Driving With Music: Cognitive-Behavioural Implications by Warren Brodsky

Author:Warren Brodsky
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ashgate Publishing Limited
Published: 2015-01-11T16:00:00+00:00

Figure 4.5 Brain activation while driving when listening to speech

Source: Just, Keeler, and Cynkar (2008). Used with permission of Elsevier.

Just et al.’s (2008) findings show that language comprehension performed alongside driving, draws mental resources away from primary driving tasks, and subsequently weakens driver performance and vehicular control as demonstrated by increased driving errors of hitting the berm and larger standard deviations of lane position. Certainly, the study is of particular interest because the findings show limitations of brain activation during concurrent dual-task driving. Just et al. conclude:

We interpret this diversion of attention as reflecting a capacity limit on the amount of attention or resources that can be distributed across the two tasks. This capacity limit might be thought of as a biological constraint that limits the amount of systematic neural activity that can be distributed across parts of the cortex… The findings suggest that under mentally demanding circumstances, it may be dangerous to mindlessly combine the special human capability of processing spoken language with a more recent skill of controlling a large powerful vehicle that is moving rapidly among other objects… The new findings raise the obvious point that if listening to sentences degrades driving performance, then probably a number of other common driver activities also cause such degradation, including activities such as tuning or listening to a radio, eating and drinking, monitoring children or pets, or even conversing with a passenger… These various considerations suggest that engaging in conversation while concurrently driving can be a risky choice, not just for commonsense reasons, but because of the compromised performance imposed by cognitive and neural constraints (pp. 76–7).

Hence, if a task such as listening to sentences, which only partially represents the far-worst scenario of holding a conversation, is in itself an activity that adds to our attentional load, then what about the scenarios that occur when we engage in a more passionate car-aoke style sing-along to our favourite driving tune? Clearly the evidence points to the fact that distraction from a secondary task involves a disruption of ongoing brain processes. For example, Heck and Carlos (2008) pointed out that the consequences of cognitive distractions (i.e., malfunctioning processing subsequent to competing signals) while driving, include: poor attention and planning, difficulty generating and implementing strategies, inability of utilizing feedback, and inflexibility of thinking. In light of all above evidence, the overriding question remains: What about listening to music while driving? On the most basic level, listening to music requires drivers to process sounds and often words (Dibben & Williamson, 2007). In addition, drivers regularly find themselves tapping along to the rhythm, singing out loud, dancing in their seat, and even recalling memories triggered by the music. At the very least, the costs associated with this level of cognitive distraction might be observed in diminished driver response to unexpected events or hazards.

Considering the demands of the traffic environment, when we engage in secondary tasks involving music we might do well by regulating and modifying our driving performance to some extent for the added cognitive workload.

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