Psychology of Seeing

Understanding the Basics

It’s not uncommon to hear motorists involved in accidents with bicyclists say, “I didn’t see them, until it was too late.” With that in mind, it’s very important that cyclists find ways to make themselves visible and recognizable in the environment. Understanding the basics of conspicuity and the psychology of seeing can help you find ways to have a safer riding experience.

There are several factors that can play into conspicuity:

  1. SELECTIVE PERCEPTION
    People, in general, tend to see what they’re looking for and may overlook things that they’re not looking for. Because motorists are generally more concerned with the presence of other motorists, bicycles are often in the background or in the periphery, and are easily overlooked. Even though cyclists may be visible, they may not necessarily be conspicuous.
  2. ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
    There are many things in the environment that can affect the visibility of bicyclists to motorists. These include rain, fog, smoke, shadows, lights, and glare — and all can reduce visual range and acuity. Other factors inside the automobile, like dirty or cracked windshields or interior lights, may contribute to an impairment of visibility. There are also physical obstructions in the environment, moving and stationary, that can limit the visual range of motorists. And, of course, cell phones, radios, GPS systems and other modern gadgets can also diminish the motorist’s ability to focus on their surrounding environment.
  3. AGING
    As people get older, their vision often deteriorates, causing an increased sensitivity to glare, and a general reduction in their “night vision”. As eyes age, the muscles tend to lose flexibility, and decreases their ability to focus clearly. Many of these losses are permanent and cannot be corrected with glasses or other corrective lenses. Overall, aging drivers experience declines in visual acuity, peripheral vision, glare resistance and ability to focus.
  4. DARKNESS
    The absence of light significantly impacts conspicuity for obvious reasons. And, all of the above factors become even more critical at times of low light or darkness.

Being Visible – But Not Seen

There are several types of in-conspicuity, but perhaps the most critical for cyclists involves circumstances where you are visible, but not seen. This can be caused by several factors, but most often it is simply when the cyclists blends into the background environment. This can happen at night — even when a cyclist has front and rear lights. These front and rear lights can blend into the background lights of the environment and though the cyclist is visible, they often go undetected. This can also be referred to as optical blending. Being visible alone does not mean you are conspicuous. Being visible, being seen and being recognized as a cyclist are critical.

The Process of Seeing

With all these factors making it difficult for a cyclist to not only be visible, but seen and recognized, we must also consider the process of seeing — particularly while driving a motor vehicle. Although we generally take “seeing” for granted, and assume it takes very little thought and time, how we perceive and learn about our surroundings is not always quite so simple. The process involves:

STEP 1: SEARCH
The motorist scans the environment so the brain can identify those things that warrant further attention.

STEP 2: DETECT
The brain must detect the object and focus on that object.

STEP 3: EVALUATE
Once the motorist focuses on the object, it must be evaluated it to determine if it is something recognizable from past experience.

STEP 4: DECISION
After the object is recognized, the motorist analyzes the data and judges distance, speed, position and direction to determine what course of action, if any, is necessary.

STEP 5: ACTION
Finally, after the preceding steps have been processed, a clear course of action is taken. And, if all this can happen quickly enough, the response will be timely, well informed and an accident avoided.

For a motorist, a complex cognitive process takes place when encountering a cyclist and anything that improves that process leads to faster, safer responses. The Lunasee System is specifically designed to improve these processes.