Driving Frequency Modulates Correlations Between Executive Functions and Driving Performance: A Driving Simulator Study

Driving a car requires a complex combination of various cognitive functions (e.g., visual perception, motor control, decision making, and others), and deficits in any of these processes may compromise driving safety. Amongst these, executive functions such as inhibitory control, task switching, and decision-making are important, as they enable drivers to process information from their surroundings and respond appropriately to changing road conditions. Although previous research has focused on laboratory measures of individual executive functions, it remains unclear whether performance on such laboratory tests readily translates to actual on-the-road driving performance, especially since drivers' skill levels can vary widely, based on their driving frequency. To this end, we divided 30 participants into two categories based on their driving frequency (i.e., daily commuter vs. weekend only drivers), and we used three well-known executive functioning tasks (the stop signal task, Iowa gambling task or IGT, and a task-switching test) to see whether scores on these tasks predicted such driving performances and behaviors such as braking time, lane-keeping, speed limit violations, and inter-vehicle distance (e.g., in a driving simulator). Participants went through a follow-lead-car scenario in the driving simulator for 20 minutes and then completed the three executive tasks. We found that stop signal reaction time (SSRT) best predicted driving performance, and remained predictive against driver distraction, as well as variabilities in driving frequency. The IGT predicted speed limit violations in high-frequency drivers, whereas task-switching cost predicted lane keeping performance in low-frequency drivers. Together, these results highlight the importance of driving frequency when considering correlates between executive functions and driving performance and behavior. They also imply that executive tasks better predict driving performance in low-frequency (or inexperienced) drivers, while driver temperament (i.e., impulsiveness as indicated by IGT) better predicted driving performance in high-frequency (or experienced) drivers.

Automated summary

Driving a car requires a combination of cognitive functions, and deficits in executive functions can compromise driving safety. Laboratory tests of executive functions may not translate to on-the-road driving performance. This study found that stop signal reaction time best predicted driving performance, and the Iowa gambling task and task-switching test predicted specific driving behaviors in high-frequency and low-frequency drivers, respectively.