Using Virtual Reality to Examine the Effects of Peer Modeling on Child Pedestrian Behavior

Previous research has shown that peer modeling of risk behaviors influences school-aged children’s decisions about risky play behaviors, however, whether it influences children’s behavior in a pedestrian environment remains to be determined. The current study used a fully immersive and interactive virtual reality (VR) pedestrian environment to evaluate how peer modeling affects the behavior of child pedestrians. Data were collected from a sample of 55 children between the ages of 8-10 years old. In the test groups, street crossing behaviors were measured both before and after exposure to a same-sex peer model that demonstrated either riskier or safer street crossing behavior compared to the participant’s initial crossings; the control group repeated the crossing trials with no peer exposure intervening. There was no difference in initial crossing behaviors across groups. However, children who observed peer modeling of risky pedestrian behavior subsequently crossed in significantly smaller (riskier) inter-vechile gaps than those in the control group. There was no effect of peers modeling safer crossings on children’s pedestrian behavior. Implications for preventing child pedestrian injuries are discussed.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AND30 Standing Committee on Simulation and Measurement of Vehicle and Operator Performance.
• Authors:
  • Morrongiello, Barbara A
  • Corbett, Michael
  • Foster, Avianna
  • Koutsoulianos, Stephanie
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 97th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2018-1-7 to 2018-1-11
• Date: 2018

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: 13p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Behavior; Children; Pedestrian movement; Pedestrian safety; Pedestrians; Peer groups; Risk taking; Virtual reality
• Subject Areas: Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01656825
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 18-01236
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Jan 22 2018 10:49AM