Learning game for training child bicyclists' situation awareness

Area of Science:

• Pediatric safety
• Human-computer interaction
• Cognitive psychology

Background:

• Bicycling accidents are a significant cause of child injuries and fatalities.
• Children's underdeveloped hazard perception skills contribute to bicycling risks.
• Situation awareness training may improve child bicycling safety.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and pilot a computer-based learning game to train children's situation awareness and hazard perception skills.
• To assess the game's effectiveness in improving hazard identification in child cyclists.
• To compare the performance of children and adults using the training game.

Main Methods:

• A prototype computer game was developed, featuring cyclist-perspective videos with overt and covert targets.
• The game was piloted with 49 children (8-9 years old) and 31 adults.
• Situation awareness was assessed using pre- and post-game tests analyzed with Signal Detection Theory and response latencies.

Main Results:

• The game reduced answer latency for both children and adults.
• A marginal shift towards a less conservative response bias was observed.
• The game did not significantly improve target sensitivity, particularly for covert targets in children.
• Adults outperformed children in both the game and the tests.

Conclusions:

• The current version of the learning game is not an effective tool for improving situation awareness or hazard perception in children.
• Children struggle with identifying covert hazards, indicating a need for game improvement.
• Further research is needed to refine the game for enhanced pediatric safety training.