Changes in children's perception-action tuning over short time scales: Bicycling across traffic-filled intersections in a virtual environment

Jodie M Plumert; Joseph K Kearney; James F Cremer; Kara M Recker; Jonathan Strutt

doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2010.07.005

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Changes in children's perception-action tuning over short time scales: Bicycling across traffic-filled intersections in a virtual environment

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Changes in children's perception-action tuning over short time scales: Bicycling across traffic-filled intersections in a virtual environment

Jodie M Plumert, Joseph K Kearney, James F Cremer, Kara M Recker and Jonathan Strutt

Journal of experimental child psychology, Vol.108(2), pp.322-337

2011

DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2010.07.005

PMCID: PMC2991535

PMID: 20728090

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Abstract

This investigation examined short-term changes in child and adult cyclists’ gap decisions and movement timing in response to general and specific road-crossing experiences. Children (10- and 12-year-olds) and adults rode a bicycle through a virtual environment with 12 intersections. Participants faced continuous cross traffic and waited for gaps they judged were adequate for crossing. In the control condition, participants encountered randomly ordered gaps ranging from 1.5 to 5.0 s at all intersections. In the high-density condition, participants encountered high-density intersections sandwiched between sets of control intersections. These high-density intersections were designed to push participants toward taking tighter gaps. Participants in both conditions were more likely to accept 3.5-, 4.0-, 4.5-, and 5.0-s gaps at the last set of intersections than at the first set of intersections, whereas participants in the high-density condition were also more likely to accept very tight 3.0-s gaps at the last intersections than at the first intersections. Moreover, individuals in the high-density condition who waited less and took shorter gaps at the middle intersections were also more likely to take very tight 3.0-s gaps at the last intersections. The 10-year-olds in both conditions had more time to spare when they cleared the path of the oncoming car at the last intersections, whereas the 12-year-olds and adults showed no change in time to spare across intersections. The discussion focuses on linking short-term change in perceptual-motor functioning to longer term perceptual-motor development.

Child Development

Developmental Psychology

Biological and medical sciences

Child

Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology

Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry

Psychology. Psychophysiology

Details

Title: Subtitle: Changes in children's perception-action tuning over short time scales: Bicycling across traffic-filled intersections in a virtual environment
Creators: Jodie M Plumert - Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States
Joseph K Kearney - Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States
James F Cremer - Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States
Kara M Recker - Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States
Jonathan Strutt - Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Journal of experimental child psychology, Vol.108(2), pp.322-337
DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2010.07.005
PMID: 20728090
PMCID: PMC2991535
NLM abbreviation: J Exp Child Psychol
ISSN: 0022-0965
eISSN: 1096-0457
Publisher: Elsevier
Language: English
Date published: 2011
Academic Unit: Psychological and Brain Sciences; Nursing; Injury Prevention Research Center; Computer Science
Record Identifier: 9984214743402771

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