Cell phone-induced failures of visual attention during simulated driving.

Full Abstract

This research examined the effects of hands-free cell phone conversations on simulated driving. The authors found that these conversations impaired driver's reactions to vehicles braking in front of them. The authors assessed whether this impairment could be attributed to a withdrawal of attention from the visual scene, yielding a form of inattention blindness. Cell phone conversations impaired explicit recognition memory for roadside billboards. Eye-tracking data indicated that this was due to reduced attention to foveal information. This interpretation was bolstered by data showing that cell phone conversations impaired implicit perceptual memory for items presented at fixation. The data suggest that the impairment of driving performance produced by cell phone conversations is mediated, at least in part, by reduced attention to visual inputs.

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Author information

Author/s: Strayer, David L (DL); Drews, Frank A (FA); Johnston, William A (WA);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Utah, 380 South, 1530 East, Room 502, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, USA. David.Strayer(-atsign-)utah.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Journal of experimental psychology. Applied (J Exp Psychol Appl), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2003-Mar; vol 9 (issue 1) : pp 23-32

Dates: Created 2003/04/24; Completed 2003/05/14; Revised 2004/11/17;

PMID: 12710835, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

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