Citation

Bian Z, Guindon AH, Andersen GJ. Accid. Anal. Prev. 2013; 50: 926-933.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, United States.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.aap.2012.07.013

PMID

22901829

Abstract

In the current study we examined age-related differences in the detection of collision events on a curved trajectory. Observers were presented with displays simulating an approaching object moving at a constant speed that was either on a collision or a non-collision path. The object disappeared before reaching the observer, and the task was to determine whether the object was on a collision path. In a series of three experiments, we manipulated the motion trajectory of the object (linear or curved), time-to-contact (TTC), and radius of the curvature. We found decreased performance with older as compared to younger observers when the object was traveling on a linear trajectory at long TTC. However, there was no age-related decrement in detecting a collision when the object was traveling on a curved trajectory. These results indicate a similar ability for older and younger observers in detecting collisions on a curved trajectory.

Language: en