Computer Task-Based Evaluation Technique for Measuring Everyday Risk-Taking Behavior

Human risk-taking behavior is a major factor for accidents. Several techniques for quantifying human risk-taking tendency include questionnaire and observation methods. These techniques, however, have been questioned their validity and reliability. Our objective was to propose and evaluate a computer task-based evaluation technique for measuring everyday risk-taking tendency. In this technique, the users perform tracing a certain length of pathway, from start to goal, shown on the display by mouse. The system monitors the trajectory of the mouse cursor and detects the point of decision-making when users change their strategy from steering motion to ballistic motion as the mouse cursor approaches to the goal, yielding the level of risk-taking behavior represented by the Index of Difficulty (ID) at the location of strategy change. The results of experiment showed that IDs were highly correlated with probabilities of risk-taking behaviors obtained from 16 question items.