title: Combined effects of expectations and visual uncertainty upon detection and identification of a target in the fog.
abstract: Detecting a pedestrian while driving in the fog is one situation where the prior expectation about the target presence is integrated with the noisy visual input. We focus on how these sources of information influence the oculomotor behavior and are integrated within an underlying decision-making process. The participants had to judge whether high-/low-density fog scenes displayed on a computer screen contained a pedestrian or a deer by executing a mouse movement toward the response button (mouse-tracking). A variable road sign was added on the scene to manipulate expectations about target identity. We then analyzed the timing and amplitude of the deviation of mouse trajectories toward the incorrect response and, using an eye tracker, the detection time (before fixating the target) and the identification time (fixations on the target). Results revealed that expectation of the correct target results in earlier decisions with less deviation toward the alternative response, this effect being partially explained by the facilitation of target identification.
authors.affiliation: LAPSCO, Clermont University, Blaise Pascal University, 63037, Clermont-Ferrand, France, boris.quetard@univ-bpclermont.fr.
authors.forename: Boris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Quétard
authors.forename: Jean-Charles
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Quinton
authors.forename: Michèle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Colomb
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pezzulo
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Barca
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Izaute
authors.forename: Owen Kevin
authors.initials: OK
authors.lastname: Appadoo
authors.forename: Martial
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mermillod
mesh_terms: D019540:Area Under Curve; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000523:psychology; D015350:Contrast Sensitivity / Q000502:physiology*; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology*; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D017603:Signal Detection, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D035501:Uncertainty; D014887:Weather; D055815:Young Adult