Three stages of research were carried out to investigate the use of the self-paced visual occlusion technique, and to model visual information sampling. Stage 1. A low-fidelity driving simulator study was carried out to investigate the effect of glance duration, a key parameter of the self-paced occlusion technique, on occlusion times. Results from this experiment, paired with analysis of data available from an on-road driving study, found an asymptotic relationship between the two variables. This finding has practical implications for establishing the appropriate glance duration in experimental studies that use self-paced visual occlusion. Stage 2. A model of visual information sampling was proposed, which incorporates elements of uncertainty development, subjective thresholds, and an awareness of past and current states of the system during occlusion. Using this modelling framework, average information sampling behaviour in occlusion studies can be analysed via mean occlusion times, and moment-by-moment responses to system output can be analysed via individual occlusion times. Analysis using the on-road driving data found that experienced drivers demonstrated a more complex and dynamic sampling strategy than inexperienced drivers. Stage 3. Findings from Stage 2 led to a simple monitoring experiment that investigated whether human operators are in fact capable of predicting system output when temporarily occluded. The platform was designed such that the dynamics of the system naturally facilitated predictions without making the monitoring task trivial. Results showed that participants were able to take predictive information into account in their sampling decisions, in addition to using the content of the information they observed from each visual sample.

Three stages of research were carried out to investigate the use of the self-paced visual occlusion technique, and to model visual information sampling. Stage 1. A low-fidelity driving simulator study was carried out to investigate the effect of glance duration, a key parameter of the self-paced occlusion technique, on occlusion times. Results from this experiment, paired with analysis of data available from an on-road driving study, found an asymptotic relationship between the two variables. This finding has practical implications for establishing the appropriate glance duration in experimental studies that use self-paced visual occlusion. Stage 2. A model of visual information sampling was proposed, which incorporates elements of uncertainty development, subjective thresholds, and an awareness of past and current states of the system during occlusion. Using this modelling framework, average information sampling behaviour in occlusion studies can be analysed via mean occlusion times, and moment-by-moment responses to system output can be analysed via individual occlusion times. Analysis using the on-road driving data found that experienced drivers demonstrated a more complex and dynamic sampling strategy than inexperienced drivers. Stage 3. Findings from Stage 2 led to a simple monitoring experiment that investigated whether human operators are in fact capable of predicting system output when temporarily occluded. The platform was designed such that the dynamics of the system naturally facilitated predictions without making the monitoring task trivial. Results showed that participants were able to take predictive information into account in their sampling decisions, in addition to using the content of the information they observed from each visual sample.