Spaceship, Guardian, Coach: Drivers’ Mental Models of Advanced Vehicle Technology

Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), including automated driving features, can reduce the driver’s workload by assuming control of driving subtasks such as steering (lane centering system), or maintaining speed and safe following distance (adaptive cruise control). Although these systems show promise for improving safety and efficiency, they also pose challenges regarding consumer understanding of their operation. Little is known about how new vehicle owners learn about the capabilities, limitations, and operational design domains for ADAS and how their personal understanding (mental model) influences their use of the systems and their driving behavior. This paper describes empirical work-in-progress aimed at delineating the dominant characteristics and changes over time in users’ mental models of ADAS. We discuss results of the first phase of the research (user focus groups), along with the methods and preliminary findings for two additional phases of research. The second phase is a longitudinal study of 2018/2019 passenger vehicle owners (n = 41) who were interviewed nine times during their first six months of ownership. The third phase includes new Toyota owners (n = 12) who were video recorded while driving, and interviewed periodically. All interviews were audio recorded and analyzed to extract information about participants’ understanding of the operation, capabilities, and limitations of ADAS. The objective of the analysis is to determine the characteristics of mental models that best describe differences observed between individuals. Two candidate characteristics are levels of complexity and anthropomorphism. User generated analogues such as “spaceship,” or “elderly aunt” also show promise for distinguishing mental models.