Driving Under Cognitive Control: The Impact of Executive Functions in Driving (original) (raw)
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Executive or Experience Investigating the Role Executive Function Plays in Driving
2019
Objective-Road traffic collisions (RTCs) are one of the leading causes of serious injury and fatality for adolescents and young adults. Human error is responsible for a large proportion of these RTCs in young drivers. Researchers have identified a number of contributory factors in human errors in RTCs. Executive Function (EF) is an area that is limited in research in relation to driving. This study examined the Behaviour Rating Inventory of Executive Function adult version (BRIEF-A) questionnaire, neuropsychological tests of EF as potential predictors of aberrant driving behaviour (i.e. atypical driving) and problematic driving outcomes in a driving simulator. Methods-71 Young adult drivers (71 in part 1; 22 in part 2) completed (1) an online self-report questionnaire consisting of the BRIEF-A, STAI-6, AQ-10 and the DBQ, (2) four neuropsychological tests of EF, (3) and three simulated drives that assess 11 problematic driving outcomes within a driving simulator (e.g. running red light, failure to signal and RTCs). Results-Higher levels of difficulty in executive skills were predictive of more aberrant driving behaviours. Neuropsychological tests did not find a predictive relationship between problematic driving outcomes however some relationships were found between variables. Other contributory factors were shown to predict small amounts of the variance within aberrant driving behaviours and overall EF score was a better predictor of singular components of EF. Conclusion-In summary findings indicated that the BRIEF-A showed significant association with aberrant behaviour in young adults. Predictive relationships were also found between these measures unlike, neuropsychological tests of EF and problematic driving outcomes in the driving simulator however a smaller sample size was used for the driving simulator section of the study. Future researchers should consider the self-reported examination of EF on individuals who have been charged with motoring offences also, high and low executive skills should be assessed against the reaction of drivers in hazardous driving scenarios. Driving safety officials should consider the affect EF has on driver training and rehabilitation. activity related to a car-following task with an auditory task: An fMRI study.
Safe Driving and Executive Functions in Healthy Middle-Aged Drivers
The introduction of the point system driver's license in several European countries could offer a valid framework for evaluating driving skills. This is the first study to use this framework to assess the functional integrity of executive functions in middle-aged drivers with full points, partial points or no points on their driver's license (N ¼ 270). The purpose of this study is to find differences in executive functions that could be determinants in safe driving. Cognitive tests were used to assess attention processes, processing speed, planning, cognitive flexibility, and inhibitory control. Analyses for covariance (ANCOVAS) were used for group comparisons while adjusting for education level. The Bonferroni method was used for correcting for multiple comparisons. Overall, drivers with the full points on their license showed better scores than the other two groups. In particular, significant differences were found in reaction times on Simple and Conditioned Attention tasks (both p-values < 0.001) and in number of type-III errors on the Tower of Hanoi task (p ¼ 0.026). Differences in reaction time on attention tasks could serve as neuropsychological markers for safe driving. Further analysis should be conducted in order to determine the behavioral impact of impaired executive functioning on driving ability.
Executive Function Capacities, Negative Driving Behavior and Crashes in Young Drivers
International journal of environmental research and public health, 2017
Motor vehicle crashes remain a leading cause of injury and death in adolescents, with teen drivers three times more likely to be in a fatal crash when compared to adults. One potential contributing risk factor is the ongoing development of executive functioning with maturation of the frontal lobe through adolescence and into early adulthood. Atypical development resulting in poor or impaired executive functioning (as in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) has been associated with risky driving and crash outcomes. However, executive function broadly encompasses a number of capacities and domains (e.g., working memory, inhibition, set-shifting). In this review, we examine the role of various executive function sub-processes in adolescent driver behavior and crash rates. We summarize the state of methods for measuring executive control and driving outcomes and highlight the great heterogeneity in tools with seemingly contradictory findings. Lastly, we offer some suggestions for i...
Reliability and Validity of a Method for Assessment of Executive Functions in Drivers
Behavioral Sciences
The quality of drivers’ performance is one of the crucial components related to road safety. One of the key cognitive characteristics related to the ability to drive safely are executive functions. The main goal of the presented research is to propose a new method (Trace-route task) for assessment of executive functions in drivers. The present article discusses the results of two consecutive studies. Study one aims to determine the validity and reliability of the method used and includes 134 participants, equally divided in two groups—people with disturbances in executive functions and people from the general population. Study two aims to assess the ability of the method to distinguish drivers with risky behavior. It includes 1440 participants divided in two groups—people with and without actual risky driving behavior. The results from the studies show that people with different neurological or psychiatric diseases and drivers with different road violations demonstrate worse plannin...
The Impact of Central Executive Function Loadings on Driving-Related Performance
ABSTRACT The study reported in this paper investigated the impact of individual ability, with respect to central executive (CE) functions, on performance of two driving-related tas s when distracted by CE loading secondary tas s. The two driving-related tas s used were visual target detection, and a one-dimensional pedal-trac ing tas designed to be an analogue of a vehicle following tas.
PloS one, 2016
Road crashes represent a huge burden on global health. Some drivers are prone to repeated episodes of risky driving (RD) and are over-represented in crashes and related morbidity. However, their characteristics are heterogeneous, hampering development of targeted intervention strategies. This study hypothesized that distinct personality, cognitive, and neurobiological processes are associated with the type of RD behaviours these drivers predominantly engage in. Four age-matched groups of adult (19-39 years) males were recruited: 1) driving while impaired recidivists (DWI, n = 36); 2) non-alcohol reckless drivers (SPEED, n = 28); 3) drivers with a mixed RD profile (MIXED, n = 27); and 4) low-risk control drivers (CTL, n = 47). Their sociodemographic, criminal history, driving behaviour (by questionnaire and simulation performance), personality (Big Five traits, impulsivity, reward sensitivity), cognitive (disinhibition, decision making, behavioural risk taking), and neurobiological (...
Predicting aberrant driving behaviour: The role of executive function
Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 2015
A strong link between driving behaviour and involvement in fatal crashes has been found in previous work (Rajalin, 1994). One approach to studying poor driving behaviour focuses on driver errors and violations (Reason, Manstead, Stradling, Baxter, & Campbell, 1990). Errors are the failure of planned actions to achieve their intended outcomes, which could result in potential safety threats to others, e.g., underestimating ''the speed of an oncoming vehicle when passing''. Violations could be deliberate contravention of practices which are necessary for maintaining safe vehicle operation, e.g. passing ''through an intersection even though you know that the traffic light has turned yellow and may go red'' (Zhao, Reimer, Mehler, D'Ambrosio, & Coughlin, 2013). A common measure used to assess driving errors and violations is the Driving Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ). The DBQ's contribution in predicting crash involvement has been well established in different countries (De Winter & Dodou, 2010; Reason et al., 1990; Warner, Özkan, Lajunen, & Tzamalouka, 2011). Also, its role in mediating between traffic culture and crash involvement has been previously demonstrated (Özkan, Lajunen, Chliaoutakis, Parker, & Summala, 2006). That is, in each country, different kinds of aberrant driving behaviour may predict number of crashes. However, in most studies, violations are more likely than errors to relate to crashes (De Winter & Dodou, 2010). Several variables have been shown to be associated with driver behaviour, including demographic variables such as age, gender,
Accident Analysis & Prevention, 2013
Considerable research efforts are currently being devoted to analysing the role that the attentional system plays in determining driving behaviour, with the ultimate objective of reducing the number of attentionrelated accidents. The present study aims to assess the influence of differences in the functioning of the three attentional networks (executive control, attentional orienting and alerting) when drivers have to deal with some common hazardous situations, for example, when an oncoming car or a pedestrian unexpectedly crosses their trajectory. Multiple measures of participants' attentional functioning were obtained from a computer-based neurocognitive test: the Attention Networks Test for Interactions and Vigilance (ANTI-V). These measures were compared to performance in a driving simulator where different types of hazardous situations were presented. Correlation and linear regression analyses revealed significant associations between individual attentional measures and driving performance in specific traffic situations. In particular, a higher attentional orienting score on the ANTI-V was associated with safer driving in situations where a single precursor anticipated the hazard source, whereas in complex situations with multiple potential hazard precursors, higher attentional orienting scores were associated with delayed braking. Additionally, partial evidence of a relationship between crash occurrence and the functioning of the executive control and the alerting networks was found. Overall, the current research would be helpful to better understand the role that each attentional network (executive control, attentional orienting and alerting) play in safe driving, and thus to develop efficient countermeasures to reduce attention-related crashes.
Cognitive and Psychomotor Correlates of Self-Reported Driving Skills and Behavior
Driving assessment 2005 : proceedings of the 3rd International Driving Symposium on Human Factors in Driver Assessment, Training, and Vehicle Design, 2005
The purpose of this study is to predict self-reported driving and safety skills, traffic violations, and errors by using the measures of cognitive and psychomotor abilities. Male drivers (N = 716, mean age = 36.59) were administered the computerized measures of monotonous and selective attention, visual pursuit, eye-hand coordination, reaction time, and peripheral perception. They also responded to the measures of driving skills and behaviors. Examination of the correlations indicated that the indices of visual pursuit, coordination, peripheral perception, and reaction time significantly correlated with driving skills and aberrant behaviors. The results of the sequential regression analyses controlling for age, level of education, and annual km revealed that selective attention negatively and significantly predicted both types of skills and positively predicted violations and errors. Peripheral perception, visual pursuit, and reaction time were the significant predictors of driving skills and errors in the expected direction. Cognitive and psychomotor abilities accounted for 11% to 17% of the variances in the self-reported driving variables. Results suggested that although the magnitude of the associations was relatively weak, psychomotor and cognitive/perceptual abilities are associated with self-reported driving performance and behaviors for young and middle-aged drivers. These findings indicated that certain measures of cognitive and psychomotor abilities, such as peripheral perception and selective attention, have implications for driver assessment systems and should be carefully examined in future research.