The influence of color and direction on the perceptual processing of standard evacuation signs and the effect of attention bias

• Published in: Fire safety journal Vol. 132; p. 103638
• Main Authors: Shi, Jiguang, Ding, Ning, Jiang, Fan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lausanne Elsevier Ltd 01.09.2022; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Attention bias; Bias; Color; Decision making; Dot-probe paradigm; Evacuation; Evacuation sign; Eye tracker; Optimization; Perception; Signs; Temporal perception; Viewing; Eye tracker; Dot-probe paradigm; Evacuation sign; Attention bias
• ISSN: 0379-7112; 1873-7226
• DOI: 10.1016/j.firesaf.2022.103638

Building evacuation signs play a crucial role in guiding evacuees to the exits. The attention and perceptual processing of evacuation signs by evacuees is an essential criterion for judging the effectiveness of evacuation signs. Attention bias can reflect the gaze and response characteristics of individuals to different target stimuli, and it can reveal the processing and decision-making situation of the individual after viewing the evacuation sign. In this paper, a dot-probe paradigm was used to explore the influence of color (red and green) and direction (left and right) on the attention bias effect of different evacuation signs. Finally, the participants' evaluation of different evacuation signs was collected through a questionnaire survey. It was found that: (1) the participant's perception processing time for the red evacuation sign was longer. (2) Participants have stronger attention bias when responding to the green standard evacuation sign. (3) The color will affect the participant's attention bias on evacuation signs. (4) In terms of preference behavior, there may be a separation between the subjective evaluation of signs and viewing behavior. This paper introduces the attention bias indicator to study the individual perception processing and attention bias characteristics of evacuation signs, to test their guiding role from the perspective of attention and decision-making. The presented results promote the safety of the building from the perspective of evacuation signs optimization. •Using attention bias approach to study participants' preferences for different types of evacuation signs.•The dot-probe paradigm is used to study the participant's attentional bias towards two neutral stimuli.•Connect the eye and the brain, and use eye movement data to analyze the characteristics of the participants' perception of evacuation signs.•The color significantly affects the participant's attention bias towards evacuation signs.•Participants' assessment of evacuation signs and their viewing behaviors are separated.