PERCEPTUAL ANALYSIS OF THE DRIVING TASK

THIS PAPER ATTEMPTS TO DEVELOP A UNIFIED AND COMPREHENSIVE MODEL OF THE DRIVING TASK HAVING PRACTICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL VALIDITY. THE MODEL SPECIFIES THE CRITICAL TASKS OF DRIVING, THE CRITICAL SKILLS TO PERFORM THESE TASKS, AND SOME OBJECTIVE MEASURES OF THESE SKILLS. IN THE MODEL, THE MAJOR TASKS FOR THE DRIVER ARE THE PERCEPTUAL ORGANIZATION FROM MOMENT TO MOMENT OF A FIELD OF SAFE TRAVEL /A REGION IN WHICH THE CAR CAN MOVE UNIMPEDED/, A MINIMUM STOPPING ZONE /THE SMALLEST REGION THROUGH WHICH THE CAR MUST MOVE TO COME TO A FULL STOP/, AND A COMPARISON OF THESE TWO FIELDS. THE DRIVERS ORGANIZATION OF THESE TWO FIELDS, OR THE FIELD-ZONE RATIO, IS A CONTROL STIMULUS GUIDING THE CONTROL ACTIONS TO THE VEHICLE. THAT IS, THE DRIVER VARIES THE SPEED AND DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT OF THE VEHICLE TO MAINTAIN A SAFE FIELD-ZONE RATIO-ONE IN WHICH THE FIELD IS GREATER THAN THE ZONE. OBJECTIVE MEASURES OF DRIVING SKILL DERIVED FROM THE MODEL INCLUDE THE SMOOTHNESS OF DRIVING, MEASURED BY SPEED AND DIRECTION CHANGES OVER TIME, I.E., THE DRIVER WHO FROM MOMENT TO MOMENT CORRECTLY PERCEIVES HIS FIELD OF SAFE TRAVEL AND MINIMUM STOPPING ZONE AND MAINTAINS THE FIELD OF SAFE TRAVEL GREATER THAN THE MINIMUM STOPPING ZONE HAS LITTLE OCCASION FOR SUDDEN AND JERKY MOVEMENTS DUE TO CONTINGENCIES THAT COULD HAVE BEEN FORESEEN. EXPERIMENTS ARE DESIGNED TO TEST THE PREDICTIONS DERIVED FROM THE MODEL AND TO FURTHER DEVELOP THE MODEL. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1965/84/84-005.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Schlesinger, Lawrence E
  • Safren, Miriam A
• Publication Date: 1965

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 54-61
• Monograph Title: Road-user characteristics
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 84
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alternatives analysis; Development; Driving; Driving simulators; Labor unions; Mathematical models; Measurement; Motor skills; Organization; Perception; Smoothness; Speed; Stopping; Travel
• Uncontrolled Terms: Models
• Old TRIS Terms: Directional analysis
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00222523
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-006 579
• Files: HSL, TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Dec 12 1994 12:00AM