CHILDRENS AUDITORY-PERCEPTION OF MOVEMENT OF TRAFFIC SOUNDS

This study examined children's auditory perception of traffic sounds f ocusing on identification of vehicle movement. Children in three age g roups (5 years, 8 years and 11 years) were presented with recorded sou nds of a car approaching, passing and going away from the listener. Th e auditory perception of movement was identified as a problem area for children, particularly younger children. The number of correctly iden tified vehicle sounds was found to significantly increase with age. Ag e differences in some aspects of auditory perception of vehicle moveme nt were more noted than others. Identification of an approaching vehic le was the most difficult task for the Ei-year-olds. The role of the a ttention-demanding characteristics of some traffic sounds and their co rrect identification was discussed, approaching vehicles catching the attention much later in the stimulus array than passing or receding ve hicles. The implications of the results for road safety training were discussed.