2007 journal article
Situation awareness and driving performance in a simulated navigation task
ERGONOMICS, 50(8), 1351–1364.
This study investigated the effect of varying reliability of in-vehicle navigation aids on driver situation awareness (SA) and performance. Twenty participants drove a virtual car and navigated a large virtual suburb. Participants were required to follow traffic signs and navigation directions from one of two sources: a human aid via a cell phone or an automated aid presented on a laptop display. The aids operated under three different levels of reliability (100%, 80% and 60%). A control condition was also used in which each aid presented a telemarketing survey and participants navigated using a map. Results revealed perfect navigation information to improve driving performance and SA for strategic behaviors, as compared to unreliable information and the control condition. This work demonstrates in-vehicle automation may mediate linkages of levels of SA to specific driving behaviors and associated actions. This is represented through a transactional model of driver SA.