Change detection in traffic: Where do we look and what do we perceive?

The current study focuses on Change Blindness in a road environment. The purpose of the experiment is to study how the type of change induced affects the strength of Change Blindness and the role of glance duration and attention. Hundred-thirty-one participants watched video films showing six drives around a block filmed from the drivers viewpoint. They were instructed to look for a traffic related change from one drive to the next. Eye glance duration to traffic signs was measured, as well as Change Blindness. In drive 6, one of the traffic signs was changed into another traffic sign, with four different types of changes. The experiment showed that longer glances to the traffic signs in general predict Change Awareness in case of a change, whereas shorter glances predict Change Blindness. If the change is explicitly perceived, this resulted in even longer glances to the changed sign. Change detection improved with a larger difference between the original and the changed sign, with the traffic sign not fitting the scene and when attention was raised by means of an auditory message.