H.W. Leibowitz and his students (H.W. Leibowitz & D.A. Owens, 1977; H.W. Leibowitz, D.A. Owens, & R.B. Post, 1982) hypothesized that drivers are overconfident at night because they are unaware that their visual recognition abilities are selectively degraded in low illumination while visual guidance is preserved. This hypothesis was investigated in 2 experiments using a driving simulator. In Experiment 1, steering accuracy was disrupted by visual field reduction but not by extreme blur or low luminance. Conversely, visual acuity was degraded by blur and low luminance but not by field reduction. In Experiment 2, older drivers exhibited a progressive degradation of steering accuracy, not found with younger drivers, in low luminance. These findings support and extend the selective degradation hypothesis and may help account for older drivers' reluctance to drive at night. (A)
Abstract