Cognitive Psychology Unit 4
Write a 3 page paper analyzing the cognitive processes of attention, performance, and mental imagery and how they are impacted by driving while engaging in competing task demands. Specifically, there is a great deal of evidence that suggests that making telephone calls can reduce the ability of a driver to perform this task well.
Include the following in your paper:
Analyze the research on divided attention focusing on multitasking and how it applies to the following situations:
Driving while talking on a telephone.
Driving while talking to a passenger in the car.
Driving while talking using a hands-free device.
Driving while texting.
Discuss the difficulty of switching attention from one task demand to another.
Examine the role of mental imagery in improving task performance.
Examine the automatization of cognitive processes and whether problems with divided attention can be overcome utilizing mental imagery and practice. Will this reduce the dangers of multitasking while driving? Why or why not?