Effect of Secondary Tasks on Police Officer Cognitive Workload and Performance Under Normal and Pursuit Driving Situations.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to assess the effects of single and multiple secondary tasks on officers' performance and cognitive workload under normal and pursuit driving conditions. BACKGROUND: Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of police line of duty injuries and deaths. These crashes are mainly attributed to the use of in-vehicle technologies and multi-tasking while driving. METHOD: Eighteen police officers participated in a driving simulation experiment. The experiment followed a within-subject design and assessed the effect of single or multiple secondary tasks (via the mobile computer terminal (MCT) and radio) and driving condition (normal vs. pursuit driving) on officers' driving performance, cognitive workload, and secondary task accuracy and reaction time. RESULTS: Findings suggested that police officers are protective of their driving performance when performing secondary tasks. However, their workload and driving performance degraded in pursuit conditions as compared to normal driving situations. Officers experienced higher workload when they were engaged with secondary tasks irrespective of the task modality or type. However, they were faster but less accurate in responding to the radio as compared to the MCT. CONCLUSION: Police officers experience high mental workload in pursuit driving situations, which can reduce their driving performance and accuracy when they are engaged in some secondary tasks. APPLICATION: The findings might be helpful for police agencies, trainers, and vehicle technology manufacturers to modify the existing policies, training protocols, and design of police in-vehicle technologies in order to improve police officer safety.

Effect of variable priority training on police officer driving performance and workload.

Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of police injuries and deaths in line of duty. These crashes have been mainly attributed to the use of in-vehicle technologies while driving. Police officers receive extensive training on driving skills; however, limited training is provided on the use of in-vehicle technologies. Variable priority training (VPT) is a computer-based training that has shown promising results in improving multi-tasking performance. Eighteen police officers participated in a driving simulation study to assess the effect of VPT on officers' performance and workload. Findings suggested that although VPT was effective in improving officers' performance in dual and multi-task simulations across the training sessions, this effect was not generally transferred to driving. However, the VPT might be effective for training of high-demand situations involving pursuit driving and multiple secondary tasks. The findings can be beneficial for police agencies to improve training protocols. Practitioner summary: A driving simulation study was conducted to assess the effect of a computer-based training approach on police officers' driving performance and cognitive workload. The findings suggested that the proposed training approach might be effective for training of high-demand situations involving pursuit driving and multi-tasking.