Hazard anticipation of young novice drivers - SWOV

the task demands. The range of acceptable task difficulties / risks is not fixed.
This range depends on the rather permanent dispositions of the driver (her
or his norms and values and whether she or he is a risk avoider or a
sensation seeker) and temporary motives (e.g. whether the driver is in a
hurry or not). The core of Fuller's task-difficulty homeostasis model is
calibration. Figure 3.3 presents an adaptation of what is considered as
Fuller's concept of calibration.
Figure 3.3. Calibration (adapted from Fuller, 2007a).
To a certain extent, drivers can determine how difficult and/or risky the
driving task is. When for instance a driver begins to drive faster, the task will
usually become more complex and risky. Normally a driver does not want to
exceed her or his own abilities and experience feelings of loss of control
(Fuller, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2007a). In order not to lose control, the driver
balances the task demands and her or his capabilities. This balancing of
capabilities and task demands based on self-assessment and risk assessment
is called calibration (De Craen, 2010; Fuller, 2007a; Mitsopoulos, Triggs, &
Regan, 2006). A driver does not balance task demands/risks and capabilities,
but balances perceived task/demands and perceived risks. When both the
perceived capabilities completely coincide with the real capabilities and the
perceived task demands / risks completely coincide with the real task
demands / risks a driver is well calibrated. This is the case when in Figure 3.3
both the boxes of 'Real task capabilities' and 'Perceived task capabilities'
overlap and the boxes of 'Real task demands /risks' and 'Perceived task
demands / risks' overlap. Such a driver does not underestimate or
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