Much about visual spatial attention has been learned from studying how observers respond
to two-dimensional stimuli. Less is known about how attention varies along the
depth axis. Most of the work on the effect of depth on spatial attention manipulated
binocular disparity defined depth, and it is less clear how monocular depth cues affect
spatial attention. This thesis investigates the effect of target distance on peripheral
detection in a virtual three-dimensional environment that simulated distance using pictorial
and motion cues. Participants followed a lead car at a constant distance actively
or passively, while travelling along a straight trajectory. The horizontal distribution of
attention was measured using a peripheral target detection task. Both car-following and
peripheral detection were tested alone under focussed attention, and simultaneously under
divided attention. Chapter 2 evaluated the effect of target distance and eccentricity
on peripheral detection. Experiment 1 found an overall near advantage that increased at
larger eccentricities. Experiment 2 examined the effect of anticipation on target detection
and found that equating anticipation across distances drastically reduced the effect
of distance in reaction time, but did not affect accuracy. Experiments 3 and 4 examined
the relative contributions of pictorial cues on the effect of target distance and found that
the background texture that surrounded the targets could explain the main effect of distance
but could not fully account for the interaction between distance and eccentricity.
Chapter 3 extended the findings of Chapter 2 and found that the effect of distance on
peripheral detection in our conditions was non-monotonic and did not depend on fixation
distance. Across chapters, dividing attention between the central car-following and
peripheral target detection tasks consistently resulted in costs for car-following, but not
for peripheral detection. This work has implications for understanding spatial attention
and design of advanced driver assistance systems. / Dissertation / Doctor of Science (PhD) / Our visual world is complex and dynamic, and spatial attention enables us to focus
on certain relevant locations of our world. However, much of what we know about
spatial attention has been studied in the context of a two-dimensional plane, and less
is known about how it varies in the third dimension: depth. This thesis aims to better
understand how spatial attention is affected by depth in a virtual three-dimensional
environment, particularly in a driving context. Generally, driving was simulated using
a car-following task, spatial attention was measured in a task that required detecting
targets appearing at different depths indicated by cues perceivable with one eye. The
results of this work add to the literature that suggests that spatial attention is affected
by depth and contributes to our understanding of how attention may be allocated in
space. Additionally, this thesis may have implications for the design of in-car warning
systems.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/27337 |
| Date | January 2021 |
| Creators | Jiali, Song |
| Contributors | Sekuler, Allison B., Sun, Hong-Jin |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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