Treffer: Prediction of driving performance through computerized testing : High-risk-driver assessment and training

Two 10-min computerized cognitive tests were administered to a class of 35 male North Carolina Highway Patrol cadets at the beginning of driver training. The test (performance on-line) measured scanning and divided-attention skills, including indexes of visual and cognitive tunnel vision. Five months later the cadets were given 2 weeks of intensive driver training on the track in precision cone maneuvers and skid control and a final exam in high-speed pursuit. Relationships were examined between cognitive test scores and the track ratings of experienced driving instructors. The results showed that divided-attention deficits indicating tunnel vision predicted the lack of cadets' skills on the track final exam in high-speed pursuit. When the top and bottom 25th percentile of the cadets' high-speed pursuit scores were used as the criteria, the differences between the groups for divided-attention responses to displays at the center of a 38-cm (15-in.) computer monitor were not significant. However, the differences between the groups were significant for divided-attention responses at the outer edges of the display, indicating cognitive tunnel vision for the lower 25 percent of drivers. Thus, the more difficult divided-attention test requirements were more likely to select good drivers on complex driving skills. In addition, the cadets who had an advantage in decision-making skills continued to improve on that advantage as training continued. The first two cadets to crash on the road in the first year after training were in the bottom 15th percentile for divided-attention test scores. Implications for driver assessment and training are discussed.