Effects of alert sound presence on obstacle detection under the mentally loaded situation

摘要

Some prior studies have shown that increment of the mental workload cause reductions in the eye scanning range and frequency while driving. The present study investigated the effects of alert sound presentation on obstacle detection while in the mentally loaded situation by means of a driving simulator. A vehicle on collision course was used as an obstacle, and two conditions, with-alert and without-alert, were installed in the experiment. In the with-alert condition, a simple electronic sound was presented three seconds before the subjects reached an intersection. Ten subjects were asked to drive a simulator while performing a mental arithmetic task that induced a mentally loaded situation. Reaction time of obstacle vehicle detection and lateral head rotation angle were measured. It was found that alert sound presentation had a positive effect on preventing late detection. This effect was evident especially for subjects who showed less head checking behavior while driving. The alert sound presentation activated spontaneous visual search behavior accompanied by lateral head rotation.