Early detection of road hazards is crucial for accident prevention, requiring efficient visual search due to capacity limitations in the visual system. During visual search, priming can be utilized to reduce search times by creating a guiding template in working memory, optimizing attention deployment. In many cases, drivers need to visually search areas of the driving scene for road hazards. For hazard perception, priming has so far only been examined for road signs and threat campaigns, but not for the visual search for potentially dangerous objects, on a more general level.
Therefore, this study examines whether priming can accelerate the visual search for potential road hazards. In an online experiment with 72 participants, four primes (text warning, symbol warning, scene picture, target picture) were used in a visual search for five targets (pedestrian, cyclist, car, road sign, roadway). Reaction time until finding the target was measured via a button press.
All primes led to a reduction in search time compared to the control condition. Visual primes (symbol warning, target picture) were more effective than semantic primes (text warning, scene picture). For the visual primes, search time was shorter when the visual features between the prime and target matched more closely. Driver characteristics did not influence priming effects.
The results are consistent with theories on visual search and hazard perception. Thus, priming can be used to accelerate hazard perception and could be implemented in modern vehicles with in-car displays. Future research should explore dynamic scenarios and the role of visual features.