The Effects of Secondary Taskon Driving Performance and Subjective Workload

운전시 부작업이 수행도와 심리적 작업부하에 미치는 영향

The effects of secondary task on driving performance and subjective workload were investigated during a simulated driving. The driving performance was determined by the appropriateness of break timing. The driving simulator was provided by the Korea Road Traffic Safety Association. The subjective workload was tested by using a multidimensional measure such as NASA-TLX. Road was categorized into two types: narrow alley and wide street. The secondary task included pushing the number on the cellular phone, pushing radio channel, and conversing with a passenger. Seventeen subjects volunteered in the study. The data were analyzed by using SAS. Results showed that using the cellular phone and pushing channel during driving caused 3∼22% decline of driving performance and 42∼59% increase of subjective workload respectively. These results indicated that the secondary task could be potentially dangerous although there was not a significant performance decrease due to the notable increase of mental workload. In the future, if we can use a more sensitive and realistic driving simulator, the effects of secondary task under a dynamic driving situation can be investigated.