Psychological Fidelity: Perception of Risk

High-fidelity driving simulators provide a realistic and compelling experience for research participants. However, the credibility of research results from simulator studies continues to be challenged. The fidelity of the driving experience appears insufficient to overcome criticisms concerning the lack of psychological fidelity, defined as the extent to which the risks and rewards of participation in the experiment correspond to real-world risks and rewards. Experimental studies eliminate the injury risk associated with driving. They also typically eliminate the trip purpose, which influences all components of real-world driving. Unfortunately, researchers typically give little consideration to this problem, often instructing participants to drive as they normally would. In the absence of a well-defined driving context, such instructions can be confusing to some participants. Well-designed driving simulator experiments eliminate confusion about driving motives by creating constrained situations to elicit specific behaviors. Researchers must identify the driving components that have been eliminated by the simulation and attempt to replace them through the use of instructions and performance incentives. Instructions define the performance space and driving task components; incentives define the relative priorities associated with the task components. The effects of incentives on performance are determined by some combination of (1) the nature of the incentive; (2) task characteristics; (3) aspects of performance selected for measurement; and (4) individual differences. Incentives are likely to improve certain aspects of performance, while degrading others at the same time, implying that care must be taken in matching incentives to performance measures. Reward/penalty schemes are used to incorporate performance incentives into driving simulator studies. Practical issues associated with their use include: simulating the effects of significant negative outcomes (i.e., crashes); multiple crashes; effects of incentives over time; assessment of reward/penalty systems; and non-independence of performance measures. Detailed examples of the use of reward/penalty systems are presented. Problems of psychological fidelity apply to all platforms. Improving psychological fidelity eliminates unwanted variability due to individual differences in driving, which result from uncertainty about the experimenter’s priorities.

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• Corporate Authors:

  CRC Press

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  Boca Raton, FL  United States  33487
• Authors:
  • Ranney, Thomas A
• Publication Date: 2011

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 9-1 – 9-13
• Monograph Title: Handbook of Driving Simulation for Engineering, Medicine and Psychology

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash injuries; Crash risk forecasting; Driving; Driving simulators; Incentives; Psychology; Risk assessment; Traffic crashes
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01351651
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 9781420061000
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 14 2011 11:12AM