Effect of divided attention on locomotion control

What is it about?

Driver attention during locomotion is an important safety issue that concerns general public and most car manufacturers. This study addressed a long-standing question of how divided attention affects the control of steering toward a goal with different travel speeds.

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Photo by why kei on Unsplash

Photo by why kei on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The findings of the current study not only help resolve a long theoretical debate in the field about the primary cue for the visual control of locomotion but also directly answer the question how divided attention affects the control of locomotion and provide guidelines for safety practices in locomotion control. The key results are: (1) people have more difficulty with handling a high attention-demanding task at a driving than a walking speed, (2) the increase in attentional load negatively affects both the early-stage and the steady-state control of steering toward a goal, (3) people in general rely on both target egocentric direction and optic flow to steer toward a goal even when they need to simultaneously perform a high attention-demanding task, and (4) compared with optic flow, the visual control of steering toward a goal relying on target egocentric direction is less affected by a secondary attentional-demanding task.

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