Dr. Dustin Souders headshot

Dr. Dustin Souders

Assistant Professor
Psychology
Email: djsoude [at] clemson.edu

Dr. Souders’ research primarily focuses on human factors, aging, and transportation safety. Dustin’s research focuses on leveraging advanced vehicle technologies, from advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) to fully autonomous vehicles (AVs), to safely maintain older adults’ mobility. Dustin earned his master’s and doctoral degrees in cognitive psychology under the tutelage of Dr. Neil Charness at Florida State University. As a post-doctoral research fellow at Purdue University, Dustin worked with both civil engineers and political scientists on a range of issues surrounding vehicle automation. Since arriving at Clemson, Dustin has established the Simulating Transportation Automation and Aging Research (STAAR) Lab, which includes a single-seat, dynamic base driving simulator as well as a head-mounted eye tracker.

Research projects

Publications

  1. Souders, D. J., Agrawal, S., Benedyk, I., Guo, Y., Li, Y., & Peeta, S. (2025). Inflating system expectations prior to SAE level 3 automated vehicle use: Effects on monitoring behavior, resumption of control, and attitudes toward driving automation. Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives, 34, 101725. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2025.101725
    DOI

Presentations

  1. Simmons, T. G., Agrawal, S., & Souders, D. J. (2027, January 10-14). Investigating driver behavior under cyberattacks in connected vehicle environments. 106th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board (TRB), Washington, D.C.
  2. Souders, D. J., & Agrawal, S. (2026, Oct 18-23). Technology readiness differentially shapes trust pathways to generative AI use. Advance Systems and Practices through Innovation, Research and Education (ASPIRE), HFES International Annual Meeting, Reno, NV
  3. Davis, E., D., Merwarth, O., Pallath, H., Patel, J., Patel, M. S,, Viehe, J., Agrawal, S., Souders, D. J., Cruz, J., & Simmons, T. G. (2025, August 18-20). Enhancing driver awareness of emergency service vehicles using smartwatch-based notification system [Poster]. Poster presentation at the 9th Annual Summer Creative Inquiry + Undergraduate Research Showcase, Clemson University, Clemson, SC.
  4. Merwarth, O., Pallath, H., Patel, J., Patel, M. S., Viehe, J., Agrawal, S., Souders, D. J., Cruz, J., & Simmons, T. G. (2025, April 9-11). Enhancing driver awareness of emergency service vehicles using smartwatch-based notification system [Poster]. 20th Annual Focus on Creative Inquiry Forum, Clemson University, Clemson, SC.
  5. Storts, R., Barz, J., Clark, C., Cunningham, R., Prescott, A., Stoeffler, A., Souders, D. J., Agrawal, S., Butler, E., & Riley, T. (2025, April 9-11). Hands on, Eyes on: Comparing driver monitoring approaches for minimizing ADAS overreliance [Poster]. 20th Annual Focus on Creative Inquiry Forum, Clemson University, Clemson, SC.
  6. Souders, D. J., & Agrawal, S. (2024, September 9-13). Developing a Driver Monitoring System Driver Experience (DMSDX) scale using insights from developmental psychology [Paper]. Advance Systems and Practices through Innovation, Research and Education (ASPIRE), HFES International Annual Meeting, Phoenix, AZ.
  7. Cruz, J., Merwarth, O., Pallath, H., Syed, U., Butler, E., Souders, D. J., & Agrawal, S. (2024, August 20). Enhancing driver awareness of emergency service vehicles using smartwatch-based notification system [Poster]. 8th Annual Summer Creative Inquiry + Undergraduate Research Showcase, Clemson, SC.
  8. Souders, D. J., & Agrawal, S. (2024, August 6-10). Assessing driver monitoring systems: Unique insights from parenting styles [Paper]. American Psychological Association (APA) Annual Convention, Seattle, WA.
  9. Arredondo, E., Cruz, J., Oriunuta, S., Pallath, H., Pandiri, S., Syed, U., Riley, T., Butler, E., Merwarth, O., Patel, J., Allen, C., Bourini, Z., Alkelani, O., Agrawal, S., & Souders, D. J. (2024, April 4-6). Enhancing driver awareness of emergency service vehicles using smartwatch-based notification system [Poster]. Clemson University 19th Annual Focus on Creative Inquiry Forum, Clemson, SC.
  10. Biggers, A., Hird, L., Jamil, A., Patel, R., Patterson, G., Razavi, A., Souders, D. J., Agrawal, S., Baringer, K., Butler, E., Mintz, A., and Riley, T. (2023, April 5-7). Drivers' preference and performance with permissive and authoritative driver monitoring systems while using partial automation [Poster]. Clemson University 18th Annual Focus on Creative Inquiry Forum, Clemson, SC.