Concepts from research literature and practical assessment of risk awareness: The Swedish driving test from the perspective of cognitive psychology

The Swedish driving test (SDT) was compared to theoretical concepts found in research literature (CRLs) with respect to the rated importance of the CRLs for the overall assessment of risk awareness and the five specific assessment areas used in the SDT. 116 traffic inspectors responded to questionnaires. Results show that visual search was the CRL given the highest rating, and that the assessment of risk awareness can be conceptualised as assessment of lower-order and higher-order cognitive functions. The assessment areas taxing higher-order cognitive functions were rated as most important for risk awareness, and visual search behaviour can be regarded as the best indicator of higher-order cognitive skills.

[1]  G. Logan.  Toward an instance theory of automatization. , 1988 .

[2]  A. Grafstein.  MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences , 2000 .

[3]  Wiebo Brouwer,et al.  Fitness to drive after traumatic brain injury , 1997 .

[4]  Heikki Summala,et al.  Top-Down and Bottom-Up Processes in Driver Behavior at Roundabouts and Crossroads , 2000 .

[5]  G Underwood,et al.  Visual attention and the transition from novice to advanced driver , 2007, Ergonomics.

[6]  David Stewart,et al.  The Application and Misapplication of Factor Analysis in Marketing Research , 1981 .

[7]  Edward Albert.  DEALING WITH DANGER , 1999 .

[8]  Risto Näätänen,et al.  A model for the role of motivational factors in drivers' decision-making , 1974 .

[9]  J. Groeger.  Understanding Driving: Applying Cognitive Psychology to a Complex Everyday Task , 2000 .

[10]  P. E. Morris,et al.  Practical aspects of memory : current research and issues , 1988 .

[11]  John R. Anderson,et al.  Learning and Memory: An Integrated Approach , 1994 .

[12]  G. Matthews.  Human Performance: Cognition, Stress and Individual Differences , 2000 .

[13]  Dianne Parker,et al.  Driving errors, driving violations and accident involvement. , 1995, Ergonomics.

[14]  A. Quimby,et al.  HUMAN FACTORS AND DRIVING PERFORMANCE , 1981 .

[15]  T A Ranney,et al.  Models of driving behavior: a review of their evolution. , 1994, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[16]  Jerker Rönnberg,et al.  Driving problems and adaptive driving behaviour after brain injury: A qualitative assessment , 2001 .

[17]  Monica N. Lees,et al.  Enhancing Safety by Augmenting Information Acquisition in the Driving Environment , 2009 .

[18]  F. McKenna,et al.  Risk taking from the participant's perspective: the case of driving and accident risk. , 2006, Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association.

[19]  E. Winograd.  Some observations on prospective remembering , 1988 .

[20]  Sierra Manzano Jm,et al.  [Time is money]. , 1990, Atencion primaria.

[21]  Robert A. Wilson,et al.  Book Reviews: The MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences , 2000, CL.

[22]  Nils J. Nilsson,et al.  Artificial Intelligence , 1974, IFIP Congress.

[23]  John A. Michon,et al.  A critical view of driver behavior models: What do we know , 1985 .

[24]  C. L. M..  The Psychology of Attention , 1890, Nature.

[25]  Mark S. Young,et al.  Human Factors of Visual and Cognitive Performance in Driving , 2010 .

[26]  Andy Shea,et al.  Traffic Safety and the Driver , 1992 .

[27]  Leonard Evans,et al.  Human behavior and traffic safety , 2011 .

[28]  A. Lundqvist.  Cognitive functions in drivers with brain injury : Anticipation and adaption , 2001 .

[29]  I. D. Brown,et al.  Components of driving skill: experience does not mean expertise , 1991 .

[30]  M. Gazzaniga.  The new cognitive neurosciences, 2nd ed. , 2000 .

[31]  J. Ridley.  Studies of Interference in Serial Verbal Reactions , 2001 .

[32]  C. Wickens.  Engineering psychology and human performance, 2nd ed. , 1992 .

[33]  Runa Patel,et al.  Forskningsmetodikens grunder. Att planera, genomföra och rapportera en undersökning. , 2003 .

[34]  Gerald J.S. Wilde,et al.  Risk perception, risk taking, accident involvement and the need for stimulation , 1996 .

[35]  S Stradling,et al.  Errors and violations on the roads: a real distinction? , 1990, Ergonomics.

[36]  J A Michon.  Dealing with danger , 1979 .

[37]  Gerald J.S. Wilde,et al.  The Theory of Risk Homeostasis: Implications for Safety and Health , 1982 .

[38]  J. Enns,et al.  Paying attention behind the wheel: a framework for studying the role of attention in driving , 2004 .

[39]  P. Chapman,et al.  Visual Search of Driving Situations: Danger and Experience , 1998, Perception.

[40]  M. Gazzaniga,et al.  The new cognitive neurosciences , 2000 .

[41]  M. Posner,et al.  Executive attention: Conflict, target detection, and cognitive control. , 1998 .

[42]  J. Shaoul.  Human Error , 1973, Nature.

[43]  Mica R. Endsley,et al.  Toward a Theory of Situation Awareness in Dynamic Systems , 1995, Hum. Factors.

[44]  Alexander Pollatsek,et al.  Using Eye Movements to Evaluate a PC-Based Risk Awareness and Perception Training Program on a Driving Simulator , 2006, Hum. Factors.

[45]  Michael S. Ambinder,et al.  The Role of Highlighting in Visual Search Through Maps , 2004, Spatial vision.

[46]  Ronald R. Mourant,et al.  Strategies of Visual Search by Novice and Experienced Drivers , 1972 .

[47]  J. Rönnberg,et al.  Factors influencing driving 10 years after brain injury , 2008, Brain injury.

[48]  A. Baddeley.  The episodic buffer: a new component of working memory? , 2000, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[49]  James S. Baxter,et al.  Intention to commit driving violations: An application of the theory of planned behavior. , 1992 .

[50]  J. Wolfe,et al.  Guided Search 2.0 A revised model of visual search , 1994, Psychonomic bulletin & review.

[51]  Graham J Hole,et al.  The Psychology of Driving , 2006 .

[52]  B. Glaser.  Theoretical Sensitivity: Advances in the Methodology of Grounded Theory , 1978 .

[53]  A. Tversky,et al.  Subjective Probability: A Judgment of Representativeness , 1972 .

[54]  G McGwin,et al.  Characteristics of traffic crashes among young, middle-aged, and older drivers. , 1999, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[55]  I. Ajzen,et al.  Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social Behavior , 1980 .

[56]  J. G. Hollands,et al.  Engineering Psychology and Human Performance , 1984 .

[57]  James T. Enns,et al.  A Two-dimensional Framework for Understanding the Role of Attentional Selection in Driving , 2009 .

[58]  R. Parasuraman.  The attentive brain , 1998 .

[59]  Hamish A Deery,et al.  Hazard and Risk Perception among Young Novice Drivers , 1999 .

[60]  P. Ulleberg,et al.  Personality, attitudes and risk perception as predictors of risky driving behaviour among young drivers , 2003 .

[61]  David Crundall,et al.  Selective searching while driving: the role of experience in hazard detection and general surveillance , 2002, Ergonomics.

[62]  S G Stradling,et al.  Determinants of intention to commit driving violations. , 1992, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[63]  Thomas A. Dingus,et al.  An overview of the 100-car naturalistic study and findings , 2005 .

[64]  M. A. Recarte,et al.  Mental workload while driving: effects on visual search, discrimination, and decision making. , 2003, Journal of experimental psychology. Applied.

[65]  Heikki Summala,et al.  The "genetics" of driving behavior: parents' driving style predicts their children's driving style. , 2004, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[66]  Candida Castro.  Visual Demands and Driving , 2009 .