ABSTRACT
Thisstudyaimstoexploretheeffectsofpredictabilityofroadenvironmenton drivingperformance.Drivingunderunpredictableconditionswouldincreasethe frequencyoftime-gapexperiences.Westudied64driverswhovolunteeredtotake partinthedrivingexperiment.Thesubjectswereassignedto2X2within-subjects designedwitheachsubjectassignedtodriveinpredictableandlesspredictable conditionsintwoperiodsof30minutesdriving.Subjectswerealsoaskedtoreport iftheywereexperiencingtime-gapsorTaskUnrelatedIrrelevantThoughts (TUITs).ResultsofthestudyindicatedthatthefrequencyofTUITsortime-gaps reportedwasincreasedinthepredictableconditioncomparedtotheless predictablecondition.DriverswhohadreportedmoreTUITsalsotendtomake moreerrorswhiledriving(i.e.fallingoffthetrack).Themainimplicationofthis studyisthatwhendrivinginhighlypredictableconditions(forexampleroadswith lighttraffic)wouldinducefeelingsofmonotonyandboredomandmoreattention isgiventoothertasksaffectingdrivingperformance.
