Impact of Incremental Increases in Cognitive Workload on Physiological Arousal and Performance in Young Adult Drivers

This study examined the sensitivity of heart rate, skin conductance, and respiration rate as measures of mental workload in a simulated driving environment. Workload was systematically manipulated by using increasingly difficult levels of a secondary cognitive task. In a sample of 121 young adults, heart rate increased incrementally with increasing task demand. Significant elevations in skin conductance and respiration rate were also observed. At the lower levels of added workload, secondary task performance was nearly perfect and changes in indices of driving performance were negligible. At the highest level of workload, all three physiological measures appeared to plateau, and a subtle drop in simulated driving performance became detectable. Taken together, the pattern of results indicates that physiological measures can be sensitive to changes in workload before the appearance of clear decrements in driving performance. These findings further highlight a role for physiological monitoring as a means to measure mental workload in product design and functionality research. They also support work exploring the potential for incorporating physiological measures of driver workload and attentional state in future safety systems.

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