Multimodal Transportation Human Factors Issues: Inattentional and Change

There have been a number of studies that show, that observers attending to a particular object or event often fail to report either the presence of unexpected items (inattentional blindness) or the presence of large changes in a display when these changes occur simultaneously with a transient such as an eye movement (change blindness). These phenomena affect all transportation modes. Examples of how they could manifest themselves include pilots not seeing an aircraft on the runway or missing important information on the cockpit display, or motorists not reacting to highway signage. This project responds to the mission of the Department of Transportation to enhance transportation safety. The study will compile information on inattentional and change blindness as it affects transportation operations. The information will be based primarily on a literature survey. Volpe will analyze the information on the basis of function and mode. Volpe will prepare a report that will (a) include findings on the extent to which inattentional and change blindness decrease the safety of the nation's transportation system (b) recommendations for a future study on mitigating the effects of inattentional and change blindness on those who operate the transportation conveyances and those who provide support.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Program Information: Transportation, Planning, Research and Development

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Contract Numbers:

  DTOS59-10-M-00783

  75000

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Department of Transportation

  Office of the Secretary
  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Project Managers:

  Konheim, Arnold

• Performing Organizations:

  Volpe National Transportation Systems Center

  Cambridge, MA  United States  02142

  Research and Innovative Technology Administration

  Department of Transportation
  1200 New Jersey Avneue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Principal Investigators:

  Popkin, Stephen

• Start Date: 20080801
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 20090930
• Source Data: RiP Project 35209

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Attention lapses; Blindness; Cockpits; Eye movements; Human factors in crashes; Multimodal transportation; Reaction time; Traffic signs; Transportation safety
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01492340
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Department of Transportation
• Contract Numbers: DTOS59-10-M-00783, 75000
• Files: RIP
• Created Date: Sep 6 2013 1:00AM