Pedestrian conspicuity research: a review

This review sets out to evaluate the ways in which pedestrian conspicuity has been defined and measured and to consider the various scenarios in which studies of pedestrian conspicuity have been conducted. Research from the psychological and human factors literature is reviewed, in addition to relevant studies on conspicuity that fall outside the scope of applied psychology. Methodological differences between these studies are compared and their ecological validity in terms of the real-world context of pedestrians at risk from vehicles is discussed. The authors argue that there have been many methodological differences in pedestrian conspicuity studies, but that this may not necessarily be problematic when investigating a phenomenon with multiple causal factors. However, suggestions are made for improving ecological validity and establishing a more unified framework for future research in this area.