Crossmodal Attention Applied
Lessons for Driving

In this Element laboratory studies on crossmodal attention are situated within the applied context of driving.

Charles Spence (Author), Salvador Soto-Faraco (Author)

9781108826501, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 10 September 2020

75 pages
23 x 15.3 x 0.5 cm, 0.2 kg

'The book is surest-footed as it leaps between its applied strengths, but becomes more intriguing as it delves into the underlying basic mechanisms.' Vincent A. Billock, Elements in Perception

Cognitive neuroscientists have started to uncover the neural substrates, systems, and mechanisms enabling us to prioritize the processing of certain sensory information over other, currently less-relevant, inputs. However, there is still a large gap between the knowledge generated in the laboratory and its application to real-life problems of attention as when, for example, interface operators are multi-tasking. In this Element, laboratory studies on crossmodal attention (both behavioural/psychophysical and cognitive neuroscience) are situated within the applied context of driving. We contrast the often idiosyncratic conditions favoured by much of the laboratory research, typically using a few popular paradigms involving simplified experimental conditions, with the noisy, multisensory, real-world environments filled with complex, intrinsically-meaningful stimuli. By drawing attention to the differences between basic and applied studies in the context of driving, we highlight a number of important issues and neglected areas of research as far as the study of crossmodal attention is concerned.

1. Introduction
2. Exogenous crossmodal attention
3. Back to the laboratory: endogenous crossmodal attention
4. Interactions between endogenous and exogenous attention
5. Olfactory contributions to crossmodal attention while driving
6. Conclusions.

Subject Areas: Physiological & neuro-psychology, biopsychology [JMM]