Visual attention while driving: sequences of eye fixations made by experienced and novice drivers

Abstract

Eye fixations were recorded while novice and experienced drivers drove along three types of roads (rural, suburban and dual-carriageway). An analysis of the content of those fixations was performed in order to identify differences in the scanpaths that can be associated with skill acquisition and that can indicate a sensitivity to road type. This analysis itemized the part of the visual scene that was inspected with each fixation, and identified what the driver looked at as a function of what they had looked at previously. Single-fixation, two-fixation, and three-fixation patterns of eye-movements were identified. Differences in sequences of fixations were found between novice and experienced drivers on the three types of roads, with experienced drivers showing greater sensitivity overall, and with some stereotypical transitions in the visual attention of the novices. A number of individual sequences were identified, including a roadway preview pattern (alternating fixations between near and far views of the road ahead), and patterns involving mirror inspections that varied according to the road type.

The visual control of bicycle steering: The effects of speed and path width

“…Both in car driving and walking, eye movements have been studied to understand how humans use vision for obstacle avoidance and safe navigation Patla and Greig, 2006;Hildreth et al, 2000;Mourant and Rockwell, 1972;Underwood et al, 2003;Falkmer and Gregersen, 2005). Unfortunately, despite the fact that cycling is a widespread form of transportation and is often recommended as a healthy and economic way to do so (Rabl and de Nazelle, 2012), little is known about the visual behaviour of cyclists.…”

Conveying clinical reasoning based on visual observation via eye-movement modelling examples

“…Although no studies have yet investigated which differences in visual observation skills exist between experts and novices when processing dynamic stimuli in the medical domain such as patient video cases, expertise differences in visual observation skills have been shown for dynamic, realistic stimuli in other domains, such as biological classification of motion patterns (Jarodzka et al 2010a) or car driving (Underwood et al 2003).…”

“…These studies showed that experts possess sophisticated visual observation skills which enable them to visually search relevant features of a stimulus within irrelevant features and to interpret these observations correctly (e.g., Antes and Kristjanson 1991;Charness et al 2001;Jarodzka et al 2010a; Underwood et al 2003). Novices, however, get easily distracted by salient, but potentially irrelevant, elements of a visual stimulus, whilst missing relevant information (Jarodzka et al 2010a;Lowe 1999).…”

Investigating the Effect of a Visual Search Task for Simulator-Based Driver Training

“…Crash rates are highest in the first months of independent driving and decline as drivers gain experience (Mayhew, Simpson, & Pak, 2003). Many studies have shown differences in visual search behavior between experienced and novice drivers (e.g., Underwood, Chapman, Brocklehurst, Underwood, & Crundall, 2003). One factor that has been associated with the high crash rates among novice drivers is their poor ability to identify and anticipate hazards (e.g., Fisher, Pollatsek, & Pradhan, 2006).…”