Testing Attention Restoration in a Virtual Reality Driving Simulator
Testing Attention Restoration in a Virtual Reality Driving Simulator
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DOI：
10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00250
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发表时间：
2019-02-11
影响因子：
3.8
通讯作者：
Setti, Annalisa
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Cassarino, Marica;Maisto, Marta;Setti, Annalisa
目的：注意力恢复理论(ART)认为，与城市环境相比，散步或呆在自然环境中有利于认知技能，因为它对注意力资源的要求较低。然而，目前还不清楚在执行驾驶等复杂任务时是否会发生同样的情况，尽管已经证明，在不同的道路环境中驾驶与不同程度的疲劳有关，并可能以不同的方式吸引注意力。本研究按照经典的艺术范式，考察了驾驶时暴露在乡村和城市道路环境中是否会影响年轻人驾驶后的注意能力。方法：让38名年轻参与者在虚拟现实环境中驾驶时暴露在农村或城市道路环境中前后完成持续注意反应任务(SART)，并在全车沉浸式驾驶模拟器中驾驶。基于环境暴露的SART性能的变化，从靶标的灵敏度、准确度、反应时间和反向效率方面进行了探讨。我们分析了道路类型对驾驶速度和准确性的潜在影响。结果：驾驶样本中暴露在乡村或城市道路环境中与注意力表现没有任何显著变化相关。两个暴露组在驾驶行为方面没有显著差异。在驾驶样本和控制年龄的对照组之间的比较表明，开车的参与者在SART上比乘客更准确，但速度更慢。结论：本研究不支持与城市环境相比，自然环境下的短时间驾驶可能会促进注意力恢复的假设。讨论了方法学方面的考虑以及对未来研究的建议。
Objectives: Attention Restoration Theory (ART) suggests that walking or being in natural settings, as opposed to urban environments, benefits cognitive skills because it is less demanding on attentional resources. However, it is unclear whether the same occurs when the person is performing a complex task such as driving, although it is proven that driving through different road environments is associated with different levels of fatigue and may engage attention differently. The present study investigated whether exposure to rural vs. urban road environments while driving would affect attentional capacity in young people after the drive, in line with the classic ART paradigms.Methods: We asked 38 young participants to complete the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) before and after being exposed to a rural or urban road in a virtual reality environment while driving in a full vehicle immersive driving simulator. Changes in SART performance based on environmental exposure where explored in terms of target sensitivity, accuracy, reaction times, and inverse efficiency. We analyzed potential road type effects on driving speed and accuracy. Possible effects of driving on attention were tested by comparing the sample performance to that of a control group of 15 participants who did not drive and sat on the passenger seat instead.Results: Exposure to rural or urban road environments in the driving sample was not associated with any significant changes in attentional performance. The two exposure groups did not differ significantly in terms of driving behavior. Comparisons between the driving sample and the control group controlling for age indicated that participants who drove were more accurate but slower at the SART than those who were passengers.Conclusion: The present study does not support the hypothesis that a short drive in a natural setting may promote attention restoration as compared to an urban setting. Methodological considerations as well as recommendations for future research are discussed.