Cognitive Biases in User Interaction with Automated Vehicles: The Influence of Explainability and Mental Models

To develop truly human-centered automated systems, it is essential to acknowledge that human reasoning is prone to systematic deviations from rational judgment, known as Cognitive Biases. The present study investigated such flawed reasoning in the context of automated driving. In a multi-step study with N = 34 participants, the occurrence of four Cognitive Biases was examined: Truthiness Effect, Automation Bias, Action Bias, and Illusory Control. Additionally, the study explored how the Explainability of the automation’s behavior and the driver’s Mental Model influenced the manifestation of these biases. The findings indicate a notable susceptibility to the Truthiness Effect and Illusory Control, although all biases appeared highly dependent on the specific driving context. Moreover, Explainability strongly impacted the perceived credibility of information and participants’ agreement with the system’s behavior. Given the exploratory nature of the study, this work aims to initiate a discussion on how Cognitive Biases shape human reasoning and decision-making in interactions with automated vehicles. Based on the results, several directions for future research are proposed: (1) investigation of additional cognitive biases, (2) analysis of biases across different levels of automation, (3) exploration of mitigation strategies versus deliberate use of biases, (4) examination of dynamic and context-dependent manifestations, and (5) validation in high-fidelity simulations or real-world settings.