{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,13]],"date-time":"2026-03-13T08:29:37Z","timestamp":1773390577695,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,11]],"date-time":"2026-03-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1773187200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["MTI"],"abstract":"<jats:p>In complex driving environments, drivers must continuously detect and respond to critical visual information such as traffic signs and pedestrians. However, important targets may sometimes be overlooked due to high cognitive load during driving. Therefore, visual attention prompt methods have been proposed to guide drivers\u2019 gaze toward relevant targets. A visual attention prompt method is a visual cue presented in a key area in a user\u2019s field of view to draw his\/her visual attention. This study evaluates the short-term performance of five visual attention prompt methods (Point, Arrow, Blur, Dusk, and ModAF) in a driving simulator and compares their performance between novice and proficient drivers. Eye-tracking data and multiple analyses are used to examine whether the influence of these methods could be maintained after they are disabled and to clarify drivers\u2019 response patterns across methods in consideration with their driving proficiency. The results indicate that visual attention prompt methods could induce a short-term transfer effect, as drivers still tend to fixate on target traffic signs earlier after the methods are disabled, and the elapsed-time analysis estimates that this effect lasts about 84.35 s. Overall, the Point, Arrow, and Dusk methods show relatively stronger performance with significant reductions in the elapsed time to fixate on the traffic sign. The clustering analysis further shows that drivers\u2019 response patterns are not uniform, with two clusters for novice drivers and three clusters for proficient drivers. The results suggest that most novice drivers tend to benefit from explicit non-directional visual cues that enhance target salience, such as the Point method, whereas proficient drivers are more likely to benefit from explicit directional visual cues that provide clear directional guidance, such as the Arrow method. These findings suggest that visual attention prompt methods may be useful for developing driver training strategies tailored to different levels of driving proficiency, helping drivers maintain more effective visual attention allocation during driving and potentially contributing to improved driving safety.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/mti10030028","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,11]],"date-time":"2026-03-11T14:43:18Z","timestamp":1773240198000},"page":"28","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Short-Term Performance of Visual Attention Prompt Methods Across Driver Proficiency in a Driving Simulator"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-3421-7674","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jinwei","family":"Liang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Major of Intelligent Information System Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Fukuoka Institute of Technology, Fukuoka 811-0295, Japan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6419-8058","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Makio","family":"Ishihara","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Faculty of Information Engineering, Fukuoka Institute of Technology, Fukuoka 811-0295, Japan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"206","DOI":"10.1016\/j.trf.2020.01.012","article-title":"Drivers\u2019 Visual Attention: A Field Study at Intersections","volume":"69","author":"Lemonnier","year":"2020","journal-title":"Transp. 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