The contribution of visual search strategies to the development of pedestrian skills by 4-11 year-old children

Background. Young children in the 5-9 age range are particularly vulnerable to road accidents as pedestrians and previous research has identified a range of motivational and cognitive skill factors which may play a part in this. Aims. The present study aimed to examine the extent to which the development of pedestrian skills in young children was related to individual differences in visual search strategies. Sample. A sample of 180 children aged 4/5, 7/8 and 10/11 years was presented with tasks intended to assess their pedestrian skills. From this analysis a subset of 60 children was selected who had particularly high or low levels of pedestrian skills, together with a random sample of 10 adults, for more detailed analysis of their visual search strategies when confronted with the problem of crossing a road safely. Method. The children's pedestrian skills were assessed using three tasks based on slide and video presentations of real roadside situations; these tasks assessed the ability to identify safe places to cross the road. and to decide when it was safe to cross based on the ability to detect dangerous traffic and to coordinate information from different directions. Visual search strategies were assessed using a 'spot the difference' test and by analysing the head and eye movements of children and adults while they were carrying out the video task requiring them to co-ordinate information from different directions. This task was also used to make an assessment of individuals' processing speeds by measuring the time it took to make decisions that it was safe to cross the road. Results, Significant differences emerged in strategic approaches between children in different age groups, and those who had high and low levels of pedestrians skills. A significant strategic shift appeared to be occurring around the age of 7/8 years. Conclusions. The results indicate that the explicit training of visual search strategies might well be beneficial, but that these cannot simply be the strategies of the adult pedestrian. Children may need to master simpler strategies which their slower processing speeds allow them to manage before they proceed on to the more sophisticated strategic approaches, typically involving predictions, used by older children and adults.