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Abstract
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OBJECTIVE
In a driving simulator, a fully autonomous driving task was applied to study the effects of optic flow on Peripheral Detection Task (PDT) performance. The study was designed to test the hypothesis that optic flow induces visual tunneling effects.
Background
The visual tunneling effect as a result of driving, found in a previous study, was investigated further in this experiment.
Method
Speed, stimulus eccentricity and conspicuity were applied as within-subjects factors. Age was applied as a between-subjects factor.
Results
Optic flow resulted in increased PDT response time. Also, optic flow resulted in a task by stimulus eccentricity interaction on PDT RT that was interpreted as a visual tunneling effect.
Conclusion
The results support the hypothesis that optic flow is a factor responsible for visual tunneling while driving. Older drivers experience stronger visual tunneling effects compared to younger drivers.
Application
During driving tasks, visual tunneling effects may occur as a result of optic flow and these effects are more evident at higher speed and for older drivers.
Language: en |