Theses and Dissertations at Montana State University (MSU)
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/733
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Item Driving in a simulator versus on-road : the effect of increased mental effort while driving on real roads and a driving simulator(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Engineering, 2015) Mueller, Jessica Anne; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Laura StanleyThe objective of this thesis is to study human response to increased workload while driving in a driving simulator compared to real world behavior. Driving simulators are a powerful research tool, providing nearly complete control over experimental conditions-- an ideal environment to quantify and study human behavior. However, participants are known to behave differently in a driving simulator than in an actual real-world scenario. The same participants completed both on-road and virtual drives of the same degree of roadway complexity, with and without a secondary task conditions. Data were collected to describe how the participants' vehicle-handling, gaze performance and physiological reactions changed relative to increases in mental workload. Relationships between physiology and performance identified physiological, performance, and gaze-related metrics that can show significant effects of driving complexity, environment, and task. Additionally, this thesis explores the inadequacy of multinomial predictive models between the simulator and instrumented vehicle. Relative validity is established in the performance-physiology relationship for on- and off-road fixation frequencies, but few correlations between the simulator and instrumented vehicle are apparent as mental workload increases. These findings can be applied to the real world by providing specific variables that are adequate proxies to detect changes in driver mental workload in on-road driving situations; valuable for in-vehicle driver assistance system research. Overall, the simulator was a suitable proxy to detect differences in mental workload in driving task; and initial steps have been taken to establish validity, and to supplement on-road driving research in these high-demand driving scenarios.Item Safety evaluation of a medic's work environment during rural emergency response(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Engineering, 2011) Mueller, Jessica Anne; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Laura StanleyThe purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of emergency medical service working conditions, and to develop recommendations to aid in minimizing harmful actions and behaviors inherent in EMS work. The naturalistic data collected in this study allowed researchers to perform analysis in a rural emergency driving environment to identify contributing factors to attending medic behavior, severity of biomechanical forces experienced in the driver and patient compartment, and an evaluation of emergency medical response safety culture. Based upon research findings, the project includes development of a series of environmental, ergonomic, policy, or training recommendations to mitigate circumstances that cause potentially unsafe operations in the driver's and patient's compartment of the ambulance. This study used naturalistic data and video, survey responses, focus groups, and agency patient care records to analyze the rural medics' working environment during emergency patient transportation. Accelerometer data was analyzed for 102 separate emergency transports to provide descriptive statistics relevant to whole-body vibration experienced by the medics during patient care. Five years of patient care records were analyzed to identify specific patient illnesses and medical procedures associated with traveling in emergency response mode. Restraint compliance rates were collected for both self-reported (21.5% restrained) and observed (2.6% restrained) data collection methods. Focus groups identified factors influencing medics' choice to be unrestrained, characterized by a reduced ability to provide patient care, the belief that restraint devices will cause harm to the medics, and the belief that the restraint devices are ineffective in a crash situation. Finally, reach analysis was conducted to highlight the procedures and equipment retrieval which require the medics to assume positions resulting in awkward and unstable postures during transport. The results of this study will add to the growing body of knowledge surrounding the behaviors of EMS workers in a real work setting, will aid in understanding the complexities of EMS safety culture, and can be applied toward different aspects of EMS work such as driver or medic training.