Integration of gamification in a traffic education platform for children

[EN] Children are highly represented in injuries and fatalities caused by road accidents. The major reasons are children’s lack of ability to scan the environment, inconsistent behaviour, distraction in traffic situations, ability to estimate speed and distance, and less developed hazard perception skills. Therefore, traffic education for children is very important. This study will look at a platform about traffic education for children including gamification elements. Gamification is a relatively new concept which has gathered a lot of attention over the last few years with its application in many diverse fields. Gamification is defined as the application of game mechanics to non-game activities in order to change behaviour. The education community has discovered the power it has to increase students’ performance and engagement. The current study focuses on educating school going children on traffic safety in Flanders (Belgium). We expect the platform to be effective in increasing traffic knowledge, situation awareness, risk detection and risk management among children and a positive change in (predictors of) behaviours of children who will be using the platform. To investigate the effect of the platform, a pretest-posttest design with an intervention group and a control group will be used. Data will be collected and analyzed in the spring of 2018 and results, limitations and policy recommendations will be provided during the conference in June 2018.http://ocs.editorial.upv.es/index.php/HEAD/HEAD18Riaz, MS.; Cuenen, A.; Janssens, D.; Brijs, K.; Wets, G. (2018). Integration of gamification in a traffic education platform for children. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 1189-1197. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD18.2018.8174OCS1189119

Training Working Memory of Older Drivers: The Effect on Working Memory and Simulated Driving Performance

This study aimed to investigate in older drivers whether a working memory (WM) training would enhance WM, and whether improvement of WM transfers to enhanced driving ability. 54 older drivers participated in the study, but due to drop-out, 38 participants (mean age 70.34) remained in the sample. Participants were randomly assigned to a control (N=19) or an experimental condition (N=19). Each participant conducted a WM training during 25 days. During the pre-test and post-test, WM and driving ability were assessed. Results indicate that the training lead to an improvement of WM. In addition, there was an improvement of several driving measures, that was however independent of the level of WM improvement. These findings will be discussed

Assessing The Overall Driving Performance Of Older Drivers

ABSTRACT This study investigates the relative performance of older drivers at the individual level, based on specific measures of functional and driving abilities. To do so, 55 participants aged 70 years and above completed tests of an assessment battery of psychological and physical aspects as well as knowledge of road signs; moreover, they took a driving simulator test in which specific driving situations that are known to cause difficulties for older drivers were included. To evaluate the overall performance of each driver, all the above information was combined by using the concept of composite indicators, and the technique of data envelopment analysis, which is an optimization model for measuring the relative performance of a set of units, or drivers in this study, was employed. The model output distinguishes the best-performers from those underperforming drivers, and helps in guiding future development of training interventions tailored to each individual by specifically targeting those functions that are (mostly) impaired

Effect of a working memory training on aspects of cognitive ability and driving ability of older drivers: Merits of an adaptive training over a non-adaptive training

Working memory (WM), important for driving, declines with age. It was investigated whether a WM training would enhance aspects of cognitive ability and driving ability of older drivers. Thirty-eight drivers (mean age 71 years) were randomly assigned to an adaptive WM training (n = 19) or a non-adaptive WM training (n = 19). In addition, a no-training control group was collected (n = 18). During the pre-test and post-test, aspects of cognitive ability and driving ability were assessed. In between, participants in" the adaptive training group and the non-adaptive training group conducted a WM" training. We hypothesized that improvement on aspects of cognitive ability and driving ability will be largest in the adaptive training group, smaller in the non-adaptive training group and only minimal in the no-training control group. Results indicated that this hypothesis was confirmed for a measure of WM. For two driving measures (i.e., driving speed and reaction to stop signs), group means were in the expected direction, but results were only marginally significant. In addition, there were general test-retest effects for a measure of attention and one driving measure (i.e., gap acceptance). These results are in line with previous cognitive training studies with older people indicating training can improve performance on the trained tasks, but transfer to untrained tasks is only limited. Suggestions for future research are offered

Aiding medical professionals in fitness-to-drive screenings for elderly drivers:development of an office-based screening tool

ABSTRACTBackground:Elderly drivers are an increasing group in society. Previous research has found that functional and cognitive abilities are more important for driving abilities than biological age. In an attempt to conserve independent mobility for elderly drivers, many researchers have focused on elderly drivers diagnosed with cognitive decline (mild cognitive impairment or mild Dementia). This study is the first to focus on elderly drivers with cognitive complaints or suspected of diminished fitness to drive by an (in)formal caregiver as an at-risk group.Methods:The main objective of this study was to develop a fitness to drive screening tool for elderly drivers to be used in a doctor's office. Furthermore, this study investigated the additional value of driving simulator tests in the assessment of fitness to drive. Both screenings (functional abilities and driving simulator test) were benchmarked against the official Belgian fitness to drive licensing procedure.Results:One-hundred thirty-six elderly drivers participated in a functional abilities screening, a driving simulator assessment and an on-road driving test. Sixty-five percent of the sample was considered fit to drive. Visual acuity, physical flexibility, and knowledge of road signs were found to be the best predictive set of tests for the on-road fitness to drive outcome. A performance based driving simulator assessment increased predictive accuracy significantly.Conclusion:The proposed screening procedure saves part of the at-risk elderly driver population from stressful and costly on-road driving evaluations. This procedure provides more information of an individual driver's specific driving parameters. This opens doors for personalized older driver training to maintain independent mobility in later life.</jats:sec

Child Pedestrian Safety: Study of Street-Crossing Behaviour of Primary School Children with Adult Supervision

Road traffic accidents are the primary cause of injuries and fatalities among children. The current study focuses on children’s (un)safe crossing behaviour in a real traffic situation accompanied by an adult at a crosswalk in front of their school. The study aims to investigate if there are differences in crossing behaviour related to road infrastructure (i.e., one-way and two-way street, elevated and non-elevated street crossing), the gender of the child, and the effect of the accompanying adult’s behaviour on the child’s crossing behaviour. Primary school children from two urban schools in Flanders (Belgium) were observed for three days while crossing the street in front of their school in the morning and afternoon. A total of 241 child–adult pairs were observed. Descriptive analysis, Pearson chi-square tests, and binary logistic regression models were used to find differences between groups. More than half of the crossings exhibited two or more unsafe behaviours. Not stopping at the curb before crossing was the most unsafe behaviour, exhibited by 47.7% of children; not looking for oncoming traffic before and during the crossing was the second most unsafe behaviour, exhibited by 39.4% of the children. The only difference between boys’ and girls’ crossing behaviour was in stopping at the curb with girls 1.901 times more likely to stop before crossing as compared to boys. Adults holding hands of the child resulted in safer behaviours by children. The children not holding hands displayed significantly riskier behaviour in running or hopping while crossing the street and being distracted. The study reinforces the need to improve the transportation system through infrastructural interventions (elevated crosswalks), as well as educating and training children and the parents on safe crossing behaviour in traffic

Evaluation of a Road Safety Education Program Based on Driving Under Influence and Traffic Risks for Higher Secondary School Students in Belgium

Road safety education has been recognized as an instrument for reducing road accidents. This study aims to evaluate the road safety education program &#8220;Traffic Weeks&#8221; among higher secondary school students (age 16&#8722;19) in Belgium. The program focuses on driving under influence (DUI) and traffic risks. This study investigates whether the program has an effect on socio-cognitive variables using a questionnaire based on the theory of planned behavior. During the pre-test, 445 students filled in the questionnaire, while 253 students filled in the questionnaire during the post-test. Of these, 175 questionnaires could be matched. The results indicate that the students already had quite a supportive view of road safety at pre-test, with female students showing a more supportive view of road safety than male students. The DUI workshop had a positive effect on most socio-cognitive variables (attitude, subjective norm-friends, and intention) of female students in general education, while the traffic risks workshop only affected perceived behavioral control of female students. In terms of appreciation, students had a significantly higher appreciation of the DUI workshop compared to the traffic risks workshop. During the focus groups, students gave recommendations to improve the program

Evaluating Fitness to Drive in Elderly with Subjective Cognitive Decline

Maintaining independent mobility and the ability to drive contributes greatly to the quality of life of elderly. However, decline of functional abilities, such as cognitive decline, can reduce elderly’s fitness to drive and pose a risk for traffic safety. The current study aims to compose a test battery of functional ability tests to predict fitness to drive in elderly with subjective cognitive decline in the doctor’s office. Functional ability tests were used as predictors for on-road driving assessment outcome. Passing or failing the on-road test was best predicted by a battery of tests addressing visual and motor ability and knowledge factors. This selection of tests can be administered in an office setting within a reasonable time frame and allows medical professionals to provide patients with well-argued advice concerning their fitness to drive. Further research is needed to improve diagnostic accuracy of off-road fitness to drive screenings for elderly drivers

The relation between reinforcement sensitivity and self-reported, simulated and on-road driving in older drivers

Previous studies on older drivers show that diminishing functional (i.e. visual, motor and cognitive) abilities influence driving behavior. Research on young novice drivers, has shown that personality factors such as reinforcement sensitivity play a role in driving behavior. This relation however, has been understudied in older drivers. The present study investigated the relationship between reinforcement sensitivity and driving in older drivers at risk of diminished driving ability. Driving was assessed by self-report measures (i.e., Driver Behavior Questionnaire), a simulated driving task and an on-road driving assessment. Both general driving as well as specific aspects of driving (i.e. speed, standard deviation of lateral position I SDP], reactions to unexpected events) were considered. Reinforcement sensitivity was assessed by means of the classical BIS\BAS self-report instrument. Additionally, as this has been shown already for adolescents, it was investigated whether behavioral inhibition can function as a surrogate measure of reinforcement sensitivity, by studying the relation between behavioral inhibition and reinforcement sensitivity in the current sample of older adults. Reinforcement sensitivity predicted self-report driving but simulated and on-road driving were mainly predicted by age. In specific aspects of simulated driving, reinforcement sensitivity played only a minor role. The fact that reinforcement sensitivity was related to self-reported driving provides support for the hypothesis that personality differences have a direct influence on older drivers' self-assessment and possibly on self-regulation and ceasing to drive decisions. Behavioral inhibition was unrelated to reinforcement sensitivity in older drivers and can therefore not function as a surrogate measure of reinforcement sensitivity. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved