This study was conducted to investigate whether perceptual disappearance of visual objects occurs during driving situations and if so, to identify factors that may limit this phenomenon. In Experiment 1, perceptual disappearance of a peripherally-presented critical stimulus lasted longer and occurred more often when participants viewed a movie of driving scenes than when they observed a static frame of the movie. These results suggest that perceptual disappearance of visual objects may occur in driving situations due to motion-induced blindness. In Experiment 2, we investigated whether eye movements could suppress this disappearance in simulated driving situations. Participants observed the movie of driving scenes with or without saccades. Perceptual disappearance of the critical stimulus lasted for shorter periods and occurred less often with saccades than without them. These data indicate that eye movements may be an important factor in limiting perceptual disappearance of visual objects in driving situations.

Key words: perceptual disappearance, driving situation, motion-induced blindness, traffic accident