Children as pedestrians: Abilities and limitations

The purpose of this paper is to present information on the feasibility of educational objectives in the field of traffic education for young children. In order to do so. it is necessary to answer four questions. These are: (1) Which behavior is desired? (2) Which functions and abilities are required for a safe performance of the tasks described in question 1? On the basis of existing literature a large number of necessary functions and abilities could be distinguished. These were combined into four groups related to: the perception of oncoming traffic, judgments to be made, the decision-making process and some additional tasks. (3) How do the necessary functions and abilities develop and at what age can they be used adequately? A survey of the traffic safety literature as well as the general child development literature forms the main part of this paper. (4) What implications does this development have for the leaching objectives? The results of the literature survey show, that a great lack of relevant research does exist. The relation of most studies with the actual traffic task is often a very weak one, even within the traffic safety literature. Only a few studies have been carried out in actual traffic situations and even in these studies the relation with crossing behavior has not been studied. Hence, it is not possible at present to give a detailed set of objectives feasible at a certain age. Although some objectives can be defined, much more research is necessary before final conclusions can be reached.

[1]  James Hartley,et al.  Children in traffic , 1975 .

[2]  Robert H. Pollack,et al.  PERCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT: A PROGRESS REPORT , 1972 .

[3]  Robert H. Pollack,et al.  Backward figurai masking as a function of chronological age and intelligence , 1965 .

[4]  Eliane Vurpillot.  The visual world of the child. , 1976 .

[5]  Walter Schneider,et al.  Controlled and automatic human information processing: II. Perceptual learning, automatic attending and a general theory. , 1977 .

[6]  David McNeill,et al.  The Acquisition of Language: The Study of Developmental Psycholinguistics , 1970 .

[7]  J Blake,et al.  Developmental change in visual information processing under backward masking. , 1974, Journal of experimental child psychology.

[8]  L Oppenheimer.  Comprehensive speed perception: its development and relation to mental imagery , 1975 .

[9]  J. Piaget.  The Child's Conception of Physical Causality , 1927 .

[10]  J. Piaget,et al.  Memory and intelligence , 1973 .

[11]  H. M. Eckert,et al.  Developmental Variability in Reaction Time. , 1977 .

[12]  P FRAISSE,et al.  [Perception of space, speed and time in the 5-year-old children. I. Space and speed]. , 1952, Enfance; psychologie, pedagogie, neuropsychiatrie, sociologie.

[13]  Norman W. Heimstra,et al.  The perception of hazard by children , 1973 .

[14]  Harold D. Fishbein,et al.  Perception and conception in coordination of perspectives. , 1974 .

[15]  M P Vinje,et al.  Understanding visibility in traffic: an experiment with preschool children , 1980 .

[16]  P. Mussen,et al.  Carmichael's Manual of Child Psychology , 1972 .

[17]  J. Piaget.  The Mechanisms of Perception , 1971 .

[18]  M. Day,et al.  Developmental trends in visual scanning. , 1975, Advances in child development and behavior.

[19]  Bryant J. Cratty,et al.  Perceptual and Motor Development in Infants and Children , 1970 .

[20]  Wohlwill Jf,et al.  Developmental studies of perception. , 1960 .

[21]  J. Coie,et al.  Specific transitions in the development of spatial perspective-taking ability. , 1973 .

[22]  J. Watson,et al.  Spatial abilities and spatial egocentrism in the young child. , 1971, Child development.

[23]  A. G. Vlietstra,et al.  The development of selective attention: from perceptual exploration to logical search. , 1975, Advances in child development and behavior.

[24]  R. Shiffrin,et al.  Controlled and automatic human information processing: I , 1977 .

[25]  B Preston,et al.  Road safety education for young children. , 1967, The British journal of educational psychology.

[26]  R. Kail,et al.  Cognitive perspectives on the development of memory. , 1975, Advances in child development and behavior.

[27]  A BOBROFF,et al.  The stages of maturation in socialized thinking and in the ego development of two groups of children. , 1960, Child development.

[28]  J Schreiber.  Communicating road safety to the young pedestrian , 1978 .

[29]  R. Hohle,et al.  Time estimation by young children with and without informational feedback. , 1970, Journal of experimental child psychology.

[30]  L. K. Miller,et al.  Eye-Movement Latency as a Function of Age, Stimulus Uncertainty, and Position in the Visual Field , 1969, Perceptual and motor skills.

[31]  L. K. Miller,et al.  Visual masking and developmental differences in information processing. , 1972, Child development.

[32]  Marshall M. Haith,et al.  The speed of visual processing in children and adults: Effects of backward and forward masking , 1970 .

[33]  S. Messer,et al.  Reflection-impulsivity: A review. , 1976 .

[34]  L. Lipsitt,et al.  Experimental child psychology , 1970 .

[35]  Walter Schneider,et al.  Controlled and Automatic Human Information Processing: 1. Detection, Search, and Attention. , 1977 .

[36]  E J Sheppard.  COMPREHENSION BY CHILDREN OF AERIAL VIEWS IN ROAD SAFETY TEACHING AIDS , 1975 .

[37]  Santo Salvatore,et al.  THE ABILITY OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL CHILDREN TO SENSE ONCOMING CAR VELOCITY , 1973 .

[38]  Gordon A. Hale,et al.  THE DEVELOPMENT OF ATTENTION IN CHILDREN1 , 1973 .

[39]  H. Pick,et al.  Environmental differentiation and familiarity as determinants of children's memory for spatial location. , 1975 .

[40]  T J Berndt,et al.  The development of time concepts through conflict based on a primitive duration capacity. , 1974, Child development.

[41]  Paul Fraisse,et al.  Étude comparée de la perception et de l'estimation de la durée chez les enfants et les adultes , 1948 .

[42]  N. Kogan,et al.  Cognitive styles in infancy and early childhood , 1976 .

[43]  H M Finlayson,et al.  Children's road behaviour and personality. , 1972, The British journal of educational psychology.

[44]  F. J. Langdon,et al.  The Child's Conception of Space , 1967 .

[45]  F A Minnigerode,et al.  Development of mechanisms underlying spatial perspectives. , 1974, Child development.

[46]  Paul Fraisse,et al.  La perception de l'espace, de la vitesse et du temps chez l'enfant de cinq ans. II , 1952 .

[47]  J A Rothengatter,et al.  Blueprint of an analysis of the pedestrian's task—I , 1981 .

[48]  J. Bruner,et al.  Studies In Cognitive Growth , 1966 .

[49]  E. Gibson.  Principles of Perceptual Learning and Development , 1969 .

[50]  Hugo H. van der Molen,et al.  Child pedestrian's exposure, accidents and behavior†☆ , 1981 .

[51]  S. White,et al.  Evidence for a Hierarchical Arrangement of Learning Processes , 1965 .

[52]  M. Haith,et al.  Developmental changes in visual information processing and short-term visual memory. , 1971, Human development.

[53]  D Sheppard,et al.  THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE GREEN CROSS CODE , 1974 .

[54]  E. A. Hoy,et al.  Predicting another's visual perspective: A unitary skill? , 1974 .

[55]  George G. Thompson,et al.  Sensory and perceptual development. , 1952 .

[56]  G Avery,et al.  PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN AND THE TRAFFIC LIGHT TASK , 1974 .

[57]  B. Carpenter,et al.  The perception of movement by young chimpanzees and human children. , 1958, Journal of comparative and physiological psychology.