I wouldn't even say its the conversation per se but the attention it removes from everything else. That's why I am not looking forward to more user controllable computer systems in cars. Its going to make the problem even worse.
In my dissertation one of the conditions I tested was whether the person's tendency to become very much involved in (or absorbed) an event (for a definition see http://www.lyonsmorris.com/absstudy/intro1.htm) has a significant impact on vigilance performance. The dependent task was watching a computer screen displaying a series of letters and numbers. The participants responded by hitting the space bar whenever they saw the letter A followed by an X. The distractor condition was listing to a very boring lecture (on cost accounting procedures) , a passage from a very involving fantasy novel (Piers Anthony's Ogre Ogre) or white noise. The Distraction condition had a significant impact on vigilance peformance, with the boring lecture and white noise not shoing any difference, while the reading from the novel resulted in far more errors, longer response times, and far more missed targets. We also found an interesting interaction when looking at these results and relating to the Absorption scale. There was a very strong relationship between Absorption scores and vigilance performance under these 3 conditions. While the white noise results did not change much, and the boring lecture showed an increase in errors, the results with the involving passage wee even more exaggerated. The Absorption scores were very storngly associated with even more errors, longer response times etc. All of which suggest to me that cell phone use in cars by the driver should be banned. larry At 07:14 AM 6/5/2003 -0700, Ian Skinner wrote: >The only trouble with this is that the studies are saying it's not the one >hand on the wheel that causes the problem with cell phone use while driving. >It's the mental distraction of the conversation itself. Doing business on a >cell phone while driving is particularly dangerous. The more complicated >and/or intense the conversation the less mental capacity left for the road. >The interesting thing, is a similar conversation with a passenger in the car >is just as distracting, but this case is offset by the self-preservation >interest of the passenger means they are also usually watching the road and >can provide a warning to the driver about changing road conditions. A >person on the other end of a phone call can't do this. > >-------------- >Ian Skinner >Web Programmer >BloodSource >Sacramento, CA > > >-----Original Message----- >From: Philip Arnold [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sent: Thursday, June 05, 2003 2:13 AM >To: CF-Community >Subject: RE: Feds: Hang up and drive > > >It's now illegal over here to drive while talking on a mobile/cell phone > >Hands free kits are acceptable, but not driving one handed on the phone > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Larry C. Lyons [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2003 10:56 PM > > To: CF-Community > > Subject: Feds: Hang up and drive > > > > > > http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/ptech/06/04/crash.phones.reut/index.html > > > > Wednesday, June 4, 2003 Posted: 10:09 AM EDT (1409 GMT) > > U.S. urges mobile phone curbs for young drivers > > > > WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Young, inexperienced drivers should not be > > allowed to use cell phones when they get behind the wheel, U.S. > > traffic safety officials said on Tuesday after reviewing a fatal > > crash involving a 20-year-old who was on a mobile phone as she lost > > control of her sport utility vehicle. > > -- > > > > Larry C. Lyons > > > > ======================================================== > > Life is Complex. It has both real and imaginary parts. > > ======================================================== > > Chaos, Panic and Disorder. My work here is done. > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?forumid=5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?method=subscribe&forumid=5 This list and all House of Fusion resources hosted by CFHosting.com. The place for dependable ColdFusion Hosting. http://www.cfhosting.com Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
