Citation

Hoffrage U, Weber A, Hertwig R, Chase VM. J. Exp. Psychol. Appl. 2003; 9(4): 249-260.

Affiliation

Center for Adaptive Behavior and Cognition, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany. hoffrage@mpib-berlin.mpg.de

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, American Psychological Association)

DOI

10.1037/1076-898X.9.4.249

PMID

14664676

Abstract

Crossing the street in front of oncoming vehicles

poses serious danger to young children. But is each young pedestrian similarly

at risk? The authors aimed to identify children who are particularly prone to

making risky and potentially harmful crossing decisions. They used a simple game

involving risk to classify 5- to 6-year-olds as risk takers or risk avoiders.

Children classified as risk takers made more crossing decisions at a busy 1-way

street than risk avoiders, tolerated shorter time intervals between initiation

of the crossing decision and arrival of the next vehicle, and were more likely

to cause a (hypothetical) accident. Finally, they made decisions more quickly

than risk avoiders. The authors discuss the implication of these results for

traffic safety programs.