Effect of cellular telephone use on choice response time in a simulated driving task and tracking accuracy in a simple tracking task

The objectives of this study are twofold. First, to investigate the effect of cellular telephone use on choice response time in simulated driving and tracking accuracy in a tracking task. Second, to model choice response time in simulated driving in terms of tracking accuracy in a simple tracking task. The study utilized open-loop simulation and tracking task techniques to study three different conditions of the secondary task of talking on a cellular telephone and their effect on the primary tasks of driving and tracking. Results from the study showed that the secondary task has a significant effect on choice response time and percentage of correct responses in simulated driving and on accuracy in simple tracking. When modeling the choice response time in simulated driving in terms of the secondary task levels, tracking accuracy, and their interaction, none was found to be significant. However, accuracy accounted for much of the variation in choice response time between the three levels of the secondary task.