Development of the Enhanced Peripheral Detection Task: A Surrogate Test for Driver Distraction 2012-01-0965

Up to now, there is no standard methodology that addresses how driver distraction is affected by perceptual demand and working memory demand - aside from visual allocation. In 2009, the Peripheral Detection Task (PDT) became a NHTSA recommended measure for driver distraction [1]. Then the PDT task was renamed as the Detection Response Task (DRT) because the International Standards Organization (ISO) has identified this task as a potential method for assessing selective attention in detection of visual, auditory, tactile and haptic events while driving. The DRT is also under consideration for adoption as an ISO standard surrogate test for driver performance for new telematics designs. The Wayne State University (WSU) driver imaging group [2, 3] improved the PDT and created the Enhanced Peripheral Detection Task I (EPDT-I) [4]. The EPDT-I is composed of a simple visual event detection task and a video of a real-world driving scene. It is simple, easy to learn and run, and convenient for use in the lab, road, or brain imaging environments [5]. With the success of EPDT-I, the WSU driver imaging group further developed the Enhanced Peripheral Detection Task-II (EPDT-II; also called “Wayne State Enhanced DRT” or “Wayne State EDRT”) by adding a number of features to engage participants more with the primary driving task and to assess attentional processes in greater detail. This research also compared performance in the EPDT-II at our lab, EEG, and neuroimaging environments to the open road for validation purposes [6]. In conclusion, the Wayne State EDRT provides a sensitive and up-to-date surrogate test for measuring driver distraction in the lab and on the road.