In this study the effects were evaluated of driving experience and age on the perceptual processes involved in the detection of potential future collision with a preceding vehicle. Four groups of 12 participants each took part: Group 1 consisted of drivers having their driver's license for more than five years; Group 2 consisted of drivers having their driver's licence for less than two years; the participants constituing Group 3 did not possess a driver's licence. Participants from these three groups were less than 30 years old whereas participants from Group 4 consisted of participants over 65 years old who drove regularly. From 216 different scenarios of approach at (sufficient or insufficient) constant deceleration towards preceding vehicle, participants judged whether the truncated unfolding event would have given rise to a collision or not, using a forced 2-choice task. Results indicated that driving experience did not seem to influence the capacity to detect upcoming collision, while aging led to a decrease in judgment performance. Judgments were found to be based on information carried in the optical variable tau and its evaluation over time, the optical variable tau-dot. Compared to younger drivers, elder drivers were found to use these optical variables differently depending on the presence or absence of environmental structure in the scenarios. (Author/publisher)
Abstract