Presentation
Does the Color of an Approaching Vehicle Affect Judgments of Time-to-Collision?
SessionWednesday Poster Session
DescriptionA critical component of collision avoidance in traffic is the ability to accurately estimate time-to-collision (TTC), that is, how much time remains before a collision occurs. Despite research on the effects of many different variables on TTC estimates (e.g., vehicle size and speed), vehicle color has been understudied. Prior research suggests that vehicles with lighter colors appear faster than those with darker colors, but TTC estimates were not measured. In the current study, 14 participants viewed a traffic scene in which a red or blue vehicle approached for 3 s and disappeared when it was either 1 s or 4 s from reaching the participant. Participants pressed a button when they believed the vehicle would reach them. Consistent with prior effects of color on speed perception, red vehicles were judged to arrive sooner (TTC was underestimated) than blue vehicles (TTC was overestimated), but only when TTC was 4 s. Results suggest that vehicle color may be used as a heuristic cue to judge TTC when actual TTC is relatively long and thus cognitive extrapolation demands putatively are relatively greater. The next step is to determine whether this effect of color remains when luminance is equated across vehicle color.
Event Type
Poster
TimeWednesday, October 21st5:30pm - 6:30pm PDT
LocationSummit Pavilion