Older driver performance on a simulator: associations between simulated tasks and cognition

This study examined whether performance on one driving task was predictive of performance on other driving tasks, and investigated the relationship between cognition and driving. It was hypothesized that driving performance would be correlated across driving tasks, and that cognitive tests would predict driving performance. Twenty-six participants (5 male, 21 female; mean age = 63.0 years) completed three scenarios on a driving simulator (rural highway course, parking lot course, construction zone course) and three cognitive tests (Useful Field of View® [UFOV], Attention Network Test [ANT], Trail Making Test [TMT]). Results showed that performance on one driving task was not predictive of performance on other driving tasks, suggesting that the driving tasks involve independent skill sets. The UFOV and TMT predicted performance on the rural highway course, while the ANT predicted performance on the rural highway and parking lot courses. These results suggest that simulators can be used to examine separate driving tasks and that the value of the ANT for driving research should be examined further.