Analysis of a Complex Skill: Vehicle Driving

Abstract

A battery of twelve driving tests, a majority of which represented new designs, were constructed in the desert. 180 subjects were divided into five groups on the basis of the number of hours members of each group drove a truck on a fatigue course after an initial test and prior to a retest on the battery. The fatigue periods were of 0, 1,3, 7, or 9 hr duration. Pre-and post-fatigue test results were correlated with hours of fatigue driving, where hours-of-driving served as the test criterion. Test-retest reliabilities ranged from 0.35 to 0.88. Validities reached a maximum of 0.38. A small-scale factor analysis was performed on a correlation matrix based upon a single measure from each of eight tests. Proprioception, reaction-time, spatial orientation, response orientation, and multilimb coordination were identified as basic skills in vehicle driving.