PsychCentral reported today on a study in Psychonomic Bulletin and Review that found, unexpectedly, that 2.5% of the participants in a study were fully capable of driving while talking on a cell phone. Apparently they were interested in finding out just how much cell-phone talking disrupted driving abilities, not whether anyone was capable of doing it. Their answer: It disrupts it a lot. Cell-phone talkers take 20% longer to hit the breaks on average, for example. But this 2.5% were unaffected. They called these people “supertaskers.”
Still, 2.5% is not a large percentage. I’ve heard that something like 90% of drivers consider themselves to be better drivers than average. I wonder how many people think they are in the top 2.5%?
March 30, 2010 at 5:55 pm
I bet they could find that percentile of “over the legal limit” drivers who are “unaffected.”
Does Oregon have cell phone laws yet? California does, and I think it will be the law of the land soon.
March 30, 2010 at 6:47 pm
Good point, Ben. Perhaps we should issue drivers licenses based on people’s individual abilities. If you’re really good at driving drunk, you get to drive drunk. If you’re a “supertasker,” you get to talk on the phone. Yeah, probably not.
Oregon does have hands free laws, as of this year. The article did not say if they tested people on hands-free or hand-held phones. I assume it was hand-held, though I’ve heard that hands-free phones are not that much better. Perhaps we should outlaw _any_ conversation while driving. Yeah, probably not.
March 31, 2010 at 4:54 pm
It is unfortunate that driving has become such a necessity that the standards for driving have to be so low. Robot cars?
April 4, 2010 at 6:48 pm
Hey Nathen – if you want to read more about studies on driving and cognition, I would totally suggest taking a look at Strayer’s experiements which deal with cell phone use, cognition, and driving. It’s really interesting stuff. Enjoy!
April 4, 2010 at 8:12 pm
Thanks, Rachel! I’ll have to check that stuff out, once extra-curricular reading is back on my table.
Nathen