Perceptual information about unfolding events is important for guiding decisions about when and how to move in real-world action situations. As an exemplary case, road-crossing is a perceptual-motor task where age has been shown to be a strong predictor of risk due to errors in action-based decisions. The present study investigated age differences between three age groups (Children: 10–12 years old; Adults: 19–39 years old; Older Adults: 65 + year olds) in the use of perceptual information for selection, timing, and control of action when crossing a two-way street in an immersive, interactive virtual reality environment. Adults and children selected gaps to cross that were consistent with the use of a time-based information variable (tau), whereas older adults tuned less into the time-based variable (tau) to guide road-crossing decisions. For action initiation and control, children and adults also showed a strong ability to precisely time their entry with respect to the lead vehicle maximising the available time to cross and coordinating walking movements with the tail vehicle to ensure they were not on a collision course. In contrast, older adults delayed action initiation and showed difficulty coordinating self-movement with the approaching vehicle. This study and its results tie together age-based differences in the three components of action decision-making (selection, timing and control) within a unified framework based on perceptual information. The implications of these age-related differences in action decisions and crossing behaviours are discussed in the context of road safety.

关于正在展开的事件的感知信息对于指导关于何时以及如何在现实世界行动情境中移动的决策非常重要。作为一个典型案例，过马路是一项感知运动任务，其中年龄已被证明是由于基于行动的决策中的错误而导致的风险的强有力预测因素。本研究调查了三个年龄组（儿童：10-12 岁；成人：19-39 岁；老年人：65 岁以上）在使用知觉信息进行选择、时机和控制行动方面的年龄差异在身临其境的交互式虚拟现实环境中穿过双向街道时。成人和儿童选择跨越与使用基于时间的信息变量 (tau) 一致的差距，而老年人较少调整基于时间的变量 (tau) 来指导过马路决策。对于动作的启动和控制，儿童和成人还表现出很强的能力，可以准确地控制前车进入的时间，最大限度地利用可用时间交叉并与尾车协调步行运动，以确保他们不会发生碰撞。相比之下，老年人延迟行动开始，并表现出难以与接近的车辆协调自我运动。这项研究及其结果在基于感知信息的统一框架内将行动决策的三个组成部分（选择、时机和控制）中基于年龄的差异联系在一起。在道路安全的背景下讨论了这些与年龄相关的行动决策和交叉行为差异的影响。儿童和成人也表现出很强的能力，可以根据前车精确计时，最大限度地利用可用时间穿过并与尾车协调步行运动，以确保他们不会发生碰撞。相比之下，老年人延迟行动开始，并表现出难以与接近的车辆协调自我运动。这项研究及其结果在基于感知信息的统一框架内将行动决策的三个组成部分（选择、时机和控制）中基于年龄的差异联系在一起。在道路安全的背景下讨论了这些与年龄相关的行动决策和交叉行为差异的影响。儿童和成人也表现出很强的能力，可以根据前车精确计时，最大限度地利用可用时间穿过并与尾车协调步行运动，以确保他们不会发生碰撞。相比之下，老年人延迟行动开始，并表现出难以与接近的车辆协调自我运动。这项研究及其结果在基于感知信息的统一框架内将行动决策的三个组成部分（选择、时机和控制）中基于年龄的差异联系在一起。在道路安全的背景下讨论了这些与年龄相关的行动决策和交叉行为差异的影响。