The author describes the construction of a simulation model to evaluate the effect on driving performance of attempting to dial a number on a cell phone while driving. Four modes of dialing were compared:
- Full-manual: dial the entire number;
- Speed-manual: dial a single-digit code;
- Full-voice: speak the entire number, confirm response of voice-recognition function; and
- Speed-voice: speak the party’s name, confirm response.
Driving performance was limited to the case of keeping a constant-speed car centered on a one-lane road, and mean lateral deviations from centerline and lateral velocities were measured. The results of the simulation model were then compared to empirical data obtained in an actual driving simulator with human subjects, the voice recognition function (for the voice modes) being simulated by a person in the passenger seat.
The simulation model was constructed by adjoining a model of the dialing interface to an existing model of driving constructed in the ACT-R cognitive architecture (Anderson and Lebiere [1]). In their descriptions of the model, the authors assume that the reader is familiar with the concept of cognitive architectures and specifically with ACT-R.
