Research Projects for Jason Laberge

Driving Skills Amongst ADHD Drivers

• The purpose of this study was to understand how Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) affects driving.
• The ADHD group was found to be 3.6 times more likely to have been in a crash.
• People in the ADHD group also performed worse on psychomotor tests measuring concentration and stress tolerance.
• The ADHD group maintained less stable headway maintenance (see image to the right) and showed a longer delay in responding to lead-vehicle speed changes.
• The results have implications for the testing, licensing, and training of ADHD drivers.
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The Influence of Cannabis on Driving

• The purpose of this literature review was to summarize current knowledge regarding the influence of cannabis use on driving.
• Prevalence data revealed that cannabis use is increasing and more people are driving after using the drug.
• Laboratory tests showed that cannabis and alcohol influence people differently and may have dissimilar effects on driving.
• Simulated and on-road driving tests showed that drivers were more aware of being intoxicated after using cannabis and thus invoked compensatory effort to offset impairment.
• The effect of cannabis use on crash risk showed that recent use increases crash risk, but not as much as alcohol consumption.
• The review concluded that further research is needed before specific transport policy can be developed.
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Information Requirements for Intersection Decision Support Systems

• Older drivers in Minnesota are over-represented in accidents at rural stop-controlled intersections.
• This project suggested that Intersection Decision Support (IDS) systems present drivers with information to help them safely navigate intersections.
• A human factors-based design process was conducted to determine the type of information that should be presented to drivers in an IDS system.
• A task analysis, literature review, and work domain analysis found that information should show the presence of gaps, indicate the size of available gaps, and/or judge the safety of available gaps.
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Age Differences in Search of Web Pages: The Effects of Link Size, Link Number and Clutter

• In this project we wanted to assess age differences in web search performance.
• Increased link size improved performance, while increased clutter and links hampered search, especially for older adults.
• Results also showed that links located in the left region of the page were found most easily.
• We suggested web pages designed for the elderly should contain minimal non-target information, place links in locations expected by users, and use the largest font size possible.
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Predictors of Web Navigation Performance in a Lifespan Sample of Adults

• This study examined several factors thought to influence performance on a web navigation.
• Age was associated with slower times per trial but did not influence the number of total pages or repeat pages visited.
• The age effect was eliminated only after controlling for age differences in working memory, processing speed, subject matter knowledge, web experience, and spatial abilities.
• These findings highlight the need to address the varied characteristics of older adults when designing web pages
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• This project used a change blindness paradigm to determine how users distribute attentional resources when reading.
• Results suggested that attention is focused primarily on central content areas, but some peripheral resources are available for other locations on a web page.
• This suggests that designers understand the attentional requirements of different tasks and place important information in regions where user attention is focused.
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• This project used the University of Calgary Driving Simulator and examined the extent to which in-vehicle conversations distract drivers.
• The conversation was also analyzed to test the assumption that passengers modulate conversations.
• Results found that response times increased when driving and talking, but there was little practical evidence that passengers adjusted their conversations to changes in the traffic environment.
• We concluded that drivers should be cautious when driving and talking and researchers should be careful when assuming passengers will modulate conversations.
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• This project examined how voluntary eye movements (saccades) were disrupted by non-targets 
• Older participants made more saccades to the target and their eye movements were disrupted more by the non-targets
• This suggests that displays designed for older adults should contain minimal non-target information and have simple backgrounds.
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• This research examined the relationship between trust in various aspects of the banking system including the online interface, banking institution, security, and the user.
• Results suggested that the design of the online interface is the best predictor of trust in online banking.
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• Semi-structured interviews were used to audit several organizations on personnel selection practices.
• Suggestions were made and reports delivered outlining best practices based on the available literature.
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• We conducted a study to evaluate the hand tools used on the production floor of a local manufacturing company.
• Workers evaluated tools in terms of comfort, fatigue, efficiency, and satisfaction.
• Results were combined with cost metrics to determine the best overall tools for each task.
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