Skin Conductance Responses of Learner and Licensed Drivers During a Hazard Perception Task.

Theresa J Chirles,Karen E Seymour,Johnathon P Ehsani,Neale Kinnear

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.619104

Abstract

Background: While advanced driver assistance technologies have the potential to increase safety, there is concern that driver inattention resulting from overreliance on these features may result in crashes. Driver monitoring technologies to assess a driver’s state may be one solution. The purpose of this study was to replicate and extend the research on physiological responses to common driving hazards and examine how these may differ based on driving experience.Methods: Learner and Licensed drivers viewed a Driving Hazard Perception Task while electrodermal activity (EDA) was measured. The task presented 30 Event (hazard develops) and 30 Non-Event (routine driving) videos. A skin conductance response (SCR) score was calculated for each participant based on the percentage of videos that elicited an SCR.Results: Analysis of the SCR score during Event videos revealed a medium effect (d = 0.61) of group differences, whereby Licensed drivers were more likely to have an SCR than Learner drivers. Interaction effects revealed Licensed drivers were more likely to have an SCR earlier in the Event videos compared to the end, and the Learner drivers were more likely to have an SCR earlier in the Non-Event videos compared to the end.Conclusion: Our results support the viability of using SCR during driving videos as a marker of hazard anticipation differing based on experience. The interaction effects may illustrate situational awareness in licensed drivers and deficiencies in sustained vigilance among learner drivers. The findings demand further examination if physiological measures are to be validated as a tool to inform driver potential performance in an increasingly automated driving environment.

Highlights

Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) have the potential to drastically reduce vehicle crash injury and death but may be accompanied with possible setbacks
One approach to addressing this problem is to augment safety by monitoring driver state by using physiological measurements (Balters and Steinert, 2017; Lohani et al, 2019), but a model to understand the complexity of the relationship between physiological measures, individual driver cognitive state, and the implications for driving behavior and performance is far from complete (Balters and Steinert, 2017)
Tonic skin conductance levels and phasic skin conductance responses (SCR), are elements of electrodermal activity (EDA) that have long been used in the driving literature to measure workload, risk of accident (Hulbert, 1957; Taylor, 1964; Helander, 1978), as well as levels of stress and tension (Michaels, 1960; Healey and Picard, 2005)

Summary

Introduction

Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) have the potential to drastically reduce vehicle crash injury and death but may be accompanied with possible setbacks. One psychophysiological measure of autonomic arousal utilized to monitor driver state is electrodermal activity (EDA). Tonic skin conductance levels and phasic skin conductance responses (SCR), are elements of EDA that have long been used in the driving literature to measure workload, risk of accident (Hulbert, 1957; Taylor, 1964; Helander, 1978), as well as levels of stress and tension (Michaels, 1960; Healey and Picard, 2005). If driver state monitoring is to become a successful intervention to facilitate the safe interplay of driver assistance technology and driver manual takeover, psychophysiological monitoring models must incorporate cognitive states and how individual responses may vary based on experience (Collet and Musicant, 2019) and the acquisition of critical driving skills. The purpose of this study was to replicate and extend the research on physiological responses to common driving hazards and examine how these may differ based on driving experience

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