Scanning behaviour of road images is influenced by a preceding unrelated visual search task

Research suggests that the allocation of attention whilst driving is influenced by the top-down attentional set of the driver, such that potential hazards may only capture attention if they match the attentional control settings. The current study aimed to determine if a completely unrelated attentional set could influence the strategies employed by drivers when viewing a static driving image. We asked participants to search for letters in a horizontal, vertical, or randomly dispersed array, and then immediately asked them to study photographs of road scenes while their eye movements were measured. Results showed that the unrelated letter search influenced subsequent scanning behaviour on the pictures. A horizontal letter search led to narrower vertical search in the road scenes, while a vertical letter search resulted in a wider vertical search in the road scenes. This has implications for the training of visual search strategies in novice drivers, and the presentation and layout of road-side information