J. Jay Todd, Ph.D.
Senior Consultant
Background
Dr. Jay Todd holds a Ph.D. in Psychology with an emphasis in Neuroscience from Vanderbilt University. His Ph.D. research investigated the relationship of memory, attention, and awareness when performing a goal-directed task, and the brain regions that support those mental processes. This included investigating how being startled can impair our awareness of and response to expected events, how goal-directed behavior can impair our attention from being attracted by noticeable and unexpected events, and how the difficulty of a task can influence our ability to perceive unexpected events. As a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Chicago, Dr. Todd investigated how stress and anxiety can adversely affect how we attempt to solve problems and can lead to otherwise easily avoidable mistakes.
Dr. Todd investigates the effects of limitations in task performance and perception on our awareness and experience of events in our environment. Dr. Todd applies his knowledge and expertise to investigate a variety of incidents involving pedestrians, vehicle operators, and product users. Vehicle incidents include passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, bicycles, motorcycles, etc. He investigates misstep/trip-and-falls, retail accidents, diving accidents, perception and response behavior of pedestrians and drivers, issues of lighting and visibility, and use of consumer and industrial products. The scope of these investigations includes analyses of visual and auditory perception, decision-making processes and biases, attention and eye gaze behavior, the influence of experience and expectancy on awareness and task performance, eye-witness memory, instructions and safety information, and warning application and compliance. He also addresses the conditions under which performance is influenced by age, fatigue, alcohol and drugs, and psychological factors such as emotional stress. He also investigates the development and speed at which we become aware of events, e.g., an imminent vehicle collision and awareness of pain and suffering.
More recently, Dr. Todd has investigated and published research related to driver and pedestrian visibility and performance. This includes a scientifically-based methodology to present the jury with a photograph that accurately portrays the lighting conditions at an accident scene. He has published research on the contribution of different sources of nighttime ambient illumination, which is used to identify the amount of lighting that an individual may use to perceive hazards and other objects in dark environments. He has developed a mathematical model that can be used to accurately and efficiently predict a driver’s available sightline. Collectively, these techniques can help present to the jury a more robust view of the capabilities and opportunities afforded to drivers and pedestrians in a traffic accident.
Education and Certifications
- Psychology, Ph.D.: Vanderbilt University (2008)
- Psychology, B.S.: Vanderbilt University (2001)
Publications
- Khan F, Glazek K, Todd J, and Alper S. (2019). “Falls from shopping carts versus household products among young children.” Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Seattle, WA.
- Todd J., Krauss D., Dunning A., and Zimmerman J. (2019). “Behavior of electric scooter operators in naturalistic environments.” SAE Technical Paper 2019-01-1007, SAE International.
- Todd J., Bui Y.C., Tavassoli A., and Krauss D. (2017). “Quantitative method for estimating driver eye height.” Proceedings, 61st Annual Meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Austin, TX.
- Tavassoli A., Perlmutter S., Bui D., Todd J., Milan L., and Krauss D. (2017). “Development of a robust database for measuring human gaze behavior and performance during naturalistic driving.” SAE Technical Paper 2017-01-1369, SAE International.
- “Forensic Aspects of Driver Perception and Response (4th ed.).”, (2015) D. Krauss (Ed.). Tucson, AZ: Lawyers and Judges Publishing Company, Inc. (contributing author).
- Ch. 5: Conspicuity
- Ch. 6: Driver Perception
- Ch. 7: Judgments of Speed and Distance
- Ch. 13: Use of Visual Demonstratives to Represent Visibility Conditions
- Ch. 18: Driver Perception-Response Time
- Todd J.J., Barakat B, Tavassoli A, and Krauss DA. (2015). “The moon’s contribution to nighttime illuminance in different environments.” Proceedings, 59th Annual Meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Los Angeles, CA.
- Krauss, D.A., Todd, J.J., and Heckman, G.M. (2012). “The ‘critical window’, looming and implications for accident avoidance.” ITE Journal, 82(7).
- Krauss, D.A., Todd, J.J., Sala, J., and Heckman, G. (2012). “Validation of high dynamic range photography as a tool to accurately represent low-illumination scenes.” SAE Technical Paper 2012-01-0078, SAE International.
- Krauss, D.A., Todd, J.J., Kim, R., and Scher, I. (2011). “A risk analysis of fall-related injuries using the NEISS database.” Proceedings, 55th Annual Meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Las Vegas, NV.
- Todd, J.J., Han, S.W., Harrison, S., and Marois, R. (2011). “The neural correlates of visual working memory consolidation: A time-resolved fMRI study.” Neuropsychologia, 49(6), 1527-1536.
- Asplund, C.L., Todd, J.J., Snyder, A.P., Gilbert, C.M., and Marois, R. (2010). “Surprise-induced blindness: A stimulus-driven attentional limit to conscious perception.” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance, 36(6), 1372-1382.
- Asplund, C.L., Todd, J.J., Snyder, A.P., and Marois, R. (2010). “A central role for the ventral prefrontal cortex in attention and awareness.” Nature Neuroscience, 13(4), 507-512.
- Robitaille, N., Marois, R., Todd, J.J., Grimault, S., Cheyne, D., and Jolicœur, P. (2010). “Distinguishing between lateralized and nonlateralized brain activity associated with visual short-term memory: fMRI, MEG, and EEG evidence from the same observers.” NeuroImage, 53(4), 1334-1345.
- Todd, J.J., Fougnie, D., and Marois, R. (2005). “Visual short-term memory load suppresses temporoparietal junction activity and induces inattentional blindness.” Psychological Science, 16(12), 965-972.
- Todd, J.J. and Marois, R. (2005). “Posterior parietal cortex activity predicts individual differences in visual short-term memory capacity.” Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience, 5(2), 144-155.
Committees
- ASTM – American Society for Testing Materials
- HFES – Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
- IES – Illuminating Engineering Society
- SAE International – Society of Automotive Engineers