A simulator evaluation of the effects of attention maintenance training on glance distributions of younger novice drivers inside and outside the vehicle

Examining Patterns and Predictors of ADHD Teens' Skill-Learning Trajectories During Enhanced FOrward Concentration and Attention Learning (FOCAL+) Training

OBJECTIVE

Examine patterns and predictors of skill learning during multisession Enhanced FOrward Concentration and Attention Learning (FOCAL+) training.

BACKGROUND

FOCAL+ teaches teens to reduce the duration of off-road glances using real-time error learning. In a randomized controlled trial, teens with ADHD received five sessions of FOCAL+ training and demonstrated significant reductions in extended glances (>2-s) away from the roadway (i.e., long-glances) and a 40% reduced risk of a crash/near-crash event. Teens' improvement in limiting long-glances as assessed after each FOCAL+ training session has not been examined.

METHOD

Licensed teen (ages 16-19) drivers with ADHD (n = 152) were randomly assigned to five sessions of either FOCAL+ or modified standard driver training. Teens completed driving simulation assessments at baseline, after each training session, and 1 month and 6 months posttraining. Naturalistic driving was monitored for one year.

RESULTS

FOCAL+ training produced a 53% maximal reduction in long-glances during postsession simulated driving. The number of sessions needed to achieve maximum performance varied across participants. However, after five FOCAL+ training sessions, number of long-glances was comparable irrespective of when teens achieved their maximum performance. The magnitude of reduction in long-glances predicted levels of long-glances during simulated driving at 1 month and 6 months posttraining but not naturalistic driving outcomes. FOCAL+ training provided the most benefit during training to teens who were younger and had less driving experience.

CONCLUSION

FOCAL+ training significantly reduces long-glances beginning at the 1st training session.

APPLICATION

Providing five FOCAL+ training sessions early on during teen driving may maximize benefit.

Quantifying attention span across the lifespan

Introduction

Studies examining sustained attention abilities typically utilize metrics that quantify performance on vigilance tasks, such as response time and response time variability. However, approaches that assess the duration that an individual can maintain their attention over time are lacking.

Methods

Here we developed an objective attention span metric that quantified the maximum amount of time that a participant continuously maintained an optimal "in the zone" sustained attention state while performing a continuous performance task.

Results

In a population of 262 individuals aged 7-85, we showed that attention span was longer in young adults than in children and older adults. Furthermore, declines in attention span over time during task engagement were related to clinical symptoms of inattention in children.

Discussion

These results suggest that quantifying attention span is a unique and meaningful method of assessing sustained attention across the lifespan and in populations with inattention symptoms.

Minding the Gap: Effects of an Attention Maintenance Training Program on Driver Calibration

OBJECTIVE

The present study examines the effect of an existing driver training program, FOrward Concentration and Attention Learning (FOCAL) on young drivers' calibration, drivers' ability to estimate the length of their in-vehicle glances while driving, using two different measures, normalized difference scores and Brier Scores.

BACKGROUND

Young drivers are poor at maintaining attention to the forward roadway while driving a vehicle. Additionally, drivers may overestimate their attention maintenance abilities. Driver training programs such as FOCAL may train target skills such as attention maintenance but also might serve as a promising way to reduce errors in drivers' calibration of their self-perceived attention maintenance behaviors in comparison to their actual performance.

METHOD

Thirty-six participants completed either FOCAL or a Placebo training program, immediately followed by driving simulator evaluations of their attention maintenance performance. In the evaluation drive, participants navigated four driving simulator scenarios during which their eyes were tracked. In each scenario, participants performed a map task on a tablet simulating an in-vehicle infotainment system.

RESULTS

FOCAL-trained drivers maintained their attention to the forward roadway more and reported better calibration using the normalized difference measure than Placebo-trained drivers. However, the Brier scores did not distinguish the two groups on their calibration.

CONCLUSION

The study implies that FOCAL has the potential to improve not only attention maintenance skills but also calibration of the skills for young drivers.

APPLICATION

Driver training programs may be designed to train not only targeted higher cognitive skills but also driver calibration-both critical for driving safety in young drivers.

Learner drivers (and their parent-supervisors) benefit from an online hazard perception course incorporating evidence-based training strategies and extensive crash footage

We previously found that a six-session online hazard perception training course, which incorporates evidence-based learning strategies and footage of over a hundred real crashes, improved hazard perception skill and reduced risk-taking intentions in novice drivers who had passed their on-road driving test within the previous three years. However, one issue with targeting crash-prevention training at individuals who are already driving unsupervised is that drivers are at their highest crash risk immediately after they pass their on-road driving test. That is, the training may arrive too late to protect drivers while they are at their most vulnerable. It is also possible that it may prove difficult to persuade drivers to complete an unsupervised training course if they are already licensed to drive independently. Given that learner drivers cannot drive unsupervised, and that they are typically supervised by a parent, one potential strategy is to target the training at learners and to ask their parents to provide one-on-one mentoring throughout the course. We therefore recruited learner driver/parent-supervisor dyads to participate in a randomized control study, with the objective of examining the effects of the hazard perception training course on aspects of driving behaviour associated with crash risk (as measured using validated computer-based tests). Outcome measures included two hazard perception skill assessments (a response time hazard perception test and a verbal response hazard prediction test), and three tests assessing aspects of risk-taking propensity in driving (speed choice, following distance, and gap acceptance). Learners who completed the course (N = 26) significantly improved their scores on both hazard perception skill measures, and also chose safer following distances, compared with a waitlist control group (N = 23). However, the training did not significantly reduce learners' speed choice or gap acceptance propensity. The hazard perception skill of parent-supervisors, who observed the course but did not complete it, also improved on both hazard perception measures, relative to controls. Additionally, both learners and their parent-supervisors reported a range of positive effects on the learners' real-world driving performance. These results suggest that this type of hazard perception training could be beneficial if deployed during the learner phase of driver licensing.

Neuropsychological predictors of driving hazard detection in autism spectrum disorder and ADHD

Driving is a neuropsychologically complex task; this can present challenges for individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) such asautism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Deficits in theory of mind (ToM) and executive function (EF) are common features of ASD and ADHD, respectively, and may influence driving processes such as hazard perception. No studies have directly examined the neuropsychological contributions to hazard detection among drivers with ASD compared to ADHD.In the current study, 48 participants ages 16-30 years (13 ASD, 17 ADHD, 18 typically developing (TD)) completed a driving simulator task in which they encountered hazards in the driving environment. Hazards varied in whether they were social (contained a human component) or nonsocial (were physical objects) to examine the contribution of ToM and social processing to hazard response. Additionally, participants completed a neuropsychological battery targeting ToM and EF/attention skills (cognitive tasks and self-report measures).Within the ASD group, participants responded relatively slower to social compared to nonsocial hazards; no effect of hazard type was observed in the ADHD or TD groups. Additionally, measures of ToM and EF were correlated with driving performanceamong ASD participants; within the ADHD group, only self-reported behavior regulation was associated with driving performance. Broadly, this suggests that cognitive factors such as ToM and EF impact driving hazard performance in ASD and ADHD. The results of the study have implications for developing driving intervention programs for individuals with NDDs.

Drivers' Visual Search Patterns during Overtaking Maneuvers on Freeway

Drivers gather traffic information primarily by means of their vision. Especially during complicated maneuvers, such as overtaking, they need to perceive a variety of characteristics including the lateral and longitudinal distances with other vehicles, the speed of others vehicles, lane occupancy, and so on, to avoid crashes. The primary object of this study is to examine the appropriate visual search patterns during overtaking maneuvers on freeways. We designed a series of driving simulating experiments in which the type and speed of the leading vehicle were considered as two influential factors. One hundred and forty participants took part in the study. The participants overtook the leading vehicles just like they would usually do so, and their eye movements were collected by use of the Eye Tracker. The results show that participants' gaze durations and saccade durations followed normal distribution patterns and that saccade angles followed a log-normal distribution pattern. It was observed that the type of leading vehicle significantly impacted the drivers' gaze duration and gaze frequency. As the speed of a leading vehicle increased, subjects' saccade durations became longer and saccade angles became larger. In addition, the initial and destination lanes were found to be key areas with the highest visual allocating proportion, accounting for more than 65% of total visual allocation. Subjects tended to more frequently shift their viewpoints between the initial lane and destination lane in order to search for crucial traffic information. However, they seldom directly shifted their viewpoints between the two wing mirrors.

Evaluation of the effectiveness of a multi-skill program for training younger drivers on higher cognitive skills

Training programs exist that prove effective at teaching novice drivers to anticipate latent hazards (RAPT), mitigate hazards (ACT) and maintain attention (FOCAL). The current study (a) measures the effectiveness of a novel integrated training program (SAFE-T) that takes only a third as long to complete compared to the three individual training programs and (b) determines if integrating the training of all the three higher cognitive skills would yield results comparable to the existing programs. Three groups were evaluated: SAFE-T, RAPT and Placebo. The results show that the drivers in the SAFE-T-trained group were more likely to anticipate hazards, quicker and more effective at responding to hazards, and more likely to maintain glance durations under a critical threshold of 2 s as compared to drivers in the Placebo-trained group who received a control program that does not actively train on any of the three cognitive skills. Moreover, the results show that the drivers in the SAFE-T trained group were just as likely to anticipate hazards as the drivers in the RAPT trained group. Finally, when compared with prior studies, the drivers in the SAFE-T trained group showed similar effects of attention maintenance training.

Cognitive Distraction in the Wild: Next Steps-Addressing a Not-So-Humdrum Conundrum

Strayer et al. in this volume show that increases in cognitive workload caused by drivers' involvement in distracting activities that allow them to keep their eyes on the road lead to decrements in indices of safe driving performance. Although there is agreement that in-vehicle tasks that require drivers to take their eyes off the road increase crash risk, there is mounting controversy about whether in-vehicle tasks that do not require drivers to take their eyes off the forward roadway increase crash risk-thus the conundrum: How can there be an abundance of cognitively distracting activities and controversy about whether such activities increase crash risk?

Sequential in-vehicle glance distributions: an alternative approach for analyzing glance data

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to illustrate how a consideration of glance sequences to in-vehicle tasks and their associated distributions can be informative.

BACKGROUND

The rapid growth in the number of nomadic technologies and in-vehicle devices has the potential to create complex, visually intensive tasks for drivers that may incur long in-vehicle glances. Such glances place drivers at increased risk of a motor vehicle crash.

METHOD

We used eye-glance data from a study of distraction training programs to examine the change in glance duration distributions across consecutive glances during the performance of various in-vehicle tasks.

RESULTS

The sequential analysis across trained and untrained drivers showed that the proportion of late-sequence glances longer than a 2-s threshold among untrained drivers was almost double the number of such glances for the trained drivers, that the third and later glances were particularly problematic, and that training reduced the proportion of early- and later-sequence glances.

CONCLUSION

Examining how the duration of off-road glances varies as a function of their order in a sequence of glances and the visual demands of the task can offer important insights into the change in the distracting potential of in-vehicle tasks across glances and the effects of training.

APPLICATION

The sequential analysis of in-vehicle glance data can be useful for researchers and practitioners and has implications for the development and evaluation of training programs as well as for task and interface design.

Simulator Evaluation of an Integrated Road Safety Training Program

Younger drivers aged 16 to 18 show disproportionately higher crash rates than middle-aged drivers, partly due to a decrement in their abilities to anticipate latent hazards, mitigate hazards and maintain attention on the forward roadway. Training programs have been developed to train novice drivers on each of the specific skills, hazard anticipation (RAPT), hazard mitigation (ACT), and attention maintenance (FOCAL). The current study both measures the effectiveness of a novel integrated training program (SAFE-T) that takes only a third as long to complete as do the three individual training programs and determines if integrating the training of all three higher cognitive skills will yield results comparable to the existing programs. The results indicated that drivers in the SAFE-T-trained group were significantly more likely to anticipate hazards, quicker and more effective at responding to hazards, and more likely to keep glance durations under a critical threshold of 2 seconds as compared to drivers in the placebo-trained group. Moreover, the results suggest that the SAFE-T training program can effectively reduce the time of the overall training and maintain effect sizes comparable to those of the previous programs.

TEXTING WHILE DRIVING: EVALUATION OF GLANCE DISTRIBUTIONS FOR FREQUENT/INFREQUENT TEXTERS AND KEYPAD/TOUCHPAD TEXTERS

The threat that cell-phones pose to driving has been a well researched topic. There are fewer studies of the threat that texting creates for drivers, but the risks are obvious and the few existing studies confirm this. What is not obvious is whether frequent texters will expose themselves to the same risks as infrequent texters. This is important to know because many texters, especially teens who text frequently, may consider themselves immune to the dangers of texting while driving. As such, a comparison of frequent and infrequent texters was undertaken on a driving simulator. It is also not immediately clear what effects the different types of interfaces have on driving performance while text messaging. The interfaces under evaluation included keypad or "qwerty" phones (e.g., Blackberries) and touchpad phones (iPhone). It was found that the frequent and infrequent texters were equally likely to glance at least once for more than 2s inside the vehicle while sending a text message. It was also found that touchpad texters had a larger number of glances above the 2s threshold than keypad users, though this difference was not significant. The implications of this for future public policy are discussed.