In an effort to study the cognitive mapping abilities of blind persons, tactile maps of a school campus were made by ten congenitally blind and ten blindfolded partially sighted high school students. Although some blind students made well-organized and accurate maps of the campus, most of the maps made by the congenitally blind subjects were poorly organized and integrated as compared with maps made by the blindfolded partially sighted subjects. Blind persons exhibit varying methods for categorizing the elements of a large environment, and the method of cognitive mapping is believed to be related to how well a person can negotiate within the environment.
Three field studies of driver speeds were conducted to test the speed adaptation phenomenon and to define the practical implications of its effect. Sites were selected in which the speeds of vehicles previously exposed to high-speed conditions could be contrasted with speeds of vehicles not previously exposed to high speeds. The following conclusions were drawn from the results of this study: Conditions specific to a traffic site, such as legal speed limits, traffic density, and cross-street activity, determine the extent of speed adaptation. Speed perpetuation does not account for observed speed differences between speed-adapted and non-speed-adapted vehicles. The effects observed in the present study were significant but lower than in previous studies, possibly because of overall lower vehicle speeds. These findings indicate that proposals to increase speeds on rural interstates are likely to result in higher speeds on other, connecting roads as well.
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