Vehicle Control and Driving Experience a Psychophysiological Approach

Abstract

An instrumented vehicle was used for real-time recording of drivers physiological characteristics (galvanic skin response, heart rate and muscle activity), steering and braking behavior and vehicle response (speed, distance travelled and triaxial accelerations).

Thirtythree drivers performed test-drives along a 25 km stretch of rural road. Seventeen of the drivers were inexperienced and the rest experienced. Response values of vehicle control variables were similar in both groups, whereas physiological responses displayed large differences. Using multiple regression techniques it is shown that for the inexperienced group, road-traffic situations involving the use of the brake explain most of the variance in the physiological measures. Similarly, the steering response was the most important variable for the experienced group.

GSR seems to be an efficient indicator of the mental effort involved in driving. Control skills develop rapidly whereas the discrepancies in physiological responses indicate the relatively slow development of skills necessary for collecting the relevant information.