In order to obtain a structurally safe traffic system it is important to adapt the design of the infrastructure to the human possibilities and limitations. As a means to this goal the concept of Self-Explaining Roads (SER) has been developed. In a "Self-Explaining" road environment road users know how to behave simply on the basis of the road design. In order to acquire Self-Explaining Roads it is important that the design of the infrastructure is adjusted to the way the road environment is categorized in the "heads" of the road users. This report discusses the theoretical principles underlying categorization of environments. The literature on categorization of simply objects is used as a starting point. Theoretical principles and models (classic, prototype, exemplar, and mixed models) are discussed. The research methods and analysis techniques are reviewed. The present analysis suggests that the categorization of environment is based on prototypes added with specific exemplars. The internal knowledge representation is hierarchical and contains one basic level. (A)
Abstract