About

Nichole Morris is a Research Associate Professor and the Director of the Human Factors Safety Laboratory at the University of Minnesota's Department of Mechanical Engineering. Her research interests focus on human-centered engineering, emphasizing inclusive and equitable design, infrastructure, and human-machine interfaces to enhance transportation and occupational safety. Her work examines human behavior and performance, applying human factors design principles to develop safe and usable technologies and systems. She holds a Ph.D. in Human Factors Psychology from Wichita State University, earned in 2011, along with a Master's and Bachelor's degree in Psychology from the same institution. Morris has contributed to the field through her research on driver behavior, pedestrian safety, gender disparities, and human-centered design, with a particular focus on transportation safety. She has held various academic and research positions at the University of Minnesota since 2011, including roles as Research Associate and Director of the HumanFIRST Laboratory. Her work has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Towards Zero Deaths Kathy Swanson Outstanding Service Award and the AASHTO High Value Research Award.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Transport engineering
• Engineering
• Artificial Intelligence
• Business
• Machine Learning
• Environmental health
• Medicine
• Real-time computing
• Algorithm
• Demography
• Psychology
• Simulation
• Social psychology

Selected publications

• Evaluating the Influence of Stop Line Position on Driver Stopping Distances at Rural, Stop-Controlled Intersections

  Transportation Research Record Journal of the Transportation Research Board · 2026-05-15

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Rural, two-way, stop-controlled intersections represent a high risk for serious injury and fatality owing to the increased propensity for right-angle crashes following stop sign running or poor gap acceptance by drivers on minor roads. Safety countermeasures are often aimed at improving minor road stop sign compliance, gap selection, sight distance, and major road speeds. Stop lines have been found to increase intersection recognition and indicate stopping position. A simulation study of licensed drivers ( n = 50) examined stopping behaviors at a random series of two-lane, two-way, stop-controlled intersections with no stop line, a stop line 1.22-m back from the lane edge, or 9.14-m back from the intersection edge. Participants experienced each stop line type twice. Stopping distances were observed at two slow speed/stopping thresholds: <2.0 m/s and 0.0 m/s. Of the three conditions, participants stopped closest to the intersection with the 1.22 m stop line and furthest from the intersection with no stop line. At both stopping speed thresholds, differences in stopping distances were statistically significant between the 1.22 m stop line and the 9.14 m stop line, the 1.22 m stop line and no stop line, and between the 9.14 m stop line and no stop line. Order and first/last stopping distance differences were nonsignificant. The results suggest that stop lines may perceptually anchor drivers to stop closer to intersections and may help increase sight distances, improve gap acceptance, and slow mainline driver speeds.

  PublisherDOI

• Data Supporting: Examining Driver Handoff at Rural Intersections

  Data Repository for the University of Minnesota · 2026-01-01

  datasetOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  The goal of this work was to explore whether the complexity of different rural intersections influenced driver trust and comfort in a conditionally automated vehicle (i.e., level 3 SAE) navigating the intersection for them. In an online survey platform (UMN Qualtrics), 271 participants watched five brief curated 360-degree videos, edited to convey a fisheye of the windshield and side window views, of a simulated automated vehicle navigating different rural intersections, with or without the presence of traffic. Participants were asked to make a decision about whether they would like to take over control and rated their trust and comfort with the automated vehicle navigating each intersection. Intersection type was not predictive of AV trust and comfort with navigating the different intersections, however, drivers’ takeover decisions, level of education, past experience driving on J-turn intersections and location predicted the level of trust and comfort with the automated vehicle. Additionally, predictors of being more comfortable with L3 automated vehicles driving on J-turn intersections included education, having more automation features (e.g., ACC, LKA) in their existing vehicles and the belief that J-turns are a good idea. The outcome of this work led to the development of a repository of curated forward- and side-view simulated videos that were made publicly available for future research projects.

  PublisherDOI

• Intelligent Cctv for Urban Design: Ai-Based Analysis of Soft Infrastructure at Intersections

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Older Drivers: Attention, Habits and Memory

  Innovation in Aging · 2025-12-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract Older drivers are at increased risk for negative outcomes and generating knowledge to promote safe driving and when to consider retirement from driving are of the utmost importance. This study evaluated how demographics and cognitive state are related to driver habits and attention. A sample of community dwelling older adults (n = 111) without global cognitive impairment on the Minnesota Cognitive Acuity Screen completed baseline assessments before the initiation of a driver safety intervention. Participants reported as 61% female, mean age 69.1 (SD 6.2), 15.9 mean years education (SD 2.4), and 66% retired. 19% reported living in an urban setting, 47% suburban, and 34% rural. Self-reported measures included the Driving and Riding Avoidance Scale (DRAS), Cognitive Failures Questionnaire - Driving (CFQ), Attention-Related Driving Errors Scale (ARDES), Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), and Aggressive Driving Behavior Questionnaire (ADBQ). No measure was significantly related to participant demographics. Brief performance measures of cognition administered by telephone, including the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) Blind and oral Trails A and B, were mostly uncorrelated with the self-reported driving and attention measures. One exception was the MoCA word recall and DRAS, r(106) = -.224, p=.02, in which poorer memory was associated with greater driver avoidance. These findings are noteworthy for 1) a lack of correlation between self-reported measures of driver attention and either age or cognition, 2) no gender differences found in measures of driver behavior, and 3) in a sample pre-screened for cognitive impairment, the word recall was significantly related to older adults’ self-reported driver avoidance behaviors.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Examining Biological Motion as a Potential Factor in E-Scooter Conspicuity and Safety

  Human Factors The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society · 2025-05-22

  articleSenior author

  BackgroundE-scooter injuries have risen in recent years and riders report a relatively high prevalence of accidents. Collisions with motor vehicles pose a high risk to e-scooter users. E-scooter riders move fast relative to runners but lack movement of limbs that present aspects of biological motion to drivers, which may diminish conspicuity.MethodTwo experiments measured participants' detection of point light representations beneath masking visual noise. Study 1 presented a runner, e-scooter rider, and rectangular object. Study 2 modified the e-scooter stimuli to remove motion sway and added alternative e-scooter presentations, one with moving lights consistent with biological motion and the other with the same motion in reverse, inconsistent with biological motion.ResultsStudy 1 found a main effect of figure type, with the runner resulting in superior detection, recognition, and response time compared to the e-scooter rider, which performed better than the object. Study 2 found better perception performance for the runner, including better detection compared to the reverse motion e-scooter.ConclusionFindings suggest that reduced biological motion produced by e-scooter users slightly worsens and slows their detection by other road users and indicates an advantage for the perception of human body configurations. Any inclusion of apparent motion to improve detection, especially near the ground, should be consistent with biological motion.ApplicationVisual display alterations (e.g., lighting) to introduce apparent motion that mimics biological movements or is consistent with biological motion may potentially confer a detection advantage over other movement patterns.

  PublisherDOI

• An Examination of Gender and Racial Representation of Full-Body Adult Mannequins: Attitudes, Barriers, and Opportunities for Inclusion in Simulation Training Facilities

  Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting · 2025-09-01

  articleSenior author

  There are known disparities in patient outcomes in emergency medicine. Because first responder training is relatively brief, it is important they have representative training experiences. Given the limited marketing and availability of alternative simulators, we examine whether there is a limited and homogenous inventory for simulation training as one plausible contributing factor to these known disparities in patient care and outcomes. Respondents reported count and demographic mannequin information, barriers to purchasing diverse equipment, and rated the importance of various features on future purchasing decisions. Facilities averaged more male simulators than female simulators, and more white simulators than simulated patients of color, however, only gender differences were significantly disproportionate to that of state populations. These effects differed by geographic region. Availability and cost were the most reported barriers to obtaining diverse equipment. Investing in diverse simulators as a more comprehensive strategy could provide partial mitigation for these disparities in patient outcomes.

  PublisherDOI

• Exploring Gender Differences in the Treatment of a Gunshot Wound and Patient Undressing Across Two Medical Simulation Modalities

  2025-04-30

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract Past work suggests there are gender disparities in the treatment of trauma patients, such as undressing efficiency and managing a gunshot wound (GSW). However, most of this research has been done with patient simulators, and little work has examined whether the magnitude of the observed gender disparities are similar when comparing training with simulation technologies to training via the treatment of humans, such as standardized patients (SPs). Combat casualty treatment of female and male patients were compared between two studies. The first study included N = 29 CLS soldiers treating patient simulators and the second study included N = 10 combat medics treating SPs. Participants made significantly more gunshot wound errors treating female SPs compared to female simulators. Across both simulation methods, participants made significantly more undressing errors on female patients compared to male patients. The estimated effect size for GSW errors was found to be very large when treating standardized patients compared to a small effect size that was found when treating patient simulators. Similar medium effect sizes were found for undressing errors across both simulation methods. The preliminary findings suggest that collaboration with SPs in combat casualty care training may more accurately demonstrate performance for certain procedures (e.g., GSW) relative to patient simulators, whereas other procedures (e.g., undressing) may be adequately trained with either simulation method.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Tactical Field Care Simulation: Evaluating Gender-Dependent Error Rates and Training Gaps

  2024-04-10 · 1 citations

  articleSenior author

  Abstract Simulation-based training is a primary method for ensuring skill acquisition and retention, particularly within medicine. The use of simulated training in combat medicine is one of the only methods for soldiers to practice lifesaving skills prior to the battlefield, thus it is imperative that soldiers have ample opportunity to experience high quality training scenarios. The current study assesses the relationship between errors made in a tactical field care simulation and the participants previous simulated training experience. Twenty-eight soldiers and ROTC cadets with CLS or equivalent training completed two tactical field care simulations providing treatment to a male and female simulator, in random order, both experiencing a GSW to the chest and trauma amputation to the leg. Errors in treating patient injuries were coded for analysis. The results indicate that participants committed more errors when treating the female simulator. Errors during tourniquet application, GSW treatment, and undressing were most common when the female was presented first. Previous simulation training experience was correlated with error rates, particularly in regard to undressing, indicating that a lack of undressing training correlated to increased undressing errors. Findings suggest a pronounced gap in simulation-based training using female simulators within the CLS training curriculum.

  PublisherDOI

• Exploring Combat Tourniquet Application Errors and Duration Among Skilled and Novice Medical Trainees

  Military Medicine · 2024-06-04

  articleSenior authorCorresponding

  INTRODUCTION: The use of tourniquets in combat medicine continues to be a key focus as they have consistently been shown to combat one of the leading causes of preventable death on the battlefield, massive hemorrhage to extremities. The present study analyzed tourniquet application among combat medics (68W) and combat lifesavers (CLSs) in a training environment to determine whether trainees' performance is consistent among one another and whether performance can be associated with participant demographics such as experience or role. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Study participants treated male and female patient simulators within a tactical field care phase, both of which experienced an amputated leg and required the application of a Combat Application Tourniquet (CAT). To assess tourniquet application variability and performance, a series of application subtasks and potential errors were measured via video coding of the scenarios by a team of 5 coders. Time to tourniquet application and tourniquet application duration were also coded to assess correlations between application duration and variability or performance. RESULTS: Results from analyzing tourniquet application subtasks and errors through a series of one-way ANOVA tests showed that application of the CAT first, hasty CAT application, and high tourniquet application were not predictive of participant role, time within the role, and self-reported tourniquet skill, confidence, or experience. Such demographic variables were also not predictive of successful tourniquet application as defined by the number of windlass rod rotations. Results from binomial logistic regressions showed that participant role and self-reported tourniquet skill and experience were predictors of tourniquet application duration. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that high variability in CAT application methodology and performance exists among CLS and combat medics, which is largely not predictable by various demographics such as role, experience within the designated role, and self-reported confidence, skill, or experience. The observed disconnect between training or experience and CAT application performance suggests substantial variability in the consistency of training for both CLS and 68W soldiers. These inconsistencies may stem from variability in instructor knowledge, teaching styles, or training materials or may be developed through informal methods such as experiences in the field or recommendations from colleagues and experts. These findings highlight a potential need to reassess CAT application training, particularly in regard to consistency and validation. Finally, it should be noted that the study's findings may be limited or fail to capture some study effects because of the sample size and wide range of reported experience among participants.

  PublisherDOI

• Examination of Driver Interpretation and Response to Snowplow Rear-End Lighting Configurations

  Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting · 2024-08-13 · 1 citations

  articleSenior author

  Pursuing clear and safe roadways during the winter weather season is a key priority; however, the process of plowing roads has inherent risks given icy road conditions, risky driver behavior, high speed differentials, and low visibility. This work examined differences in driver interpretation and response to existing and proposed snowplow rear-end lighting configurations. Ninety-seven participants completed an online survey where they rated the likelihood of signal interpretations and driving maneuvers they would take as an approaching driver. An orthogonal factor analysis was conducted resulting in five interpretation-response factors across signal states. The proposed designs were more accurately perceived as running when presenting a running signal and braking when presenting a braking signal. Existing configurations were more likely to be incorrectly interpreted as turning when the signal was not indicating turning. Findings suggest that the existing rear-end snowplow lighting configurations may be ambiguous and the proposed designs reduce this ambiguity.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Curtis M. Craig

  Twin Cities Orthopedics

  59 shared

• Bradley A. Drahos

  21 shared

• Katelyn R. Schwieters

  University of Minnesota

  19 shared

• Jacob Achtemeier

  University of Minnesota

  18 shared

• Disi Tian

  Shenzhen University

  14 shared

• Alex Chaparro

  11 shared

• Max Donath

  Twin Cities Orthopedics

  10 shared

• William R. Kessler

  Indiana University

  7 shared

Labs

• Nichole Morris LabPI

Awards & honors

• Towards Zero Deaths Kathy Swanson Outstanding Service Award,…
• American Association of State Highway and Transportation Off…
• CSE Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Faculty A…
• Robert C. Johns Research Partnership Award, Center for Trans…
• 2023 Outstanding Unit Award for Equity and Diversity, in Rec…