University assistant professor duties

Publications and communications

Caron, F., Caractéristiques des déplacements et des représentations spatiales de conducteurs professionnels en espace urbain ; Quelques propositions pour la formation et l’aide au déplacement, 2 volumes, 238 p., Doctorat Ppsychologie des processus cognitifs, Sous la direction du Professeur Jean-Claude Sperandio, Laboratoire de Psychologie Sociale Appliquée, Université Paris V René Descartes, Septembre 1990.

Caron, F., Representations and practices of the urban network among professional drivers, Centre de Recherche sur l'Habitat, Atelier 1, à Nanterre, 21-22 Septembre 1995.

Ponnelle S., Lancry A., Baugnet L., Caron, F. & Vandromme L. (1993), Impact of the representations regarding stress during operations , Société d’Ergonomie de Langue Française (SELF), Genève, 22-24 Septembre 1993.

Caron, F., Working constraints and spatial representations: the lorry driver example , Recherche, Transports, Sécurité, Institut National de Recherche sur les Transports et leur Sécurité, 30, 3-10, 1991.

Caron, F., (1997), A practical research example: Driving in a city, in A. Weil-Barais (Ed.) Méthodes en Psychologie, Collection Grand Amphi, Chapitre 10C, 340-343.

Caron, F., (1997), A practical research example: gliders accidents, in A. Weil-Barais (Ed.) Méthodes en Psychologie, Collection Grand Amphi, Chapitre 10C, 344-349.

Caron, F. & Corroyer, D., (1997), Using computing tools, in A. Weil-Barais (Ed.) Les Méthodes en Psychologie, Bréal, Collection Grand Amphi, Chapitre 8, 261-290.

Caron, F., Representations and practices of the urban network among professional drivers, Villes en Parallèle, Numéro Spécial Psychologie de l’Environnement, sous la direction d’Annie Moch, Revue du Laboratoire de Géographie Urbaine, Université Paris X Nanterre. ( à paraître)

A practical research example: gliders accidents , in A. Weil-Barais (Ed.) Méthodes en Psychologie, Collection Grand Amphi, Chapitre 10C, 344-349, 1997.

Gliders accidents prevention , in La relation Homme-Machine dans l’aéronautique, Les Forums, Académie Nationale de l’Air et de l’Espace, teknea, Toulouse, 119-126, 1998.

Gliders accidents analysis , Vol à Voile Magazine, 1994.

Some propositions to increase soaring safety , Revue interne de la Fédération Française de Vol à Voile, 1997.

PhD Summary

Road travel poses many problems which can in part be explained by the infrastructure. Other difficulties are intrinsic to the driver such as his knowledge of the environment and the related spatial representations. The problems faced by professional drivers in the urban environment are studied with 2 aims:

1. to demonstrate how drivers represent their work environment and what strategies are used when moving about in it;
2. to propose a fast and efficient training program about the environment for drivers, and to participate in the design of computerised systems to help drivers.

After a brief presentation of the theories of representation, we examine the characteristics of mental maps and the numerous factors likely to influence spatial representations and related movements. Navigational aids are then presented in detail for all modes of transport.

The experimental studies investigate 4 groups of professional drivers.
1) Bus drivers have a sequential representation of their bus route. The length of the representation increases with experience and the number of reference points decreases. Reference points provide subgoals which join the sequences together. A precise representation of the bus route is not necessary and professional experience does not account entirely for the level of expertise.

2) The degree of elaboration of routes used by police drivers depends on the mission involved. Two cases of efficient spatial orientation can be cited : motorcyclists, because they are trained and because the motobike provides a particularly easy access to the environment, and the police responsible for traffic control who receive no training but are able to learn about their environment in several ways since they move about on foot, by bike and by car. For all police divers examined, the strategies used are based on the use of traffic networks (the main roads arounded the departure and arrival points.

3) The routes used by the Fire Brigade drivers also depend on the mission involved. Multimodal training makes these drivers rapidly efficient. A basic network is established first, followed by a secondary network. The strategy depends on the association of sequences in relation to reference points.

4) Non spatial constraints also influence the spatial representations of lorry drivers. Professional experience is an essential condition for the efficiency and management of the route. Drivers are then able to anticipate their route by giving priority to variable factors. The routes are less rigid and may be modified in relation to new spatio-temporel parameters.

The conclusions consider both the cognitive processes involved and the implications of navigation aids. As concerns the cognitive processes, in spite of the various professional objectives, strong similarities in reference points and sequential strategies are found. Basic and secondary networks are established by all the populations examined except bus drivers. Several years of professional experience appear to be necessary but the lenghth of this period may be reduced by training. Professional experience leads to efficiency, but also to the ability to optimise the routes and to evaluate accurately the importance of work constraints. The most efficient drivers receive a theorical and practical training related to the work network. Without this training, the drivers are equally efficient if they have the possibility to learn about the environment in several ways. The network is acquired in 3 steps. In the first, there is perception and integration of spatial information (road, reference point, etc.). Then, the information is related to other points in the network. The last step is a repetition of the first 2 steps. Moving slowly while acquiring this information seems to be a determining factor in the elaboration of an efficient mental representation of the environment.
Finally, 4 stages susceptibles to improve the learning of the urban environment are proposed; we attempt to describe the information which may be relevant to the navigational aids.