Bikers on twisty mountain roads should carry mental images of stability and control. They should not carry mental images of spectacular crashes. These images make the rider more likely to crash the bike, yet these are exactly the images that the road sign above is trying to evoke.
This is a simple truth that sports coaches know. A good cricket coach does not tell a batter to not fish outside the off stump. He tells the batter to hit through the line. The subconscious does not work with logical operators like not. It simply brings the mental images it holds into reality.
But the people who design signage for roads don't seem to know this. With tragic consequences...
Seriously, this is a completely testable proposition.
Show amateur pilots video footage of gruesome crashes of planes similar to what they fly. Put them in a flight simulator. Ask them to do complex manouveres. Measure their crash rate. Compare with a control group which was shown footage of smooth, successful flights.
And presto...we now have scientific evidence with which to prosecute the road sign chaps for manslaughter. Or at least save a few lives.
2 comments:
So true. I've always wondered why people put signs on double doors, where one is to be used and not the other, that says "Use other door" (on the wrong door) than a sign that says "Use this door" on the right door!
Invariably people try, or at least reach, for the wrong door first.
An even easier observable/testable hypothesis :)
WISIWYG - What You See Is What You Get - is not just a principle of tech design. It is true of almost any part of life, if seeing is includes what you see on the screen inside your mind
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