The Qualitative Model of Behavioural Adaptation

The qualitative model of behavioural adaptation (Rudin-Brown and Parker, 2004) was originally called the quantitative model of behavioural adaptation (Brown and Noy, 2004) and presented at an ICTTP conference in 2000. This model is aimed exclusively at explaining behavioural adaptation to in-vehicle driver-assistance systems, and suggests that driving experience is mediated via the trust the driver has in the driver-assistance system. This trust is affected by a driver s personality, particularly their locus of control and sensation-seeking characteristics. Drivers personality and their trust in the system then create their 

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FIG U RE 11.1 The qualitative model of behavioural adaptation. (From Rudin-Brown, C. M. 2010. lETIntelligent Transport Systems, 4, 252-261. With permission.)... 

Brown and Noy (2000) considered several driver behaviour models in an attempt to look for variables associated with behavioural adaptation to driver support systems. One conclusion of their study was that one element that determines the degree to which humans rely on automation is the amount of trust drivers feel towards a system, which in turn depends on a system s perceived competency. One hypothesis is that in-vehicle systems that are perceived by users to be trustworthy are also those that generate behavioural adaptation. They propose that new directions in studies of behavioural adaptation should include notions as trust in automation and possible contributing psychological variables as SS and locus of control (LoC) (Brown and Noy, 2004). In follow-up studies, Rudin-Brown and Noy (2002) and Rudin-Brown (2010) proposed their qualitative model of behavioural adaptation (Figure 11.1) from which they developed hypotheses about psychological characteristics that may affect behavioural adaptation to in-vehicle intelligent transport systems (ITS). 

In fact, the design principles for adaptive systems have a lot in common with more general principles for designing automation. Rudin-Brown (2010) proposed a qualitative model of behavioural adaptation that invoked factors such as locus of control, trust, and mental models—a very similar set of factors as proposed by Stanton and Young (2000) in their psychological model of vehicle automation. Thus, by extrapolation, we might turn to the considerable literature on designing human-centred automation for advice. 

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