John A. Michon

A Critical View of Driver Behavior Models: What Do We Know, What Should We Do?

There appears to be a lack of new ideas in driver behavior modeling. Although behavioral research is under some pressure, it seems too facile to attribute this deplorable state of affairs only to a lack of research funds. In my opinion the causal chain may well run in the opposite direction. An analysis of what is wrong has led me to the conclusion that human factors research in the area of driver behavior has hardly been touched by the “cognitive revolution” that swept psychology in the past fifteen years. A more cognitive approach might seem advisable and the “promise of progress” of such an approach should be assessed.

Time, Mind, and Behavior

1. Introduction: The Psychology of Time.- I. Origins: The Nature and Development of Time.- 2. The Compleat Time Experiencer.- 3. Brain Time and Mind Time.- 4. The Use of the Biological Clocks in Time Perception.- 5. From Biotemporality to Nootemporality: Toward an Integrative and Comparative View of Time in Behavior.- 6. Timing Behavior in Young Children: A Developmental Approach to Conditioned Spaced Responding.- II. Processes: The Perception and Retention of Time.- 7. Time Psychophysics and Related Models.- 8. The Effects of Time Pressure on Duration Discrimination.- 9. The Detection of Anisochrony in Monaural and Interaural Sequences.- 10. Memory for Temporal Information.- 11. Contextual Coding in Memory: Studies of Remembered Duration.- 12. Is the Processing of Temporal Information Automatic or Controlled?.- III. Patterns: The Structure and Organization of Time.- 13. Structural Organization of Events in Time.- 14. Time, Rhythms and Tension: In Search of the Determinants of Rhythmicity.- 15. Timing in Action.- 16. A Functional View of Prosodic Timing in Speech.- 17. Time, Size and Shape in Handwriting: Exploring Spatio-temporal Relationships at Different Levels.- IV. Notions:The Concept and Meaning of Time.- 18. Semantics of Time.- 19. The Development of Temporal Inferences and Meanings in 5- to 8-Year Old Children.- 20: Temporality and Metaphor.- Author Index.

EXPLANATORY PITFALLS AND RULE-BASED DRIVER MODELS

Driver models should refer to either of two levels of explanation, (1) the rational or intentional level that is usually taken to represent the aggregate behavior of the driver population, or (2) the functional level which deals with intra-individual information processing. Frequently the two levels are confounded, which is likely to introduce serious theoretical problems--vicious circles and pernicious homunculi among them. After a conceptual analysis of the confounding problem, arguments in favor of a radical functionalistic (process-level) approach are put forward. Rule-based modeling, using some advanced production system architecture, appears to be the most promising inroad to better theories of driver behavior.

The Compleat Time Experiencer

In a well known article about consciousness Thomas Nagel (1974) raised the fascinating question what it would be like to be a bat. A similar question can be asked with respect to human time consciousness. If our experience of time would turn out to be something that is conceptually unitary, in the sense that it can be defined by a distinct set of related events, attributes, or processes, then it must mean something, however little, to be a Time Experiencer.

Tapping regularity as a measure of perceptual motor load.

Numerous methods have been devised to measure perceptual load. Unfortunately the concept itself is ill-defined, which makes different approaches practically incomparable. The central problem is the ordering of tasks of different types. Most methods compare tasks that differ only in one variable, such as speed or input/output uncertainty. There are however methods which can be applied to a wider range of tasks. One such approach observes the timing of successive actions: load will cause ‘ traffic control’ problems in the central nervous system, so that actions will be executed in an irregular fashion. The use of irregularity as a measure of perceptual load depends on the availability of a ‘ functional ’ descriptive system of behaviour, as opposed to current ‘ phenomenal ’ systems like those of time and motion study. A convenient substitute ia that of measuring the irregularity of a subsidiary performance. Key tapping was found to satisfy certain methodological requirements. Some experiments evaluating this...

Studies on subjective duration: I. Differential sensitivity in the perception of repeated temporal intervals

Summary The differential sensitivity for series of time intervals in the range from 67 to 2700 msec was measured with the method of comparison and revealed a curve with two maxima of sensitivity: a) at an interval of about 110 msec, with a Weber fraction Δ t/t of about 0.01. b) at an interval of about 600 msec, with a Weber fraction Δ t/t of about 0.02. The results bring together data from the classical time psychology and studies on “intermittent” stimulation. In the latter type of work for some reason no attention seems to have been paid to the maximum aT 600 msec, although it is found to be present in most of the studies. This fact is discussed.

Processing of Temporal Information and the Cognitive Theory of Time Experience

For man as an information processing system, time is one of the experiential dimensions of information, and it should be considered equivalent to other, non-temporal, aspects of this information, such as intensity, size, etc. Since as a processor man has a limited capacity there will be necessarily a trade-off between temporal and non-temporal information, which is open to quantification. Research in this area is reviewed. Most contemporary models of time evaluation incorporate a-specific “pulse counter” mechanisms to account for the internal clock by which time is measured subjectively. The rate of this internal clock is thought to be influenced by the information processed by the subject. In this paper an alternative formulation is defended: time evaluation is a cognitive reconstruction of contents of the interval. The latter formulation avoids the unnecessary assumption of the former. It explains the same phenomena equally well, while moreover it can handle various matters that offer difficulties to models stated in terms of clock mechanisms.

ATTENTIONAL EFFORT AND COGNITIVE STRATEGIES IN THE PROCESSING OF TEMPORAL INFORMATION

For many, many years the study of temporal phenomena in human experience has progressed along two virtually disconnected lines: time psychology proper and the study of the temporal organization of memory. Time psychology dealt largely with the psychophysics of duration, with the rate of flow of subjective time and with the experience of the so-called “specious present.” Memory research, on the other hand, studied the sequential organization of stimulus events-rder and position of items in a series-and serial recall. Only recently do the two trickles appear to be merging into a single stream that may even be heading towards its first rapid. A burning question-to be answered, perhaps, in this volume-is whether the many and varied phenomena, flow, present, duration and order, may indeed be treated as manifestations of a coherent set of processes or, instead, only as a collection of essentially unrelated processes that entertain only superficial relations to each other. Until further notice we prefer to adhere to the first view, relying, perhaps somewhat naively, on William of Ockham’s advice not to multiply explanatory concepts beyond necessity. In this paper we shall discuss some views and some results that may contribute towards answering the question: How is conscious time experience connected to memory for lag and order? Before tracing our main theme, however, we shall outline our general views on the nature, or status, of psychological time.

PROGRAMS AND PROGRAMS FOR SEQUENTIAL PATTERNS IN MOTOR BEHAVIOR

Abstract Sequences of discrete movements that are relatively slow offer a problem of temporal structure to the brain. Some attempts to analyze the structure of such tasks as finger tapping and producing rhythmic sequences are discussed. In general the available models have dealt with temporal behavior in a strictly serial fashion. More recently higher-order structural aspects have become accessible. As an illustration of this approach the analysis of a piano composition of Erik Satie, Vexations , is discussed.

The perception of lead vehicle movement in darkness

Three experimental studies are described on the detection of longitudinal lead-vehicle movement in darkness. Experiment I, performed in the laboratory, isolated the relative horizontal angular motion of the lead-vehicles taillights as a cue to the detection of relative longitudinal movement. Movement thresholds were determined as a function of initial headway, exposure duration, direction of the movement, and the presence of a background. All these factors except the last had significant effects on the movement threshold. Experiment II, also a laboratory-experiment, isolated changes in apparent size or brightness of the taillights as a cue. Movement thresholds were again found to be a function of the variables investigated in Experiment I. However, thresholds now were much higher than under the isolated angular cue. It was therefore concluded that the relative horizontal angular motion of the lead-vehicles taillights is the priminent cue in the detection of relative vehicle motion in depth. Experiment III substantiated this conclusion by confirming the parametric outcomes of Experiment I under realistic night-driving conditions. The practical relevance of the estimates made from the data of two important temporal parameters in car following, viz. time until collision and free time after detection.