Keywords

Self-Determination Theory, Situation Awareness, Automated Driving, Engagement, Human-Automation Interaction, Motivational Design

Subject Categories

Cognitive Psychology | Human Factors Psychology

Abstract

Automation reshapes the human operator's role in driving without removing the human from the system, raising the question of how interfaces can keep operators motivated, engaged, and situation aware. Grounded in Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and eudaimonic design; and framed by the Human-Autonomy System Oversight (HASO) model, this dissertation examined whether autonomy-supportive and competence-supportive interface features in an automated-driving oversight task were associated with psychological need satisfaction, engagement, hazard monitoring, and situation awareness. A sample of 279 licensed drivers completed an online hazard-monitoring task built from six roadway video clips. Participants were assigned to autonomy and competence interface conditions and viewed clips under static, adaptable, and adaptive support-policy levels of automation (LOA). Measures included post-clip need-satisfaction and engagement ratings, SAGAT situation-awareness probes, hazard-detection accuracy, and valid-hit reaction time. The autonomy and competence manipulations did not reliably affect the need satisfaction or engagement they were designed to support, and the proposed serial pathway from interface support to need satisfaction, engagement, and oversight outcomes was not supported. The clearest and most consistent effects involved support-policy authority: static clips showed faster valid-hit reaction times but lower situation-awareness accuracy, whereas adaptable and adaptive clips showed higher situation-awareness accuracy at the cost of slower responses. Competence satisfaction was the clearest motivational correlate of engagement. Taken together, the findings indicate that automated-driving oversight is not a single performance construct, that level of automation shaped a speed-awareness trade space more than motivational support did, and that motivational interface effects may require longer or more consequential exposure to emerge.

Completion Date

2026

Semester

Summer

Committee Chair

Szalma, James

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Sciences

Department

Psychology

Format

PDF

Document Type

Dissertation

Language

English

Release Date

8-15-2028

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Available for download on Tuesday, August 15, 2028

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