Aging and detection of collision events on curved trajectories.
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.
Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, United States.
Zheng
Z
Bian
Amy H
AH
Guindon
George J
GJ
Andersen
D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000367:Age Factors; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001334:Automobile Driving; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009039:Motion Perception; D019370:Observation; D017603:Signal Detection, Psychological; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D014796:Visual Perception; D055815:Young Adult