Tel +64 3 479 4150
Email vanessa.beanland@otago.ac.nz
Dr Vanessa Beanland’s research focuses on how people detect, process and use information in real-world contexts, with a particular emphasis on transport safety. This includes topics such as how drivers detect potential hazards, or how pedestrians decide whether it is safe to cross an intersection or railway crossing. Her research uses diverse methods, from highly-controlled lab experiments to driving simulators, to field studies and on-road research using instrumented vehicles.
She currently serves as an Associate Editor for the journal Safety Science. She is a member of the Australasian College of Road Safety and the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society of New Zealand.
Vanessa completed a PhD in experimental cognitive psychology at The Australian National University in 2011. After completing her PhD she shifted to conducting applied human factors research, beginning with a research position at the Monash University Accident Research Centre. From 2015-2018 she held an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Research Award, examining visual attention in the context of driving, before joining the University of Otago as a Senior Lecturer in June 2018.
Teaching
Research interests
- Visual attention and visual search for information in real-world contexts (e.g. driving)
- Driver distraction and inattention
- Safety of vulnerable road users (e.g. motorcyclists, cyclists, pedestrians) and horse riders
- Usability of human-machine interfaces
Find out more about Dr Beanland’s research interests
Publications
Gunson, H. P., Beanland, V., & Salmon, P. M. (2019). Road-related anger in motorcyclists versus car drivers. Transportation Research Part F, 62, 327-338. doi: 10.1016/j.trf.2019.01.006
Beanland, V., Tan, C. H., & Christensen, B. K. (2018). The unexpected killer: Effects of stimulus threat and negative affectivity on inattentional blindness. Cognition & Emotion, 32(6), 1374-1381. doi: 10.1080/02699931.2017.1394269
Filtness, A. J., & Beanland, V. (2018). Sleep loss and change detection in driving scenes. Transportation Research Part F, 57, 10-22. doi: 10.1016/j.trf.2017.10.003
Pammer, K., Raineri, A., Beanland, V., Bell, J., & Borzycki, M. (2018). Expert drivers are better than non-expert drivers at rejecting unimportant information in static driving scenes. Transportation Research Part F, 59, 389-400. doi: 10.1016/j.trf.2018.09.020
Beanland, V., Grant, E., Read, G. J. M., Stevens, N., Thomas, M., Lenné, M. G., … Salmon, P. M. (2018). Challenging conventional rural rail level crossing design: Evaluating three new systems thinking-based designs in a driving simulator. Safety Science. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1016/j.ssci.2018.03.002
Authored Book - Research
Read, G. J. M., Beanland, V., Lenné, M. G., Stanton, N. A., & Salmon, P. M. (2017). Integrating human factors methods and systems thinking for transport analysis and design. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 314p.
Chapter in Book - Research
Beanland, V., Lenné, M. G., & Underwood, G. (2015). Can drivers’ expectations and behaviour around motorcycles be influenced by exposure? In L. Rößger, M. G. Lenné & G. Underwood (Eds.), Increasing motorcycle conspicuity: Design and assessment of interventions to enhance rider safety. (pp. 165-182). Ashgate.
Beanland, V., Lenné, M. G., & Rößger, L. (2015). Psychological factors in seeing motorcylces. In L. Rößger, M. G. Lenné & G. Underwood (Eds.), Increasing motorcycle conspicuity: Design and assessment of interventions to enhance rider safety. (pp. 21-50). Abingdon, UK: Ashgate.
Lenné, M. G., Beanland, V., Salmon, P. M., Filtness, A., & Stanton, N. A. (2013). Checking for trains: An on-road study of what drivers actually do at level crossings. In N. Dadashi, A. Scott, J. R. Wilson & A. Mills (Eds.), Rail human factors: Supporting reliability, safety and cost reduction. (pp. 53-59). Leiden, The Netherlands: CRC Press.
Journal - Research Article
Gunson, H. P., Beanland, V., & Salmon, P. M. (2019). Road-related anger in motorcyclists versus car drivers. Transportation Research Part F, 62, 327-338. doi: 10.1016/j.trf.2019.01.006
Beanland, V., Tan, C. H., & Christensen, B. K. (2018). The unexpected killer: Effects of stimulus threat and negative affectivity on inattentional blindness. Cognition & Emotion, 32(6), 1374-1381. doi: 10.1080/02699931.2017.1394269
Beanland, V., Grant, E., Read, G. J. M., Stevens, N., Thomas, M., Lenné, M. G., … Salmon, P. M. (2018). Challenging conventional rural rail level crossing design: Evaluating three new systems thinking-based designs in a driving simulator. Safety Science. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1016/j.ssci.2018.03.002
Pammer, K., Raineri, A., Beanland, V., Bell, J., & Borzycki, M. (2018). Expert drivers are better than non-expert drivers at rejecting unimportant information in static driving scenes. Transportation Research Part F, 59, 389-400. doi: 10.1016/j.trf.2018.09.020
Filtness, A. J., & Beanland, V. (2018). Sleep loss and change detection in driving scenes. Transportation Research Part F, 57, 10-22. doi: 10.1016/j.trf.2017.10.003
Stephens, A. N., Beanland, V., Candappa, N., Mitsopoulos-Rubens, E., Corben, B., & Lenné, M. G. (2017). A driving simulator evaluation of potential speed reductions using two innovative designs for signalised urban intersections. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 98, 25-36. doi: 10.1016/j.aap.2016.09.022
Cox, J. A., Beanland, V., & Filtness, A. J. (2017). Risk and safety perception on urban and rural roads: Effects of environmental features, driver age and risk sensitivity. Traffic Injury Prevention, 18(7), 703-710. doi: 10.1080/15389588.2017.1296956
Beanland, V., & Hansen, L. J. (2017). Do cyclists make better drivers? Associations between cycling experience and change detection in road scenes. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 106, 420-427. doi: 10.1016/j.aap.2017.07.013
Beanland, V., Salmon, P. M., Filtness, A. J., Lenné, M. G., & Stanton, N. A. (2017). To stop or not to stop: Contrasting compliant and non-compliant driver behaviour at rural rail level crossings. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 108, 209-219. doi: 10.1016/j.aap.2017.09.004
Beanland, V., Filtness, A. J., & Jeans, R. (2017). Change detection in urban and rural driving scenes: Effects of target type and safety relevance on change blindness. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 100, 111-122. doi: 10.1016/j.aap.2017.01.011
Beanland, V., Lenné, M. G., Salmon, P. M., & Stanton, N. A. (2016). Variability in decision-making and critical cue use by different road users at rail level crossings. Ergonomics, 59(6), 754-766. doi: 10.1080/00140139.2015.1095356
Mulvihill, C. M., Salmon, P. M., Beanland, V., Lenné, M. G., Read, G. J. M., Walker, G. H., & Stanton, N. A. (2016). Using the decision ladder to understand road user decision making at actively controlled rail level crossings. Applied Ergonomics, 56, 1-10. doi: 10.1016/j.apergo.2016.02.013
Beanland, V., Le, R. K., & Byrne, J. E. M. (2016). Object-scene relationships vary the magnitude of target prevalence effects in visual search. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance, 42(6), 766-775. doi: 10.1037/xhp0000183
Horwood, S., & Beanland, V. (2016). Inattentional blindness in older adults: Effects of attentional set and to-be-ignored distractors. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 78(3), 818-828. doi: 10.3758/s13414-015-1057-4
Beanland, V., & Chan, E. H. C. (2016). The relationship between sustained inattentional blindness and working memory capacity. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 78(3), 808-817. doi: 10.3758/s13414-015-1027-x
Füssl, E., Oberlader, M., Beanland, V., Spyropoulou, I., Lenné, M. G., Joshi, S., … Carvalhais, J. (2015). Methodological development of a specific tool for assessing acceptability of assistive systems of powered two-wheeler-riders. IET Intelligent Transport Systems, 9(1), 12-21. doi: 10.1049/iet-its.2014.0026
Young, K. L., Lenné, M. G., Beanland, V., Salmon, P. M., & Stanton, N. A. (2015). Where do novice and experienced drivers direct their attention on approach to urban rail level crossings? Accident Analysis & Prevention, 77, 1-11. doi: 10.1016/j.aap.2015.01.017
Beanland, V., Lenné, M. G., & Underwood, G. (2014). Safety in numbers: Target prevalence affects the detection of vehicles during simulated driving. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 76(3), 805-813. doi: 10.3758/s13414-013-0603-1
Beanland, V., Sellbom, M., & Johnson, A. K. (2014). Personality domains and traits that predict self-reported aberrant driving behaviours in a southeastern US university sample. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 72, 184-192. doi: 10.1016/j.aap.2014.06.023
Beanland, V., Lenné, M. G., Candappa, N., & Corben, B. (2013). Gap acceptance at stop-controlled T-intersections in a simulated rural environment. Transportation Research Part F, 20, 80-89. doi: 10.1016/j.trf.2013.05.006
Beanland, V., Fitzharris, M., Young, K. L., & Lenné, M. G. (2013). Driver inattention and driver distraction in serious casualty crashes: Data from the Australian National Crash In-depth Study. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 54, 99-107. doi: 10.1016/j.aap.2012.12.043
Beanland, V., Lenné, M. G., Fuessl, E., Oberlader, M., Joshi, S., Bellet, T., … Underwood, G. (2013). Acceptability of rider assistive systems for powered two-wheelers. Transportation Research Part F, 19, 63-76. doi: 10.1016/j.trf.2013.03.003
Beanland, V., & Pammer, K. (2012). Minds on the blink: The relationship between inattentional blindness and attentional blink. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 74(2), 322-330. doi: 10.3758/s13414-011-0241-4
Beanland, V., Allen, R. A., & Pammer, K. (2011). Attending to music decreases inattentional blindness. Consciousness & Cognition, 20(4), 1282-1292. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2011.04.009
Beanland, V., & Pammer, K. (2010). Looking without seeing or seeing without looking? Eye movements in sustained inattentional blindness. Vision Research, 50, 977-988. doi: 10.1016/j.visres.2010.02.024
Journal - Research Other
Beanland, V., Goode, N., Salmon, P. M., & Lenné, M. G. (2013). Is there a case for driver training? A review of the efficacy of pre- and post-licence driver training. Safety Science, 51(1), 127-137. doi: 10.1016/j.ssci.2012.06.021
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper
Salmon, P. M., Read, G. J. M., Beanland, V., Thompson, J., Filtness, A., & Johnston, I. (2017). From on high? A systems analysis of the contributory factors that lead to the fatal five behaviours. Proceedings of the Australasian Road Safety Conference (ARSC). Retrieved from http://acrs.org.au/publications/acrs-conference-papers/
Beanland, V., Grant, E., Read, G. J. M., Stevens, N., Thomas, M., Lenné, M. G., … Salmon, P. M. (2017). Applying Ecological Interface Design principles to the design of rural highway-rail grade crossing infrastructure. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 61(1), (pp. 1887-1891). doi: 10.1177/1541931213601953
Read, G. J. M., Salmon, P. M., Beanland, V., Lenné, M. G., & Stanton, N. A. (2017). Integrating human factors and systems thinking for transport design: Rail level crossing case study. Proceedings of the Australasian Road Safety Conference (ARSC). Retrieved from http://acrs.org.au/publications/acrs-conference-papers/
Beanland, V., Pammer, K., Śledziowska, M., & Stone, A. (2015). Drivers' attitudes and knowledge regarding motorcycle lane filtering practices. Proceedings of the Australasian Road Safety Conference (ARSC). Retrieved from http://acrs.org.au/publications/acrs-conference-papers/
Mulvihill, C. M., Salmon, P. M., Lenné, M. G., Beanland, V. C., & Stanton, N. A. (2014). A comparison of compliant and non-compliant decision making at actively controlled rail level crossings under the decision ladder. Proceedings of the Australasian Road Safety Research, Policy and Education (ARSRPE) Conference. Retrieved from http://acrs.org.au/publications/conference-papers/
Salmon, P., Lenné, M., Beanland, V., Young, K., Filtness, A., Stanton, N., & Read, G. (2014). From the bush to the burbs: A comparison of driver situation awareness at rural and urban railway level crossings. Proceedings of the Australasian Road Safety Research, Policy and Education (ARSRPE) Conference. Retrieved from http://acrs.org.au/publications/conference-papers/
Lenné, M. G., Mitsopoulos-Rubens, E., Candappa, N., & Beanland, V. (2014). Drivers' response to dynamic gap assistance signs at simulated rural unsignalised T-intersections. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 58(1), (pp. 2240-2244). doi: 10.1177/1541931214581430
Lenné, M. G., Salmon, P. M., Beanland, V., Stanton, N. A., & Filtness, A. (2013). On-road driving studies to understand why drivers behave as they do at regional rail level crossings. Proceedings of the Australasian Rod Safety Research, Policing and Education (ARSRPE) Conference. Retrieved from http://acrs.org.au/publications/conference-papers/
Salmon, P. M., Beanland, V., Lenné, M. G., Filtness, A. J., & Stanton, N. A. (2013). Waiting for warning: Driver situation awareness at rural rail level crossings. In M. Anderson (Ed.), Proceedings of the International Conference on Ergonomics & Human Factors: Contemporary Ergonomics and Human Factors. CRC Press. doi: 10.1201/b13826-85
Beanland, V., Lenné, M. G., Salmon, P. M., & Stanton, N. A. (2013). A self-report study of factors influencing decision-making at rail level crossings: Comparing car drivers, motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians. Proceedings of the Australasian Rod Safety Research, Policing and Education (ARSRPE) Conference. Retrieved from http://acrs.org.au/publications/conference-papers/
Beanland, V., & Lenné, M. G. (2013). An international study of the factors associated with the acceptability of advanced rider assistive systems for powered two-wheelers. Proceedings of the Australasian Rod Safety Research, Policing and Education (ARSRPE) Conference. Retrieved from http://acrs.org.au/publications/conference-papers/
Lenné, M. G., Salmon, P. M., Beanland, V., Walker, G. H., Underwood, G., & Filtness, A. (2013). Interactions between cars and motorcycles: Testing underlying concepts through integration of on-road and simulator studies. Proceedings of the 7th International Driving Symposium on Human Factors in Driver Assessment, Training and Vehicle Design. (pp. 271-277). Retrieved from http://drivingassessment.uiowa.edu/2013
Beanland, V., & Pammer, K. (2010). Gorilla watching: Effects of exposure and expectations on inattentional blindness. In W. Christensen, E. Schier & J. Sutton (Eds.), Proceedings of the 9th Conference of the Australasian Society for Cognitive Science (ASCS). (pp. 12-20). Sydney, Australia: MACCS, Macquarie University. Retrieved from http://www.maccs.mq.edu.au/ascs09
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Beanland, V., Tan, C. H., & Christensen, B. K. (2017). The unexpected killer: Effects of stimulus threat and negative affectivity on inattentional blindness. Proceedings of the 44th Experimental Psychology Conference (EPC). (pp. 28). Retrieved from http://www.asep.com.au/
Wynne, R., Beanland, V., Turner, S., & Mackerras, A. (2017). Why didn't I see it? The effects of target prevalence and scene context on visual search in road scenes. Proceedings of the 44th Experimental Psychology Conference (EPC). (pp. 88). Retrieved from http://www.asep.com.au/
Filtness, A., Beanland, V., Larue, G., & Hawkins, A. (2017). Sleep loss and change detection: A driving simulator study. Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Managing Fatigue. Retrieved from https://www.fatigueconference2017.com/
Shenfield, L., Beanland, V., & Apthorp, D. (2017). Central delta and alpha power modulate subjective sleepiness and simple reaction time after sleep restriction. Proceedings of the 44th Experimental Psychology Conference (EPC). (pp. 80). Retrieved from http://www.asep.com.au/
Beanland, V., Salmon, P., Young, K., Filtness, A., Read, G., Lenné, M., & Stanton, N. (2016). Differences in drivers’ perception and interactions with boom-controlled rail level crossings in urban versus rural environments. Proceedings of the Australasian Road Safety Conference (ARSC). Retrieved from http://acrs.org.au/publications/acrs-conference-papers/
Apthorp, D., Shenfield, L., & Beanland, V. (2016). Sleep restriction reduces central alpha power: Differential effects on attentional tasks. Proceedings of the 43rd Experimental Psychology Conferece (EPC). (pp. 23). Retrieved from http://www.asep.com.au/
Pammer, K., Allen, R., Korrel, H., Beanland, V., & Bell, J. (2015). Some distraction may be a good thing. Proceedings of the Australasian Society for Experimental Psychology Conference (EPC). Retrieved from http://www.asep.com.au/
