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Mitigating psychological discomfort during automation error: A mixed methods research
Ziang Chen1, Zhengyu Tan1, Peiwen Luo1
1School of Design and Art, Hunan University, Changsha, China.
Applied Ergonomics
|July 22, 2026
Summary
Effective automated driving recovery communication is crucial. Explanations and promises best improved occupant comfort, while denial worsened it, highlighting the need for tailored system responses after errors.
Area of Science:
- Human-computer interaction
- Automotive engineering
- Psychology
Background:
- Automated driving errors can negatively impact occupant psychological comfort and trust.
- Effective in-vehicle communication strategies are needed to mitigate these negative effects.
- Recovery strategies are system responses designed to restore positive human-automation interaction after errors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the influence of different recovery strategies (explanation, apology, promise, denial) and speech styles (machine-like, human-like) on occupant psychological comfort after automated driving errors.
- To operationalize psychological comfort through perceived safety and pleasure.
- To understand the interaction between strategy content and speech style in recovery communication.
Main Methods:
- A mixed-methods approach combining a driving simulator experiment with semi-structured interviews.
- Thirty-four participants experienced simulated automated driving errors and received different recovery communications.
- Within-subjects design to compare the effects of four strategies and two speech styles.
Main Results:
- Explanation and promise strategies most effectively enhanced both perceived safety and pleasure.
- Denial significantly impaired occupant experience.
- Apology's effect was style-dependent: human-like apology increased pleasure but decreased perceived safety, while machine-like delivery generally improved perceived safety.
- Speech style modulated strategy effectiveness, with content-style alignment being key.
Conclusions:
- Recovery communication strategies should be carefully selected based on the nature of the automation error.
- The delivery style (human-like vs. machine-like) significantly influences the effectiveness of recovery strategies.
- Aligning strategy content with the event's informational demands and using appropriate expressive delivery enhances occupant psychological comfort and trust in automated systems.
