Risk behaviour and mental workload: Multimodal assessment techniques applied to motorbike riding simulation q Leandro L. Di Stasi a, * , Vanessa Álvarez-Valbuena a , José J. Cañas a , Antonio Maldonado b , Andrés Catena b , Adoración Antolí a , Antonio Candido b a Cognitive Ergonomics Group, Department of Experimental Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Granada, Campus de Cartuja, s/n. 18071 Granada, Spain b Animal and Human Learning Group, Department of Experimental Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Granada, Campus de Cartuja, s/n. 18071 Granada, Spain article info Article history: Received 25 August 2008 Received in revised form 12 December 2008 Accepted 12 February 2009 Keywords: Risky behaviour Mental workload Peak of saccadic velocity Riding simulation Multimodal assessment abstract We present data from an ongoing research project on the cognitive, emotional and neuro- psychological basis of risk behaviour. The main aim of the project is to build a model of risk behaviour so that if we know certain cognitive, behavioural and emotional variables, we will be able to predict decisions made in the face of uncertainty and risk, with the final goal of designing programs for evaluating, preventing and controlling risk behaviour. The objec- tive of the present study was to look for individual differences in hazard perception during a static riding simulation and their relationship with mental workload. We used a multidi- mensional methodology, including behavioural, subjective and physiological data. The behavioural measures were obtained in a static riding simulation during eight hazard sit- uations. We evaluated whether eye activity measures correlated with cognitive workload and different types of risky behaviours. Eye movement parameters were measured using a video-based eye tracking system. We found that risk-prone individuals showed specific patterns of risky behaviours and that peak of saccadic velocity and subjective mental work- load indexes were both reliable indicators of risk proneness. Mental workload was higher for participants showing attitudes to risk behaviours probably because of a lack of con- scious awareness of specific cues indicating dangerous scenarios. Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Improving road safety is an important issue. Every year, about 47,000 people are killed in the European Union (EU) as a result of road accidents (Janssen & Attané, 2004). Contributing factors to crashes are commonly classified as human, vehicle or roadway/vehicle/environmental (Knipling, 2005). Most accidents are attributed to human factors (90–95%, Todoskoff, Dil- lies, Popieul, & Angué, 1999), which as a single cause are responsible for 65% of road accidents (Kenny, 1995). Inattention has been identified as the leading primary cause, accounting for 25–56% of the total number of accidents (Petridou & Moustaki, 2000; Sánchez et al., 2006). Proportionally motorcycles are the vehicles most frequently involved in road accidents (Euro- pean Transport Safety Council [ETSC], 2003). When there is a collision with another road user, motorcyclists are responsible for 26% of these accidents (Assing, 2002). 1369-8478/$ - see front matter Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.trf.2009.02.004 q A partial report of these results were presented at the Driving Simulation Conference 2008, Europe-Monaco. * Corresponding author. Address: Dept. Psicología Experimental, Facultad de Psicología, Campus de Cartuja s/n. 18071 Granada, Spain. Tel.: +34 958 243767; fax: +34 958 246239. E-mail addresses: distasi@correo.ugr.es, leandro.distasi@gmail.com (L.L. Di Stasi), valbuen@ugr.es (V. Álvarez-Valbuena), delagado@ugr.es (J.J. Cañas), anmaldo@ugr.es (A. Maldonado), acatena@ugr.es (A. Catena), antoli@ugr.es (A. Antolí), acandido@ugr.es (A. Candido). Transportation Research Part F 12 (2009) 361–370 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Transportation Research Part F journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/trf