Impact of Visual Acuity, Background Brightness, Gazes, Distractors, and Design on Exit Signs Identification
Authors
Scagliotti, Andrea
Issue Date
2023-04
Degree
BA in Psychology
Publisher
Dublin Business School
Rights holder
Rights
Abstract
This study experimentally investigated differences in ‘Accuracy’ (ACC) and ‘Response Times’ (RTs) in exit signs identification based on the distance of the exit sign from the fixation point, size of the exit sign, background brightness, number, motion state, and congruency of gaze cues, and number and design of the distractor signs. (N = 40) participants over the age of 18 from Ireland, including Dublin Business School students, were assessed with the Open Sesame Web platform through every experimental condition in random order. The data was exported into SPSS and the main results found that switching the background brightness from bright to dark and increasing the number of distractors with similar target design significantly increased average RTs (p < .001), but did not significantly decrease average ACC. The current findings advance and support human safety research in this field, as well as universal design principles for buildings signage and policies.