Hazard anticipation of young novice drivers - SWOV

Figure 3.6. Schematic representation of automatic and controlled behaviour (adapted
from Brouwer & Schmidt, 2002).
The bottom half of Figure 3.6 describes automatic processing in routine
situations. In contrast to the model of Norman & Shallice (1986) the sensory
information is subdivided into context aspects and content aspects. What is
context and what is content is not a characteristic of the stimulus itself, but
depends on the mapping between stimulus characteristics and schemata. As
in Norman & Shallice's model, the basic assumption is that all behaviour is
caused by the unfolding of schemata in interaction with external and internal
stimuli. When a driver approaches an intersection, the perceived intersection
(external) and the awareness that she or he is driving (internal) are the
context and the perceived elements in the traffic scene of the intersection (e.g.
moving vehicles) constitute the content. As in the model of Norman &
Shallice (1986) schemata are activated and inhibited in the CS. The perceived
information elicits triggers that energize schemata (the processes of
contention scheduling) and schemata can also activate and inhibit each other
(lateral facilitation and inhibition between schemata). This results in the
selection of the dominant schema for a particular moment in time. The
dominant schema, if appropriate, helps the driver to 'read' the traffic
situation and to predict and defuse the hazard, because it specifies where
and when to look and what to do then. These interpretations based on the
dominant schema and the actual information about perceived own speed
and direction and the perceived speed and direction of other road users, are
processed in order to select a response (e.g. braking). The box ‘basic
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