Pollatsek Alexander, Romoser Matthew R E, Fisher Donald L
Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Curr Dir Psychol Sci. 2012 Feb 1;21(1):3-7. doi: 10.1177/0963721411429459.
Older drivers are primarily overinvolved in crashes at intersections, and failure to attend to regions that contain relevant information about potential hazards is a major contributor to this problem. Corroborating this, we have found that older drivers in both controlled scenarios on a driving simulator and somewhat less controlled situations on the road attend to (i.e., fixate) target regions in intersections significantly less frequently than do younger experienced drivers. Moreover, we have developed a training program that substantially improves older drivers' attention to these regions. Together, these findings indicate that older drivers' less frequent scanning of regions at intersections from which hazards may emerge may be due to their developing something like an unsafe habit rather than to deteriorating physical or mental capabilities and thus that training may be effective in reducing crashes.
年长驾驶员主要在十字路口发生的撞车事故中涉入过多，而未能关注包含潜在危险相关信息的区域是造成这一问题的主要原因。与此相符的是，我们发现，无论是在驾驶模拟器的受控场景中，还是在道路上控制稍少的情况下，年长驾驶员注视十字路口目标区域的频率都明显低于年轻且经验丰富的驾驶员。此外，我们还开发了一个培训项目，该项目能大幅提高年长驾驶员对这些区域的注意力。综合来看，这些发现表明，年长驾驶员较少频繁扫视十字路口可能出现危险的区域，可能是因为他们养成了某种不安全的习惯，而非身体或心理能力的衰退，因此培训可能有效地减少撞车事故。
