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THE PERCEPTION OF SPEED DURING CAR DRIVING

Previous research into the perception of forward speed by automobile drivers was based on direct estimation or ratio production scaling techniques. A possible disadvantage of direct scaling techniques is that they "invite" the subject to rescale his subjective scale values to the physical scale values in km/h. A disadvantage of the ratio production method is that the resulting scale is only valid for the particular situation in which it was derived. The author attempts to overcome these difficulties by using a cross-modality matching procedure. This method is used in an experiment in which several variables, which according to the literature have an influence on subjective speed impression, were factorially combined. The results show that ambient light condition, speed adaptation, and road characteristics did have much less influence than could be expected on the basis of previous findings in the literature. Also the effects of stroboscopic visual occlusion and masking of motor noise did not have consistent effects. The subjects seemed able to adjust their physical speed in a very consistent manner, resulting in a linear scale for velocity. These results were obtained using a cross-modality matching procedure. This procedure seems well adapted and a fertile one for research in the area of speed perception. A more extensive experiment should follow these preliminary results. (TRRL)

  • Corporate Authors:

    TNO INSTITUTE FOR PERCEPTION

    KAMPWEG 5, PO BOX 23
    SOESTERBERG,   Netherlands  3769 ZG
  • Authors:
    • RIEMERSMA, JBJ
  • Publication Date: 1984

Media Info

  • Features: Figures; References; Tables;

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00393189
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: Institute for Road Safety Research, SWOV
  • Report/Paper Numbers: 1984 C-11 Monograph
  • Files: ITRD, TRIS
  • Created Date: Jun 30 1985 12:00AM