Attending to the peripheral world while driving

Abstract

Do inexperienced drivers see less of the world when driving? Previous research suggests that participants detect fewer peripheral targets while watching video clips of dynamic hazardous driving scenes due to increases in foveal demand (i.e. the presence of a hazard), increases in peripheral target eccentricity, and the lack of driving experience. The current study aimed to further explore the role of experience as a key factor in the potential narrowing of spatial attention, and the possibility of differences in the time course of attentional deployment. It was predicted that the amount of narrowing due to central processing demands would change as a function of driving experience, with more experienced drivers suffering less narrowing due to their mastery of central processing demands in road scenes. The data did not support the narrowing hypothesis, though they did support the alternative strategic difference between the driver groups in the time-course of attentional deployment. Learners seem to suffer attentional degradation in extra-foveal regions over a longer period of time whereas experienced drivers seem to invest peripheral attention at the hazard location in short but intense bursts.

Development and Validation of the Spanish Hazard Perception Test

“…Novice drivers have restricted scan patterns (e.g. Crundall and Underwood, 1998), they have longer fixation times on roadrelevant objects (Chapman and Underwood, 1998), reduced peripheral attention, (Crundall et al 2002), a poorer lane maintenance (Land and Horwood, 1995), and are slower to respond to hazards (McKenna and Crick, 1991).…”

What attracts attention during police pursuit driving?

“…Crundall, Underwood, and Chapman (1999) found that the appearance of a hazard reduced the ability of participants to spot peripheral targets. Crundall, Underwood, and Chapman (2002) did note however that more experienced drivers recover more quickly after a sudden reduction in peripheral awareness than a control group of learner drivers. This inattentional blindness for extra-foveal stimuli (Mack & Rock, 1998) occurs when the appearance of a target goes unnoticed by participants, not because the onset of the target is masked in any way, but because attentional resources are devoted elsewhere.…”

“…Land & Horwood, 1995), and that inexperienced drivers have reduced peripheral awareness (e.g. Crundall et al, 2002), which taken together suggest that novice drivers may have to foveate lane markings in order to maintain lane position. The results support the hypothesis that novice drivers favour sources of lane maintenance information, even when that information is not required (as no motor interaction was necessary).…”

Driving with Visual Field Loss: An Exploratory Simulation Study

“…Peripheral vision has been shown to support a number of driving tasks including lane maintenance, speed estimation (Bhise & Rockwell, 1971), and the detection of abrupt onsets or changes in the periphery such as hazard detection (Crundall, Underwood, & Chapman, 2002). However, the minimum visual field consistent with safe driving has not been determined.…”