Shifting attention across near and far spaces: Implications for the use of hands-free cell phones while driving

• Published in: Accident analysis and prevention Vol. 40; no. 6; pp. 1859 - 1864
• Main Authors: Ferlazzo, Fabio, Fagioli, Sabrina, Di Nocera, Francesco, Sdoia, Stefano
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01-11-2008
• Subjects: Adult; Attention; Automobile Driving - psychology; Cell Phone; Cohort Studies; Female; Humans; Male; Man-Machine Systems; Pattern Recognition, Visual; Personal Space; Reaction Time; Road safety; Spatial attention; Spatial representation; Task Performance and Analysis; Young Adult; Road safety; Spatial attention; Cell phone; Spatial representation
• ISSN: 0001-4575; 1879-2057
• DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2008.07.003

In three experiments, participants performed two tasks concurrently during driving. In the peripheral detection task, they responded manually to visual stimuli delivered through a LED placed on the internal rear mirror; in the conversation task, they were engaged in a conversation with a passenger, or through earphone-operated, loudspeaker-operated, or hand-held cell phones. Results showed that drivers were slower at responding to the visual stimuli when conversing through a hand-held cell phone or an earphone-operated cell phone than when conversing through a loudspeaker-operated cell phone or with a passenger. These results suggest that due to the brain coding the space into multiple representations, devices that make phone conversations taking place in the near, personal space make drivers slower at responding to visual stimuli, compared to devices that make the conversation occurring in a far space.