Drivers’ Attentional Instability on a Winding Roadway

The spatiotemporal distribution of drivers' attention to preview was inferred from their steering movements while tracking a winding roadway in a laboratory setting. For most subjects, the average driving attentional distribution over six daily sessions was relatively stable and generalized across different control devices. However, there was considerable day-to-day variability in the attentional distributions. This variability was modeled as a strong interaction between two dynamic processes, the attentional emphasis of selected regions and inhibition of surrounding regions. The model combines a novel application of a reaction-diffusion model of biological pattern formation with an optimal control model of attention to preview. The combined model treats attentional dynamics as an example of the biological spacing of a limited cognitive resource, which is also shaped by the demands of action.