Psy 410 Accident Analysis Paper
Lauren Markow
Professor Marc Gentzler
PSY 410
14 November 2013
Accident Analysis Project
Expectancy
As individuals carry on in life they develop expectancies. Expectancy is what we expect to occur in a familiar situation. We expect a doorknob to twist clockwise and a light switch to go down when we want the light off. Expectancies are carried over to driving. Dewar, Farber, & Olson (2010), discusses how common practices have been developed while designing vehicles, road-design and signage so that a certain expectancies can be developed. This expectancy allows for drivers to be ready and aware of the situations they may be encountered on the roads. When people’s expectancies are challenged they must adjust and establish …show more content…
To illustrate this, think of a time when you walk into a dark room from a brightly lit room, initially the person is blinded and eventually the images in the room are seen. The pupils dilate to allow more light into the eye. In contrast, during light adaptation the pupils constrict to let less light to enter the eye. Individuals’ reaction to the light and the type of light will result in varying rates of adjustment to the eye. There has been much research done on pupil dilation and dark adaptation. Further research has been done to discover the difference on Foveal and extrafovel adaptation. Interestingly, Foveal adaptation is supposed to be focused on the cones only and extrafovel adaptation is connected with the rods (Cook, 1934). This kind of research is valuable because it takes into account both monocular and binocular light …show more content…
However at night these illusions can be extremely dangerous. For example, linear perspective, which is a type of monocular depth cue, occurs when parallel lines extend out from an observer and appears to merge together as distance increases (Dominguez & Gentzler, 2011). Using only one eye, a person can process a monocular cue. Linear perspective allows an individual to perceive the depth and distance of an object. It also supports the idea that the smaller the object appears than the further it must be.
In the case of the accident Vehicle A had limited depth cues because there wasn’t any streetlights to illuminate the rural road. Therefore, the driver could not gauge where the vehicle was located and at what rate it was moving (from the report Vehicle B was not moving). The limited illumination from the driver’s headlights and absence of streetlights contributed to the road illusion and contributed to the driver’s confusion.
Perception-reaction
Professor Marc Gentzler
PSY 410
14 November 2013
Accident Analysis Project
Expectancy
As individuals carry on in life they develop expectancies. Expectancy is what we expect to occur in a familiar situation. We expect a doorknob to twist clockwise and a light switch to go down when we want the light off. Expectancies are carried over to driving. Dewar, Farber, & Olson (2010), discusses how common practices have been developed while designing vehicles, road-design and signage so that a certain expectancies can be developed. This expectancy allows for drivers to be ready and aware of the situations they may be encountered on the roads. When people’s expectancies are challenged they must adjust and establish …show more content…
To illustrate this, think of a time when you walk into a dark room from a brightly lit room, initially the person is blinded and eventually the images in the room are seen. The pupils dilate to allow more light into the eye. In contrast, during light adaptation the pupils constrict to let less light to enter the eye. Individuals’ reaction to the light and the type of light will result in varying rates of adjustment to the eye. There has been much research done on pupil dilation and dark adaptation. Further research has been done to discover the difference on Foveal and extrafovel adaptation. Interestingly, Foveal adaptation is supposed to be focused on the cones only and extrafovel adaptation is connected with the rods (Cook, 1934). This kind of research is valuable because it takes into account both monocular and binocular light …show more content…
However at night these illusions can be extremely dangerous. For example, linear perspective, which is a type of monocular depth cue, occurs when parallel lines extend out from an observer and appears to merge together as distance increases (Dominguez & Gentzler, 2011). Using only one eye, a person can process a monocular cue. Linear perspective allows an individual to perceive the depth and distance of an object. It also supports the idea that the smaller the object appears than the further it must be.
In the case of the accident Vehicle A had limited depth cues because there wasn’t any streetlights to illuminate the rural road. Therefore, the driver could not gauge where the vehicle was located and at what rate it was moving (from the report Vehicle B was not moving). The limited illumination from the driver’s headlights and absence of streetlights contributed to the road illusion and contributed to the driver’s confusion.
Perception-reaction