补偿研究有关。在驾驶模拟器中对老年驾驶员（M 年龄=70.8 岁）进行了测试，以评估三种驾驶挑战的影响：能见度挑战（晴天、雾天）、交通密度挑战（低密度、高密度）和导航挑战（参与者根据路标到达目的地，参与者必须使用路标和地标）。这三种挑战操作引起了不同的补偿速度调整。这使得对驾驶性能的其他测量结果的解释变得复杂。因此，为每个条件和参与者计算了速度调整指数，并创建了性能的综合衡量指标，以校正速度补偿。（这些速度调整指数与视力测试分数和有用视野的子量表相关。）当分析驾驶性能的综合衡量指标时，出现了可见度 x 密度 x 导航挑战的交互作用，影响了危险反应时间和车道位置标准差。效应是协同的：挑战变量相互作用的影响大于独立效应的总和。然而，效应的方向取决于所讨论的性能衡量标准。对于危险反应时间，在高交通密度和导航挑战的综合影响下，在良好的能见度条件下比在雾天中更具危害性。对于车道位置的标准差，出现了相反的模式：在高交通密度和导航挑战的综合影响下，在雾天中比在晴天中更具危害性。这表明驾驶性能的不同方面涉及不同的资源。
