Perceptual Narrowing in Novice Divers

Abstract

It was hypothesized that in diving, danger-induced stress may contribute to performance decrement by narrowing perceptual scope. A study was conducted to examine the effect of task load and type of underwater exposure on response time to a signal light in the visual periphery. Novice divers monitored a peripheral light alone, or while simultaneously performing a central addition or dial-watching task. Each subject was tested on the surface, in a diving tank, and in the open ocean. It was found that the central tasks did not interfere with peripheral vigilance on the surface. During diving, a distinct subgroup of the dual-task subjects exhibited markedly increased response times to the peripheral light while maintaining near constant performance on the central tasks. Their behavior appeared more closely related to diving risk than to other environmental factors. The remaining dual-task subjects, and the light alone group, were almost uneffected by underwater exposure. The hypothesis was considered partially validated.

The Role of Central and Peripheral Vision in Expert Decision Making

“…It is perhaps more surprising, though, that performance should diminish in the moving window condition when only peripheral vision was removed. It is frequently suggested that less-skilled observers experience perceptual narrowing in demanding situations with which they may not be familiar (eg Luo et al 2008;Weltman and Egstrom 1966); as a result, the less-skilled participants may have been expected to rely primarily on central vision. Our findings show that this was not the case.…”

“…We expected skilled basketball players to perform better than lesser-skilled players irrespective of the viewing condition, reflecting a superior ability to use both central and peripheral vision to support context-specific decision making. In contrast, because less-skilled observers are frequently found to experience perceptual narrowing in unfamiliar, demanding situations (eg Luo et al 2008;Weltman and Egstrom 1966), we expected the decision making of the less-skilled participants to be almost wholly supported by central vision. More specifically, we expected their performance to decrease in the moving mask condition when central vision was removed, but to remain unchanged in the moving window condition when only peripheral vision was removed and central vision was preserved.…”

“…Surprisingly though, this has not been verified empirically. In particular, it seems reasonable to expect that expert performers will possess the capacity to make greater use of peripheral vision because they are better able to account for central task demands, and as a result are less likely to be subject to the same perceptual narrowing experienced by novices (Underwood et al 2008;Weltman and Egstrom 1966). That is to say, novice observers may require a greater amount of attentional resources to concentrate on the relatively unfamiliar information located in their central vision, ensuring they have little (or no) attentional capacity to attend to the more peripheral visual information.…”

Eye Movements Behavior While Driving a Car: A Review

“…Experienced stress, in subjectively dangerous situations (e.g.,diving into the ocean), leads to a perceptual narrowing (WELTMAN and EGSTROM, 1966 Anwendunoen, 1977, 36, 285-294. …”

Peripheral vision and visual attention

“…However, experimental evidence has shown that this is not always the case (Bursell, 1958;Comsweet, 1969;Hockey, 1970aHockey, , 1970bWeltman and Egstrom, 1966). (These studies will be discussed in more detail below).…”