Age effects on traffic sign comprehension

Spatial Mental Transformation Skills Discriminate Fitness to Drive in Young and Old Adults

“…A recent review highlighted the detrimental effect of aging on visual perception (Woutersen et al, 2017), also showing neurophysiological evidence that older drivers are more prone to deeply process irrelevant stimuli (Hahn et al, 2013). In other studies, older drivers showed impairments in both accuracy and speed of understanding traffic signs (Stutts et al, 1998;Ben-Bassat and Shinar, 2015;Schulz et al, 2019). The reduced comprehension of traffic signs was found to be mainly associated with age-related changes in selective attention, speed perception, and semantic memory (Lesch et al, 2013;Boot et al, 2014;Toepper et al, 2014).…”

Elderly users’ perceptions of signage systems from tertiary hospitals in Guangzhou

“…It is essential to enhance visual perception when visual signals are used in such spaces as a result. Previous research has identified the characteristics and performance of wayfinding for the elderly [ 11 , 15 , 17 , 18 , 26 , 37 , 53 , 68 ], and provided preliminary recommendations and methods for hospital signage system design. Mollerup argued that the standard approach to solving the problem of wayfinding in hospitals is to improve signage, and proposed the use of an inclusive approach to create signage systems that meet the needs of all populations because helping the less fortunate approach will ultimately help everyone [ 15 ].…”

“…This can reduce their stress and their chances of becoming lost on the premises. When hospital signage is not designed to meet the perceptions of the elderly, it is challenging for them to recognize or familiarize themselves with a building, making it difficult for them to find their way [ [16] , [17] , [18] , [19] ]. Studies indicate that elderly people are often less efficient at wayfinding and require more time to reach their destination, and more crucially, they are more likely to become lost [ [20] , [21] , [22] ].Moreover, disorientation can harm a patient's physiological health by increasing delirium, depression, and the need for painkillers, and, in certain situations, it is time consuming and can cause economic loss [ 23 ].…”

“…While a large number of studies have recommended preliminary suggestions for enhancing user wayfinding efficiency by improving the legibility and comprehensibility of signage systems [ 15 , 17 , 22 , 25 ] [ [15] , [17] , [22] , [25] , [26] , [27] , [28] , [29] , [30] , [31] ] [ [15] , [17] , [22] , [25] , [26] , [27] , [28] , [29] , [30] , [31] ], there are few specific hospital signage design recommendations for the elderly groups [ 32 ]. In addition, perceptions and preferences for signage systems are culturally diverse [ 15 , [33] , [34] , [35] , [36] , [37] , [38] ], and no research has been found on the perceptions of hospital signage systems by elderly users in China.…”

Review of Research on the Setting of Guide Signs for Interchanges in Expressway Hubs

“…The results showed that young drivers were significantly better than older drivers in terms of accuracy and response time. Philipp Schulz et al [14] studied the impact of age on traffic sign understanding. Through standardized traffic sign tests and comprehensive neuropsychological tests on 37 older and 29 young healthy drivers, it was found that age has an impact on traffic sign understanding.…”