A method for measuring human behavioural and physiological responses at different stress levels in a driving...

Area of Science:

• Human factors and ergonomics
• Psychophysiology
• Transportation safety

Background:

• Assessing human performance under stress is crucial for safety-critical tasks.
• Existing methods may lack controlled stress induction or simultaneous physiological measurement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a car simulator method for measuring motor-perceptual performance and physiological responses under controlled stress.
• To investigate the impact of varying task difficulty on driving performance and physiological stress indicators.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a car simulator with varying task difficulty levels (1-3), involving visual cues and simulated driving scenarios.
• Measured motor-perceptual performance via reaction times (steering, braking, indicators).
• Monitored physiological responses including heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, and calf blood flow.

Main Results:

• Significant increases in reaction times were observed with rising task difficulty (P<0.001 for steering, P<0.01 for braking/indicators).
• Task level 3, featuring conflicting signals, resulted in the longest reaction times.
• Heart rate significantly increased from the lowest to highest stress levels (P<0.05).

Conclusions:

• The car simulator method effectively induces controlled and reproducible stress levels.
• This validated method is suitable for investigating the effects of stress and potential pharmacological interventions on driving performance.