Citation

Ferlazzo F, Fagioli S, Di Nocera F, Sdoia S. Accid. Anal. Prev. 2008; 40(6): 1859-1864.

Affiliation

Cognitive Ergonomics Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Rome"La Sapienza", via dei Marsi 78, 00185 Rome, Italy; Interuniversity Center for Road Safety Research, via dei Marsi 78, 00185 Rome, Italy.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.aap.2008.07.003

PMID

19068287

Abstract

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.

Language: en