Maintaining Situational Awareness: The Role of Visual Attention

This study examined the relationship between the UFOV® test (Ball, et al. 1993), and measuresof situational awareness (SA) for the purpose of identifying those components of visual attention that aremost important in maintaining SA. Situational awareness was assessed using a PC based drivingsimulator that tests a participant’s ability to detect and respond to hazardous situations, as well as theirknowledge of the locations of other cars. Subtests 2 and 3 of the UFOV test, which assess a participantsdivided and selective attention ability, were found to be significantly correlated with a participant’sability to recognize hazards and recall the location of other cars. The results suggest that the divided andselective attention tasks of the UFOV® test measure abilities that contribute significantly to a person’scapacity to maintain situational awareness