Age Differences in Estimating Vehicle Velocity

Automobile accidents among older adults may be related to difficulties in judging the speed of other vehicles. To examine this possibility, 3 groups of observers in the young adult, middle-aged, and older adult age ranges were asked to estimate the velocity of an isolated automobile traveling at 15-...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychology and aging 1991-03, Vol.6 (1), p.60-66
Main Authors: Scialfa, Charles T, Guzy, Lawrence T, Leibowitz, Herschel W, Garvey, Philip M, Tyrrell, Richard A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acceleration
Accidents, Traffic - psychology
Adult
Adult. Elderly
Age Differences
Aged
Aging - psychology
Automobile Driving - psychology
Automobiles
Biological and medical sciences
Developmental psychology
Discrimination Learning
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Human
Humans
Middle Aged
Motion Perception
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Psychophysics
Risk Factors
Space life sciences
Velocity
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Summary:Automobile accidents among older adults may be related to difficulties in judging the speed of other vehicles. To examine this possibility, 3 groups of observers in the young adult, middle-aged, and older adult age ranges were asked to estimate the velocity of an isolated automobile traveling at 15-50 mph (24-80 kph). Across all age groups, perceived and actual velocity were related by a power function with an exponent of 1.36. Age was significantly and positively correlated with intercepts, but negatively correlated with exponents; that is, older observers showed less sensitivity to changes in actual velocity. Results bear on the issues of ontogenetic changes in accident involvement and sensitivity to motion.
ISSN:0882-7974
1939-1498
DOI:10.1037/0882-7974.6.1.60