Citation

Conchillo A, Recarte MA, Nunes L, Ruiz T. Span. J. Psychol. 2006; 9(1): 32-37.

Affiliation

Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Campus de Somosaguas, 28223 - Madrid, Spain. conchillo@psi.ucm.es

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Complutense University of Madrid, Publisher Cambridge University Press)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

16673620

Abstract

The aim of this research was to study the performance in a speed estimation task of a passenger travelling in a real car in different scenarios: a closed track used in previous experimental studies was compared with interurban traffic environment involving a secondary road and a highway. At the same time, the effect of sex and driving experience on speed estimation was analyzed. Thirty-six participants (18 male and 18 female, half of each group being drivers and half non-drivers) estimated the speed of the car in which they travelled as passengers. The actual speed values varied in the range of 40-100 km/h for the secondary road, 70-120 km/h for the highway condition, and 40-120 km/h for the track. The results obtained for the track in previous studies (Recarte and Nunes, 1996; Recarte, Conchillo, and Nunes, 2004, 2005) were replicated in the same condition and were also verified for the secondary road scenario. However, a different pattern of errors was found for the highway. From the viewpoint of psychophysics, the participants were more accurate on the without-traffic track than in real traffic conditions, considered as a whole. The differences found between road and highway are discussed. No effect was found for between- subject variables, sex, and driving experience.

Language: en