Automobile Automation ─ Distributed Cognition on the Road

Increasing levels of driving automation has changed the role of the driver from active operator to passive monitor. However, Systems Design has been plagued by criticism for failing to acknowledge the new role of the driver within the system network. To understand the driver's new role within an automated driving system, the theory of Distributed Cognition is adopted. This approach provides a useful framework for the investigation of allocation of function between multiple agents in the driving system. A Systems Design Framework has been developed that outlines how the Distributed Cognition paradigm can be applied to driving using both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies.

Dr Victoria Banks is a postgraduate research fellow in the Human Factors Research Group at the University of Nottingham. She was recently awarded her Engineering Doctorate by the University of Southampton in 2016 and also holds a BSc Psychology (Hons) award. Her research interests include modelling, analysing and evaluating the Human Factors implications of increasing levels of autonomy on driver behaviour. She has published over 10 articles related to the field of automobile automation and, in 2014, Dr Banks was invited to speak at the Transport Select Committee Event at Southampton University, from which, she was invited to write an article for ITS International. Dr Banks has previously worked with one of the largest vehicle manufacturers in the UK and was involved with the design and development of future automated technologies.

Professor Neville Stanton, PhD, DSc, is a Chartered Psychologist, Chartered Ergonomist and Chartered Engineer. He holds the Chair in Human Factors Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering and the Environment at the University of Southampton in the UK. He has degrees in Occupational Psychology, Applied Psychology and Human Factors Engineering and has worked at the Universities of Aston, Brunel, Cornell and MIT. His research interests include modelling, predicting, analysing and evaluating human performance in systems as well as designing the interfaces and interaction between humans and technology. Professor Stanton has worked on design of automobiles, aircraft, ships and control rooms over the past 30 years, on a variety of automation projects. He has published 35 books and over 270 journal papers on Ergonomics and Human Factors. In 1998 he was presented with the Institution of Electrical Engineers Divisional Premium Award for research into System Safety. The Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors in the UK awarded him The Otto Edholm Medal in 2001, The President1s Medal in 2008 and The Sir Frederic Bartlett Medal in 2012 for his contributions to basic and applied ergonomics research. The Royal Aeronautical Society awarded him and his colleagues the Hodgson Prize in 2006 for research on design-induced, flight-deck, error published in The Aeronautical Journal.

The University of Southampton awarded him a Doctor of Science in 2014 for his sustained contribution to the development and validation of Human Factors methods.