| Copyright (c) 2008 SharpBrains | | | | - "Our goal was to train what is called the |
| | | | "useful field of view." The useful field of |
| Last month, at an MIT Northern California | | | | view is a measure of processing speed and |
| event, we discussed what specific | | | | visual attention that is critical for driving |
| applications might take computer-based brain | | | | performance, and one of the areas that |
| training to a new level, and highlighted the | | | | declines with age. It has previously been |
| potential to test and improve Driving Skills. | | | | shown that this skill can be improved with |
| | | | training, so we wanted to see what effect it |
| Assessing and improving driving skills would | | | | would have on the driving performance of |
| be a top candidate, given both the | | | | older adults, and whether the training would |
| well-defined nature of the need and the | | | | be more or less effective than a traditional |
| appearance of programs with growing evidence | | | | driving simulation course. |
| (both scientific and real-world) behind. | | | | |
| | | | - For the study, we divided forty-eight |
| Along these lines, the New York Times just | | | | adults over fifty-five years old into two |
| published an article, titled "Are You a Good | | | | intervention groups of twenty-four people |
| Driver? Here's How to Find Out". A few | | | | each. Each group received twenty hours of |
| quotes: | | | | training. One group was exposed to a |
| | | | traditional driving simulator, where they |
| - "COULD a video game make you a better | | | | learned specific driving behaviours. The |
| driver? More important, could computer | | | | other one went through the cognitive training |
| software prevent teenagers from making fatal | | | | program. |
| mistakes or even weed out older drivers whose | | | | |
| debilities make them crash-prone?" | | | | - Both groups' driving performance improved |
| | | | right after their respective programs, but |
| - "There are already programs like AAA's | | | | most benefits of the driving simulator |
| Roadwise Review (about $15), which is | | | | disappeared by month eighteen. |
| intended to help older people evaluate their | | | | |
| driving." | | | | - The speed-of-processing intervention helped |
| | | | participants not only improve "useful field |
| - "There are other programs that will test | | | | of view," the skill that was directly |
| mental agility and then use subsequent | | | | trained, but it also transferred into |
| computer training sessions to improve a | | | | real-life driving, and the results were |
| driver's skills. One such program is an | | | | sustained after 18 months. And, by the way, |
| online application called DriveFit ($89), | | | | the evaluation was as real as one can |
| which was developed by CogniFit, an Israeli | | | | imagine: a 14-mile open road evaluation. |
| company specializing in cognitive training | | | | |
| software. DriveFit uses visual and memory | | | | - Faster speed-of-processing seemed to enable |
| tests to measure 12 driving-related cognitive | | | | adults to react better to unexpected events |
| abilities." | | | | that require a fast response and to reduce by |
| | | | 40% the number of dangerous manoeuvres on |
| A question we often get when talking with | | | | real roads (defined as those that required |
| insurance companies, "So, can we really train | | | | the training instructor to intervene during |
| drivers to act smarter behind the wheel"? | | | | the evaluation)." |
| Well, it depends of what "smarter" means (we | | | | |
| are not aware of brain training programs to | | | | Note: the program used in that study, called |
| make drivers avoid alcohol, or sleep-inducing | | | | Visual Awareness, was recently acquired by |
| medicaments, before driving), but there is | | | | Posit Science Corporation. |
| growing evidence that specific cognitive | | | | |
| skills that are important for driving can, | | | | In short, more likely than not, I'd reply YES |
| indeed, be trained, resulting in better | | | | to the question used to open the New York |
| driving outcomes. | | | | Times article. A well-designed video game CAN |
| | | | make one a better driver. |
| A key research reference: the published | | | | |
| studies by Dr. Karlene Ball and Dr. Jerri | | | | Of course, this is an emerging field, and |
| Edwards. We had the fortune to interview Dr. | | | | much more research needs to be done before |
| Edwards recently, and this is what she had to | | | | applications become mainstream, but the field |
| say when I asked her to explain the results | | | | certainly deserves more attention, research |
| of their 2003 Human Factors paper (Roenker, | | | | dollars, and engagement by insurance |
| D., Cissell, G., Ball, K., Wadley, V., & | | | | companies to design and conduct real-world |
| Edwards, J. (2003). Speed of processing and | | | | trials. |
| driving simulator training result in improved | | | | |
| driving performance. Human Factors, 45: | | | | Allstate: what about spending just a fraction |
| 218-233): | | | | of your scary ad campaign ad campaign budget |
| | | | in exploring additional potential solutions? |