I've got to quit doing a very fast scan of the stuff and read more carefully.
My own dissertation work somewhat mirrored what the cell phone experimental data showed. I had people perform a vigilance task (press a space bar whenever an X appeared on the screen but only when it followed an E) under 3 different conditions - white noise, listening to a very absorbing story or listening to a very boring lecture on accounting practices. There were also other conditions but they don't apply here. Unfortunately I had to discard part of the data - part of my sample were taking intro to accounting that semester, and thoroughly skewed (and screwed the results). I ended up having to run these studies for another two semesters, and made sure that the boring lecture did not cover any class related material. In essence the more attentional resources people devoted for tasks other than the vigilance task (analogous to driving in this case) the worse their performance. Not only in terms of reaction time, but also in terms of errors - pressing the space bar when the X did not follow the E, but some other letter. Translating those results to driving - the more distracted the person becomes the slower their reaction time and the more likely they are to make some driving related errors. larry On 3/13/06, Ian Skinner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > OK then why the extensive experimental results that show othersie.. I trust > the research done by cognitive and applied experimental psychologists far > more than a couple of TV personalities. > > On 3/13/06, Ian Skinner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > It probably doesn't count as a very serious study, but the show > > "MythBusters" on the Discovery Channel did a segment on this topic. > > Ummm.... Unless I am confusing the posts you have provided, Larry; or that > you are disagreeing with the material you are citing. The show's results > seem to concur with the extensive experimental results by cognitive and > applied experimental psychologists. > > I just posted the popular culture instance since it was filmed and broadcast > nationally showing just how bad a sample size of two people preformed with > cell phones and difficult driving tasks. > > Sorry, I'll stop agreeing with the experts now. > > -------------- > Ian Skinner > Web Programmer > BloodSource > www.BloodSource.org > Sacramento, CA > > --------- > | 1 | | > --------- Binary Soduko > | | | > --------- > > "C code. C code run. Run code run. Please!" > - Cynthia Dunning > > Confidentiality Notice: This message including any > attachments is for the sole use of the intended > recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged > information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or > distribution is prohibited. If you are not the > intended recipient, please contact the sender and > delete any copies of this message. > > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:199867 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
