Psychological and Cognitive Perspectives on Human Interaction with Autonomous Vehicles

The rapid advancement of autonomous driving technology is reshaping transportation systems. However, its widespread adoption hinges not only on technical reliability but also, critically, on psychological acceptance among users. Although engineering and regulatory challenges are being actively addressed, human factors such as trust, risk perception, and behavioral adaptation remain central barriers. Drivers, passengers, and pedestrians exhibit complex cognitive and emotional responses to autonomous vehicles, which are shaped by factors including safety perceptions, system transparency, and experience with automation.These psychological processes fundamentally influence human–vehicle interaction in real-world and collaborative driving scenarios, which increasingly involve complex, dynamic traffic conditions and mixed environments where autonomous and human-driven vehicles coexist. Understanding how safety perceptions and trust are formed under such conditions is essential for system design and public adoption. At the same time, safe and effective interaction with autonomous vehicles relies on core cognitive processes that support perception and action in dynamic environments, such as visuo-spatial attention, hazard perception, situation awareness, cognitive control, decision-making under uncertainty, and workload management. By integrating perspectives from cognitive science, human factors engineering, and social psychology, we aim to advance the understanding of how individuals perceive, trust, and adapt to autonomous driving technologies, and to support the design of systems that are not only technically sound but also human-centered and socially integrated.This Research Topic aims to gather empirical and theoretical contributions to explore how drivers, passengers, and pedestrians perceive safety risks of autonomous technologies, trust them, and adapt to collaborative driving. In line with cognitive focus, we also welcome work examining the role of core cognitive processes (e.g., visuo-spatial attention, cognitive control, and situation awareness) in human–AV interaction, especially in mixed-traffic and real-world settings. This Research Topic also seeks to examine acceptance-influencing factors, human–automation interaction design, and the psychological impacts of transitioning to semi-/fully autonomous vehicles. Topics include, but are not limited to:1. Cognitive and emotional mechanisms underlying safety judgments, risk perception, and trust calibration in human–AV interaction (including automation bias).2. Core cognitive processes supporting perception and action in dynamic traffic (e.g., visuo-spatial attention/visual search, hazard perception, situation awareness, cognitive control, workload).3. Behavioral adaptation and decision-making under uncertainty in mixed traffic and cooperative maneuvers (e.g., merging, lane changing, negotiation with other road users).4. Human factors and interface design for shared control, transitions of control, and takeover/handover in semi-/highly automated driving.5. Acceptance and adoption of automated driving technologies, including application of models such as TAM and UTAUT/UTAUT2.6. Cross-cultural and individual-difference factors shaping safety perception, trust, and technology adoption.7. Ethical and societal implications of misperceptions of AV safety, responsibility attribution, and trust-related harms/benefits.8. Field studies, simulations, and user-centered evaluation/design methods for improving transparency, trust, and safety.This Research Topic aims to provide theoretical support and practical references for the humanized design, safe promotion of autonomous driving technologies, and optimization of collaborative driving scenarios. Topic editors: Gen Li, Zhihong Yao, CHENMING JIANG, Chenzhu Wang Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/77022/psychological-and-cognitive-perspectives-on-human-interaction-with-autonomous-vehicles