Highlights Our proposed theory is that errors made by motorists in judging a train's speed may be due to a size–speed illusion. Participants’ relative speed estimations of simulated trains and cars, approaching at a range of speeds were tested. Results showed that participants significantly underestimated the speed of the train, compared to the car. A larger vehicle appears to be moving slower than a smaller vehicle even when they are travelling at the same speed.

    Abstract Collisions between motor vehicles and trains at railway level crossings have been a high-profile issue for many years in New Zealand and other countries. Errors made in judging a train's speed could possibly be attributed to motorists being unknowingly subjected to a size–speed illusion and this could put them at considerable risk. Leibowitz (1985) maintained that a large object seems to be moving slower than a small object travelling at the same speed. Support has been provided for Leibowitz's theory from studies using simple shapes on a screen. However, the reasons behind the size–speed illusion remain unknown and there is no experimental evidence that it applies to an approaching train situation. To investigate these issues, we tested observers’ relative speed estimation performance for a train and a car approaching at a range of speeds and distances, in a simulated environment. The data show that participants significantly underestimated the speed of the train, compared to the car. A size–speed illusion seems to be operating in the case of the approaching train in our simulation and may therefore be a risk factor in some railway level crossing collisions.


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    Titel :

    An illusory size–speed bias and railway crossing collisions


    Beteiligte:

    Erschienen in:

    Erscheinungsdatum :

    2013-02-27


    Format / Umfang :

    6 pages




    Medientyp :

    Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)


    Format :

    Elektronische Ressource


    Sprache :

    Englisch





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