Cellphone driving affects understanding

[The Straight Story]

Cellphone driving affects understanding

URBANA-CHAMPAIGN, Ill., Jan. 22 (UPI) -- Talking on a cellphone may inhibit one's driving but driving inhibits one's ability to understand and use language, U.S. researchers said.

The finding contradicts two previous studies, researchers at the University of Illinois said Friday.

"The previous findings made no sense to those of us who have studied language," Gary Dell, a psycholinguist in the department of psychology at Illinois and corresponding author on the study, said.
...

The subjects worked in pairs, one as a driver and the other as a conversation partner who was either talking with the driver through a hands-free cellphone from a distant location or with the driver in the simulator.

Each participant either sat unmoving or simulated moving through busy traffic while hearing and then retelling a story he or she had not heard before. Each member of the study was told and asked to repeat four stories they heard by headphone.

"The drivers remembered 20 percent less of what was told to them when they were driving," Dell said.

http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2010/01/22/Cellphone-driving-affects-understanding/UPI-38761264211632/

[DJ13]

1. Dammit, now I've gotta pull over to read your post

Tree? What tree......?

:nuke:

[Igel]

2. I find the comment by the psycholinguist and the reporting confusing.

Seriously.

It confuses remembering, understanding, and using, one the one hand, and being exposed to a story and listening to a story, on the other.

While understanding and using arguably use the same neural processes, remembering is rather different. Driving might interfere with memory. Or perhaps the drivers are remembering everything they understood and their understanding was impaired.

Or, perhaps they simply weren't paying attention. By that token, a bright sunny afternoon outside a classroom can interfere with language comprehension. Try to factor that into figuring out if language is a specific kind of cognition or part of general cognition.

Might have to use my wife's account to read the danged article to figure out what the researchers actually said. Can't get there from here. Perhaps the science reporter was talking to the researchers while driving them through heavy traffic to the airport.

[pnwmom]

3. That fits with my own perceptions, FWIW.

If I'm driving an unfamiliar route or otherwise stressful situation, I don't like it when people try to talk to me. I can't focus enough on the driving and talk at the same time.

And when I'm on an easy drive if I get too involved in a conversation I can make a dumb mistake.

[Skittles]

4. I'll admit it: I suck at driving while yakking on a phone

so I don't do it, outside of calling someone at a red light to tell 'em I'll call 'em back soon

[pnwmom]

5. I never even try it on a phone. I have enough trouble talking to kids in the back seat!

Or my mother in law in the front.