Matching Items (22)
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Description

This study examines pedestrian walking-side bias in America. We recorded the walking behavior of 430 pedestrian groups and analyzed the left-vs-right passing response around either a stationary obstacle or other oncoming pedestrians. Past research indicates about two-thirds of American pedestrian’s favor walking on the right side of a centrally located

This study examines pedestrian walking-side bias in America. We recorded the walking behavior of 430 pedestrian groups and analyzed the left-vs-right passing response around either a stationary obstacle or other oncoming pedestrians. Past research indicates about two-thirds of American pedestrian’s favor walking on the right side of a centrally located inanimate object. We test if this lateral bias is larger for interactions between bypassing people in larger group sizes. We tested two principal hypotheses: H1: Overall, pedestrians will exhibit a right-side passing bias, and H2: The magnitude of the right-side passing bias will increase as a function of group size. Our findings confirm H1: We found a reliable right-side pedestrian bias when pedestrians pass either an inanimate object or other people, a percentage that is similar to past findings. We also confirmed H2: when passing people but not obstacles. When individuals of groups pass other people, biases are additive, with the right-side lateral walking bias increasing by about 10% per additional pedestrian, reaching a ceiling of about 95% rightward paths for groups of five or more. In general, the right-side lateral walking-bias appears to be a prototypical example of a socially trained natural regularity that is readily modified by situational contexts. Findings from this study confirm that small individual biases accumulate into larger biases in groups, a principle that likely has wide ranging generalizability relevant to both the design of locomotive spaces as well as group dynamics in other more abstract socio-relational domains such as political views and prejudice.

ContributorsBills, Koop (Author) / McBeath, Michael (Thesis director) / Langley, Matthew (Committee member) / Rutowski, Ronald (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2022-05
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Description
Recent research has demonstrated that adults have a bias to attend to the tops of objects and the bottom of scenes when analyzing visual stimuli. However, no research has examined the presence of this bias in children. Children should be studied to glean information on the origins and purposes of

Recent research has demonstrated that adults have a bias to attend to the tops of objects and the bottom of scenes when analyzing visual stimuli. However, no research has examined the presence of this bias in children. Children should be studied to glean information on the origins and purposes of this bias. The current study tested two general hypotheses: (i) children exhibit visual biases for the tops of objects and bottoms of scenes, and (ii) the magnitudes of children's biases do not differ from adults. To test these, participants were shown triptychs (trios of pictures) of either scenes or objects. The trials included (52) natural scene triptychs, and (48) natural object triptychs. The middle picture was an original and the left and right showcased either the top or bottom half of the original combined with the corresponding bottom or top half of a similar but different picture. Participants (N = 50, Ages 4-7) were asked whether the middle image matched the left or the right more strongly. The outcomes of this project confirmed our first hypothesis that children exhibit visual biases and our second hypothesis that they are the same magnitude as adults’. These findings can be used to bolster educational environments and possibly develop treatment programs.
ContributorsVan Houghton, Kaitlin (Author) / Lucca, Kelsey (Thesis director) / McBeath, Michael (Thesis director) / Corbin, William (Committee member) / Fabricious, William (Committee member) / Langley, Matthew (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2022-05