Experiments in teaching children safe traffic behaviour vary widely in objectives, methods, design and subjects. To induce generalisation of the experimental findings a model has been developed in which the factors influencing the effectiveness of the traffic training can be identified. Within the framework of this model the experimental data concerning the instructional variables are discussed in terms of instructional situations, methods and audio-visual media. Instructional situations may be divided into real traffic situations, real street situations without traffic, semi-real situations, simulated street situations and the classroom. The real traffic situation appears to be the most suitable for traffic training, whereas classroom training may be effective if certain methods are used in conjunction with audio-visual aids. The methods used in traffic training may be described as theoretical instruction, demonstrations, practical training and behaviour modification. There is little evidence that theoretical instruction is effective in influencing road safety behaviour. The best results seem to be obtained from demonstrations and behaviour modification. Media play an increasingly important role in traffic training; the studies mainly focus on table-top models, slides, film/video and printed material. The most promising results are found in experiments using film or video, especially when these films are based on demonstrations following imitation-learning principles. Finally, some conclusions are drawn concerning further research and the practical implementation of the findings. (Author/publisher).
Samenvatting