Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, United States.
Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, United States.
J Safety Res. 2024 Jun;89:135-140. doi: 10.1016/j.jsr.2024.01.012. Epub 2024 Feb 7.
Pedestrian injuries represent a leading cause of child death globally. One prevention strategy is teaching children street-crossing skills. Virtual reality (VR) has emerged as a strategy to offer repeated street-crossing practice and overcome ethical barriers of training children in live traffic. This study addressed two questions pertinent to implementation of child pedestrian safety training within VR: (a) how much training do children require to achieve adult street-crossing competency, and (b) what individual differences might facilitate children to acquire that competency more efficiently?
Five hundred 7- and 8-year-olds were recruited. Children completed pedestrian safety training within VR for up to 25 thirty-minute training sessions until they achieved adult levels of mastery. At baseline, four cognitive-perceptual skills (visual memory, visual perception, processing speed, working memory) and parent-reported externalizing symptomatology were assessed.
On average, children achieved adult pedestrian safety competency after 10.0 training sessions (SD = 4.8). Just one child (<1%) failed to achieve adult pedestrian functioning after 25 training sessions. In univariate analyses, boys took slightly longer than girls to achieve adult functioning, and visual memory, visual perception, processing speed, working memory, and fewer externalizing symptoms were all positively associated with shorter time to mastery. In a multivariable model, only child age was a statistically significant predictor.
Almost all participants achieved adult street-crossing skills competency through VR training, although they required about 10 sessions on average. Analysis of predictor variables confirmed that nearly all 7- and 8-year-olds are trainable.
Implementation of VR pedestrian safety training is recommended, but must be conducted cautiously to ensure children are not permitted to engage independently in traffic until they are assessed and demonstrate sufficient skills.
行人受伤是全球儿童死亡的主要原因之一。预防策略之一是教授儿童过街技能。虚拟现实（VR）已成为提供重复过街练习并克服在真实交通中培训儿童的伦理障碍的策略。本研究针对在 VR 中实施儿童行人安全培训的两个问题：（a）儿童需要多少培训才能达到成人过街能力，以及（b）哪些个体差异可能使儿童更有效地获得这种能力？
招募了 500 名 7 至 8 岁的儿童。儿童在 VR 中完成行人安全培训，最多可完成 25 个 30 分钟的培训课程，直到达到成人水平。在基线时，评估了四项认知知觉技能（视觉记忆、视觉感知、处理速度、工作记忆）和家长报告的外化症状。
平均而言，儿童在 10.0 次培训课程后达到成人行人安全能力（SD=4.8）。只有一名儿童（<1%）在 25 次培训后未能达到成人行人功能。在单变量分析中，男孩达到成人功能所需的时间略长于女孩，视觉记忆、视觉感知、处理速度、工作记忆和较少的外化症状与达到掌握的时间较短呈正相关。在多变量模型中，只有儿童年龄是一个统计学上显著的预测因子。
通过 VR 培训，几乎所有参与者都达到了成人过街技能能力，但平均需要大约 10 次课程。预测变量的分析证实，几乎所有 7 至 8 岁的儿童都可接受培训。
建议实施 VR 行人安全培训，但必须谨慎进行，以确保在评估和证明儿童具备足够技能之前，不得允许他们独立参与交通。
