Age-related differences in correction behavior for unintended acceleration

Lower extremities task of pressing an “accelerator” or a “brake”: association with traffic accidents in older drivers – a preliminary study

ABSTRACT Traffic accidents by older drivers are a social urgent problem. The National Police Agency (NPA) in Japan has institutionalized the Cognitive Function Test (NPA test) for renewal of a driver’s license for older adults. However, driving ability cannot be simply evaluated by usual cognitive tests on the desk. Objective: It is important to add an on-road test, but if not possible, we can use simulators. Before doing simulators, it is important to use the right foot to control the accelerator and brake pedals. We applied the Posner paradigm (visual attention test) for lower extremities. Methods: The participants were older adults. They and their families had anxiety about their driving. The 66 participants (44 men and 22 women) were divided into groups with and without experience of a traffic accident, and the following tests were examined: General cognitive and executive function tests, the NPA test, and an original Lower Extremity Reaction Test. Each participant was asked to press the “brake” or “accelerator” pedal by the right foot as quickly as possible in response to a traffic situation shown on the screen. Results: Compared to participants with favorable reactions to the Lower Extremity Reaction Test, those with poor reaction time tended to have more traffic accidents (OR=6.82), rather than the result of the NPA test. Conclusions: The results suggest that the probability of having a traffic accident can be better evaluated using the Lower Extremity Reaction Test.

Post-error behavioral adjustments under reactive control among older adults

This study analyzed the effects of aging on post-error behavioral adjustments from the perspective of cognitive control. A modified error awareness task was administered to young (n = 50) and older (n = 50) adults. In this task, two buttons were placed on the left and right sides in front of the participants, who were instructed to use the right button to perform a go/no-go task, and were notified if they made an error. There were three experimental conditions (A, B, and C): participants had to push the right button once in Condition A and twice in Condition B and C when a go-stimulus was presented. Conversely, participants were asked to withhold their response when a no-go stimulus was presented. Response inhibition differed depending on the experimental condition. The participants were asked to push the left button as quickly as possible when an error occurred. The results showed relatively longer reaction times to sudden errors among older adults compared with young adults. Furthermore, the difference in the error responses (i.e., accidentally pushing the right button once or twice when a no-go stimulus was presented) strongly influenced older adults' response time after an error. These results suggest that the shift from proactive to reactive control may significantly influence post-error behavioral adjustments in older adults.