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Title:

AGE DIFFERENCES IN A VISUAL INFORMATION PROCESSING CAPABILITY UNDERLYING TRAFFIC CONTROL DEVICE USAGE

Accession Number:

00495484

Record Type:

Component

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Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0309049709

Abstract:

Three laboratory studies addressing the magnitude of age-related differences in visual performance and their effect on delineation recognition and sign word-message legibility were conducted by using a repeated-measures experimental design. A method of limits procedure using a Landolt-C detection task defined contrast sensitivity decrements among drivers aged 65 to 80 relative to drivers aged 18 to 49; the average threshold elevation factor for all older drivers tested was in the 2 to 2.5 range, and was as high as 20 for the poorest performers in the older driver test sample. Also, a self-selected sample of older drivers with unrepresentatively good visual performance capabilities was indicated through comparison of multiple older driver groups in this research. Significant age effects were observed in quantifying the required brightness (contrast) of pavement striping to discriminate a left- from a right-bearing curve at varying distances downstream on a two-lane roadway, as well as the required character size to read single words and complete (novel) messages on regulatory, warning, and guide sign stimuli. Correlations between measured contrast sensitivity for test subjects and their performance on the two subsequent tasks were calculated; maximum variance-accounted-for by this visual performance index in the delineation recognition task was under 11% and reached 27% for the legibility task. It was concluded that cognitive factors play a significant role in driving tasks previously hypothesized to rely principally on sensory capabilities, with implications for the design of traffic control element countermeasures to accommodate the older driver population.

Supplemental Notes:

This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1244, Traffic and Grade Crossing Control Devices. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved

Monograph Accession #:

01414219

Authors:

Staplin, Loren
Lococo, Kathy
Sim, James
Drapcho, Michele

Pagination:

p. 63-72

Publication Date:

1989

Serial:

Transportation Research Record

Issue Number: 1244
Publisher: Transportation Research Board
ISSN: 0361-1981

ISBN:

0309049709

Features:

Figures (1) ; References (7) ; Tables (6)

Uncontrolled Terms:

Old TRIS Terms:

Subject Areas:

Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors; Society; I73: Traffic Control

Files:

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Created Date:

Jul 31 1990 12:00AM

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