AGE- AND/OR EXPERETISE SPECIFIC MODES OF COPING WITH MENTAL WORKLOAD. IN: ENGINEERING PSYCHOLOGY AND COGNITIVE ERGONOMICS. AEROSPACE AND TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS

The paper discusses testing different forms of information design and presentation in cars in order to investigate how variables influence the driver's allocation behavior and mental workload. The experiments have been performed in a simulator and in the field with an especially equipped car. Physical as well as subjective variables have been reported; the subjects have been grouped according to age and driving experience and as a covariate the subjects' optometric data. The general conclusion drawn indicates that instruments assisting, informing, or entertaining the driver in traffic can impair the driving performance if they are not tuned to the traffic situation and the specific information processing skills of the driver. Especially the elderly prefer to allocate their attention autonomously; in contrast, younger drivers profit from the curing of novel information with the undesirable side effect that in case of lacking experience, this can result in a 'command effect'.