Divided Attention with Automatic Processing in Automobiles

“Five seconds is the average time your eyes are off the road while texting. When traveling at 55mph, that’s enough time to cover the length of a football field blindfolded” (2009, VTTI).

Driving has become an automatic process for most of us who drive therefore many drivers will divide their attention to a few tasks at the same time while driving. Most drivers are confident in their dual task abilities because they believe they can successfully use divided attention in the car because they have been driving for years and have a lot of practice in different driving situations. “The theory of automaticity proposed by William James suggests multiple processes can go on simultaneously, when they are habitual, involving minimal conscious control” (Iqbal, 17).

Both driving and cell phone use are automatic processes that have become habitual in the everyday lives of many. Combined and they can cause the driver to become distracted and take the drivers attention away from the road. “The cognitive, visual, and physical demands of such task can compromise the primary task of driving” (Iqbal, 18). Specifically, cell phone use while driving can increase the likelihood of missed lights, slower reaction time (RT) in applying breaks, and collisions.

There are many research experiments that investigate and measure divided attention among drivers and their driving performance under secondary tasks such as cell phone use. For example, both Strayer and Johnson had experimented and found that when drivers where talking on the phone they missed more lights (approx. .07) compared to drivers who weren’t on the phone (approx. 03). RT in applying brakes was also slower if a driver was on the phone than drivers who were not on the phone. Consequently I found this to be true in my own experience. One night my girlfriend Kenisha was driving me home from another friend’s house after doing her hair. Kenisha was talking on the phone with her mother who likes to call her every five minutes. While Kenisha was on the intense phone call with her mom she ran a stop sign. It was after midnight, no one was hurt but we had consequently got stopped by a male police officer. The officer let us girls off the hook and we continued with heightened awareness.

Cell phone use while driving can also increase the risk of collisions. In a survey of cell phone use and accidents “the risk of a collision was four times higher when using a cell phone than when a cell phone was not being used “(Redelmeier & Tibshirani, 1997). I also found this to be true in my own experience. One day when I was driving in rush hour traffic I got side swiped by another driver who was on her phone and not paying any attention to the road. She side swiped me on the side of my car at my blind spot so unfortunately I couldn’t see the collision coming.

The above experiments along with my own experiences has proven than driving and using a cell phone device can’t be done simultaneously. Divided attention among driving and cell phone use doesn’t have equal distribution of attention with both task therefore increasing the likelihood of missed lights, slower RT with breaking, and collisions. As a result of the increased dangers there have been movements that seek to eliminate cell phone use while driving. Two that I am familiar with is ATT’s screen protector that comes on each new phone you buy that says “don’t text and drive”, another is Oprah’s famous no texting while driving pledge.

Works Cited

Goldstein, Bruce. “Introduction to Cognitive Psychology.” Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research, and Everyday Experience. Third Edition. Belmont, CA 94002-3098: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2011. Page 94. Print.

Iqbal, S., Ju, Y., & Horvitz, E. (2010). Cars, calls, and cognition: Investigating driving and divided attention. Paper presented at the 1281-1290. doi:10.1145/1753326.1753518

Opening Quote taken from http://www.distraction.gov/content/get-the-facts/facts-and-statistics.html