Ten young male drivers were required to make four estimates of 40 mph speed after varying amounts of exposure to an adapting speed of 70 mph. The influence of these varying amounts of exposure to the adapting speed on speed judgments was studied, and a significant (^<.01) upward distortion of estimations of 40 mph was found to occur as a function of exposure to the adapting speed. The eta between treatment conditions and speed estimates was .72, and r was .71. These results were discussed in relation to their implications for accident rates and highway construction.

No abstract