9

DRIVING SIMULATOR: RIGHT FOOT, LEFT FOOT BRAKE TIME REACTION RATE|NICHOLAS HARDY

DRIVING SIMULATOR: RIGHT FOOT,

LEFT FOOT BRAKE TIME REACTION
RATE
Word Count = 1958

NICHOLAS HARDY
SACE #: 519487-F

.
KAY GILLETTS LEARNING STUDIES #15 GROUP
JOHN ROWES 2015 HUMAN PERFORMANCE CLASS

INTRODUCTION
DRIVING
SIMULATOR: RIGHT
FOOT, LEFT FOOT BRAKE TIME REACTION RATE|NICHOLAS HARDY
Background
Information.

This study looks at a reaction experiment classified as a simple reaction experiment.

Simple experiments involve, only one stimulus for the participant to react to, and there
is only one way, for the participant to response to the stimulus. In this case the stimulus
is a visual stimulus, which is the slower of the two types of stimuli; the other being an
auditory stimulus.
From a simple reaction experiment conducted by Kumar & Shelton (2010). It was found
out that the mean auditory reaction time was; 284 milliseconds, and the mean visual
reaction time was; 331 milliseconds (which; is 47 milliseconds slower than the auditory
reaction rate). In another experiment conducted by Mali, et al. (2012). It was found that
the visual reaction time of the right foot, was significantly shorter than that of the left
foot.
Though the results cannot be expected to be around 331 milliseconds, because this
reaction rate also adds the time taken for the movement of relieving the applied
pressure off of the accelerator, then moving the foot over; and re- applying that pressure
onto the brake.

INVESTIGATION PLAN
Research Question.
The research question being investigated is seeing, if there is a difference between the
reaction time, between applying the brake from the accelerator with the right foot, and
then comparing it to the reaction rate of applying the brake from the accelerator on the
left foot, while on the driving simulator.
Hypothesis.
The hypothesis is: If people use their right foot on the driving simulator, then they will
have a faster reaction time; than they would while using their left foot on the driving
simulator.
Independent Variable.
The independent variable is the changing of the foot used to go from the accelerator to
the brake while using the driving simulator. It was changed by the participant when
instructed by the researcher and it was used for that that simulation run.
Dependent Variable.
The dependent variable is the reaction time that it takes to get the right or left foot, from
the accelerator over to the brake, and apply it. It is measured and recorded, by the
simulator program at the end of each simulation run.

DRIVING
SIMULATOR:
RIGHT FOOT, LEFT FOOT BRAKE TIME REACTION RATE|NICHOLAS HARDY
Constant
Factors.

Time | The research was conducted in the afternoon between 2.00 pm and 4.30
pm.
Area | A quiet common area was used, because there were very little surrounding
distractions.
Simulator Conditions | A custom setting was used for the experiment (detail in the
Method section).
Experiment Procedure | A demonstration of the simulation, then they got a practice
run, consent form, first right foot repetition, first left foot repetition, second right
foot repetition, and then second left foot repetition.
Equipment | The driving seat, which was adjusted until people could comfortably
reach the pedals. The computer used to run the simulator program, was set to full
brightness, and angled until the participant said that they could see it clearly.

METHOD
Method used, and adapted from Matt Jamiesons Driver Reaction Test procedure (2008).
Setting Up The Simulator
The Tainlab Electronics Driving Seat was set up in a quiet and excluded area to remove
as much occurring distractions as possible. The Driver Reaction Tester simulation
program was appropriately set up on a computer on a table in front of the driving seat
and the computer screen was adjusted until the screen could be clearly seen by
someone sitting in the driving seat. The setting of the simulator program was set to a
custom setting, which had a road type of sealed, was always in the city, and had dry
weather. The initial starting speed was 50 km/h, then increased in the drive to 60 km/h,
and didnt change from there. None of the additional events under distraction or other
were added. The vehicle load was 100kg, vehicle mass was 1000kg, the brakes were in
good condition and the clutch was ignored. The maximum simulation run time was set to
40 seconds.

Doing The Drive

Once the participant was shown the experimental setup, a demonstration of the
experiment was done to show them how the simulator worked, and what they were
expected to do. They then got a practice run; and then they gave their consent, so the
experiment could start. The right foot was the first foot to be used in the experiment.
The researcher started up the simulation by clicking on Run. The test doesnt begin

immediately; once the driver said they

were comfortable and ready the
DRIVING SIMULATOR: RIGHT FOOT, LEFT FOOT BRAKE TIME REACTION
RATE|NICHOLAS
HARDY
research
clicked on
Start. The driver
had to focus on the speed throughout
the simulation, by watching the
speedometer but if they were just under
or over the speed limit, they were told
not to adjust their speed. At the first
appearance of the stop sign Photo 1,
Photo 1, The stop sign that appears in the simulation.
they applied the brake as quickly as
possible. Once the vehicle had come to
a complete halt, the program automatically moved to the next screen.

Recording The Results

The only piece of data taken from the
Run Comment is the reaction rate Photo
2, which is how long it took to apply the
brake after the stop sign appeared.
Photo 2, On the next screen only the reaction rate is recorded.
Repeat.
The Doing The Drive and Recording The Results were repeated on the participants
their left foot, then again on the right foot, and lastly on the left foot.

MATERIALS
The following materials were gathered, and setup in the common area;

Laptop
Computer Simulator Program
Trainlab Electronics Tec Four Block
Tainlab Electronics Driving Reaction Seat (Seat / Accelerator / Brake / Clutch)

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
The following ethical processes were applied throughout the study;

Consent Forms
Participant Numbers
Demonstration of Task
Practice Run

The reason why these processes were applied, were because the consent forms, contain
the information that told the participant, that the data collected would be used in the
DRIVING
SIMULATOR:
RIGHT
FOOT, LEFT
FOOT
BRAKE
TIME forms
REACTION
RATE|NICHOLAS
HARDY
following
report
write-up.
That
the
consent
would
be only seen
by the researchers,
and their results would be put under a number and not their name, to give them
anonymity. A demonstration of the simulation was done before they had their practice
run on the simulator, so they knew exactly what would happen throughout the
simulation, and they could get a feel of the pedals.

SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS
There were not many safety concerns, apart from participants using their left foot to
drive, when they are in a car in a real life situations. So before they left after they
finished their participation, it was made certain that they knew that they shouldnt use
there left foot while driving.
RESULTS

Figure 1, the top graph is the collection of data when participants from 1 to 12, used their right foot to go fr
Columns from left to right are; participants number, the sex of the participant, their age only in years. There

Patterns Of The Results.

Referring back to Figure 2, it can be seen that there isnt a big difference between the
participants right foot and their left foot, in reaction rate. 8 out of 12 participants are
DRIVING
SIMULATOR:
RIGHT
FOOT,
LEFT
FOOTleft.
BRAKE
REACTION
RATE|NICHOLAS
faster
on their
right
than
their
AsTIME
seen
in Figure
3, the right HARDY
foot averaged out to
have a faster reaction rate than the left foot, by a 22 millisecond differences.

Figure 2, the column graph shows the averaged reaction time for participants 1 to participant 12 on their lef
DRIVING SIMULATOR: RIGHT FOOT, LEFT FOOT BRAKE TIME REACTION RATE|NICHOLAS HARDY

Figure 3, The final total reaction rate of the participants right foot and of the participants left foot. There is

DISSCUSION
Why The Results Were Or Werent Expected.
The achieved results were expected to occur from the researcher because it was known
that it would take at least 331 milliseconds to react (Kumar; Shelton, 2010). The
participants would still have to move their foot over to the brake, resulting in an
approximately 200 to 300 millisecond delay.

As Figure 1 indicates, we can see we had a total of 5 out of 12 participants had driving
experience in real life, and people are taught to control a car with their right foot,
because the left foot is only used for the clutch, which is only in a manual car (the clutch
was ignored in the experiment). Participants who had driving experience are used to
using their right foot meaning it may improve their reaction time.

DRIVING SIMULATOR: RIGHT FOOT, LEFT FOOT BRAKE TIME REACTION RATE|NICHOLAS HARDY

Did The Results Support Or Disprove The Hypothesis?

The hypothesis was: If people use their right foot on the driving simulator then they will
have a faster reaction time, then they would while using their left foot on the driving
simulator. The data gathered in Figure3, shows that the average reaction rate on the
right foot was 629 milliseconds and on the left it was 651 milliseconds. This shows that
the right foot reaction was 22 milliseconds faster than their left foot reaction, by those
results the hypothesis is supported, but this is too small of a sample, to be extrapolate it
to a population.

PROCEDURE ANALYSIS
Positive Components Of The Experimental Design.
(1)Giving the participants a practice run was highly beneficial because most of the
time the participants would achieve a reaction rate which, was extremely slower
than their reaction achieve in the actual attempts. An example, a participant
achieved a rate of 1132 milliseconds on their practice run and then achieved
around 500 to 700 milliseconds on their non-practice runs.
(2)There was an adequate sample size consisting of an even split of sex, a mix of age,
and driving experience.
Negative Components Of The Experimental Design.
(1)There were only two replicates on each foot, where it would have been better to get
3 or 4 replicates per foot, but the time it took to achieve two replicates on each
foot, made it un-realistic to do that and get a large enough sample of people. With
more replicates we could have gotten a better average for there right foot, and left
foot reaction rate. Then with a larger sample size we could have gotten a better
total averaged reaction rate.
(2)Participants were allowed to have their foot anywhere on the accelerator so this
meant that they could have had their foot either on the inside, the middle, or
outside of the accelerator and this would mean that the time it took to move their
foot over to the brake took a different amount of time.

Improvements That Could Be Made To This Experimental Design.

DRIVING SIMULATOR: RIGHT FOOT, LEFT FOOT BRAKE TIME REACTION RATE|NICHOLAS HARDY

(1)If the experiment was conducted in a studio (A studio being, a small enclosed
room); instead of a common area, it could improve the participants concentration
on the task at hand, by removing the little bit of surrounding distractions that there
were. Removing these surrounding distraction can makes it more realistic, for the
situation of driving alone, on a quiet street
(2)If there was a steering wheel that the participants could hold onto it could improve
how comfortable the participants are, especially ones that have driven before. If a
better driving seat was used to make the person more comfortable or at least
adding a cushion (these are from feedback from participants).
(3)If we used a simulation program which, uses a video instead of a set of pictures, it
would make the simulation feel more like a real world drive.

Further Studies That Could Be Undertaken?

(1)Instead of looking at the difference of reaction rate between non-dominate and
dominate feet, the difference between the non-dominate and dominate eye could
be looked at. If the same experiment was conducted by the participant had one of
their eyes cover you could start to look at the difference in signal speed but this
would need very accurate equipment.
(2)Looking at the difference in people who have their left foot as a dominate foot to
see if it would be safer of them to use that instead of their right foot. Driving with
the left foot isnt an option because we are told to use our right foot when driving.
(3)Testing how much faster the reaction time is by using both of their feet while
driving; right foot on accelerator, and left foot on brake.

CONCLUSION
Connections To The Real World.
This data, and whole study connects with the real world because, driving is an activity
that is almost compulsory for everyone that lives in a first world country, to move from
place to place. Being able to quickly react when driving is a necessity because the
vehicles that we drive can cause tremendous damage. It currently isnt illegal anywhere
to drive with your left foot controlling the car, so this shows that if you used you left foot
the main downsides would be a slower reaction rate and mostly likely being a tad
uncomfortable.

DRIVING SIMULATOR: RIGHT FOOT, LEFT FOOT BRAKE TIME REACTION RATE|NICHOLAS HARDY

Final Comment.
Figure 3, shows that the average reaction rate on the right foot was 629 milliseconds and
on the left it was 651 milliseconds. This shows that the right foot reaction was 22
milliseconds faster than their left foot reaction, by those results the hypothesis is
supported.
Since everybody, apart from one participant was right foot dominate, if that was
changed to be an even number of right foot dominate people, to left foot dominate
people; the study would also be looking into which dominate foot was the fastest when
reacting for driving.

REFERENCES
Mali, B.Y; Bhatkar, R.S; Pradhan, M.P; Kowale, A.N. 2012, Comparison of Visual and
Auditory Reaction Time of Right and Left Side in Right Handed Young Adults, PDF,
accessed 22 March 2015, <http://medind.nic.in/ice/t12/i8/icet12i8p316.pdf>.
Kumar, GP; Shelton, J. 2010, Comparison between Auditory and Visual Simple Reaction
Times,
PDF,
accessed
22
March,
2015,
<https://www.google.com.au/url?
sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CCwQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F
%2Fwww.scirp.org%2Fjournal%2FPaperDownload.aspx%3FDOI
%3D10.4236%2Fnm.2010.11004&ei=qBARVb25AsG2mQXM4YFQ&usg=AFQjCNEhqLHSX
MTLbgXUUg_ty16lZ9SGKQ&bvm=bv.89184060,d.dGY&cad=rja>.