The notion that people consider accident risk during driving and other activities has long dominated safety research. The practical importance of risk perception and risk compensation, however, has been overrated. As an alternative formulation, behavior may be affected by action-oriented perception of affordances — we act in ways that we think will be adequate for success. Research on affordance perception has implications for understanding the causes of accidents, and for evaluating and designing warnings and other intended safety interventions.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
ArndtS.R.AyresT. J.McCarthyR. L.SchmidtR. A.WoodC. T.YoungD. E. (1998). Warning labels and accident data. Proceedings of the 42nd Annual Meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 550–553.
2.
AyresT.ArndtS.YoungD.HumphreyD. (1998). Product-related risk of falling among the elderly. Proceedings of the Silicon Valley Ergonomics Conference & Exposition, 190–193.
3.
AyresT. J.BjelajacV. M.FowlerG. F.YoungD. E. (1997). Slope perception and slope warnings. Proceedings of the Silicon Valley Ergonomics Conference & Exposition, 156–159.
4.
AyresT. J.DonelsonA.BrownS.BjelajacV. M.Van SelowW. (1996). On-board truck computers and accident risk. Safety Engineering and Risk Analysis 1996, SERA-Vol. 6, American Society of Mechanical Engineers1–6.
5.
AyresT.GrossM.McCarthyR. (1993). A retrospective on attempts to reduce vehicular risk through operator training. In EliaF. A.Jr.PyattD. W. (Eds.), SERA-Vol. 1, Safety Engineering and Risk Analysis. ASME Book No. H00894-1993.
6.
AyresT.HumphreyD.MurrayJ. (1999). Cellular telephones and driver caution. Proceedings of the Silicon Valley Ergonomics Conference & Exposition, 179–181.
7.
AyresT. J.WoodC. T.McCarthyR. L.ArndtS. R. (1999). Relative rollover risk estimates for pickup trucks. Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Product Safety Research, Washington, DC.
8.
AyresT. J.WoodC. T.SchmidtR. A.McCarthyR. L. (1998). Risk perception and behavioral choice. International Journal of Cognitive Ergonomics, 2 (1–2), 35–52.
9.
AyresT.WoodC.SchmidtR.YoungD.MurrayJ. (1998). Effectiveness of warning labels and signs: An update on compliance research. Proceedings of the Silicon Valley Ergonomics Conference & Exposition, 199–205.
10.
CoxE. P.WogalterM. S.StokesS. L.MurffE. J. T. (1997). Do product warnings increase safe behavior? A meta-analysis. Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, 16 (2), 195–204.
11.
DingusT. A.WreggitS. S.HathawayJ. A. (1993). Warning variables affecting personal protective equipment use. Safety Science, 16, 655–673.
12.
DonelsonA.RamachandranK.DavisM. S. (1996). Vehicle rollover: Assessing the importance of risk factors with crash scenario analysis. Safety Engineering and Risk Analysis 1996, SERA-Vol. 6, American Society of Mechanical Engineers7–14.
13.
FhanerG.HaneM. (1974). Seat belts: Relations between beliefs, attitude, and use. Journal of Applied Psychology, 59 (4), 472–482.
14.
GibsonJ. J. (1966). The Senses Considered as Perceptual Systems. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
15.
GigerenzerG.ToddP. M. (1999). Simple Heuristics That Make Us Smart. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
16.
GoodmanM.J.TijerinaL.BentsF.D.WierwilleW.W. (1999). Using cellular telephones in vehicles: Safe or unsafe?Transportation Human Factors, 1 (1), 3–42.
17.
LaneJ. M.MilneP. W.WoodH. T. (1984). Evaluation of a successful rear seat belt publicity campaign. Proceedings of the Australian Road Research Board, 12 (7), 13–21.
18.
LaugheryK. R.WogalterM. S. (1997). Warnings and risk perception. In SalvendyG. (Ed.), Handbook of Human Factors and Ergonomics. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
19.
LehtoM. R. (1991) A proposed conceptual model of human behavior and its implications for design of warnings. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 73, pp. 595–611.
20.
LernerN. D. (1985). Perception of slope and risk on hills. U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
21.
LiebowitzH. W.OwensD. A.PostR. B. (1982). Nighttime driving and visual degradation. SAE 820414.
22.
McCarthyR.AyresT.WoodC.RobinsonJ. (1995). Risk and effectiveness criteria for using on-product warnings. Ergonomics, 38 (11), 2164–2175.
23.
MurrayJ.AyresT.HumphreyD.WoodC.KelshM. (1998). Mobile telephones and road accidents: A review of some issues. Proceedings of the Silicon Valley Ergonomics Conference & Exposition, 194–198.
24.
NormanD. A. (1988). The Psychology of Everyday Things. New York: Basic Books.
RasmussenJ.JensenA. (1974). Mental procedures in real-life tasks: A case study of electronic trouble shooting. Ergonomics, 17, 293–307.
27.
RobertsonL. (1976). The great seat belt campaign flop. Journal of Communication, 26 (4), 41–45.
28.
ScheersN. J.FulcherD.PolenC. (1990). Four-wheel ATVs and lateral stability: Emergency room treated injuries (1989). U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
29.
ShinarD. (1984). Actual versus estimated night-time pedestrian visibility. Ergonomics, 27 (8), 863–871.
30.
SimonH. (1957). Models of Man. New York: Wiley.
31.
SnowdenR. J.StimpsonN.RuddleR. A. (1998). Speed perception fogs up as visibility drops. Nature, 392 (6675), 450.
32.
WallerP. F.LiL. K.StewartJ. R.MaJ. M. (1984). Evaluation of the effect of perception of risk messages on observed safety belt usage (DOT-HS-806-595). Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center.
33.
WierwilleW. W. (1993). Visual and manual demands of in-car controls and displays. In PeacockB.KarwowskiW. (Eds.), Automotive Ergonomics. London: Taylor & Francis.
34.
WogalterM. S.GodfreyS. S.FontenelleG. A.DesaulniersD. R.RothsteinP. R.LaugheryK. R. (1987). Effectiveness of warnings. Human Factors, 29, 599–612.
