08.09.2014 Views

Hazard anticipation of young novice drivers - SWOV

Hazard anticipation of young novice drivers - SWOV

Hazard anticipation of young novice drivers - SWOV

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

having ADHD in some degree (De Graaf, Ten Have, & Van Dorsselaar, 2010).<br />

The exact prevalence <strong>of</strong> the various types <strong>of</strong> autism in the Netherlands is not<br />

known. In the UK 1.16 % <strong>of</strong> a cohort <strong>of</strong> 56946 children between 9 to 10 years<br />

<strong>of</strong> age was diagnosed as having some type <strong>of</strong> autism. The male to female<br />

ratio was 3.3:1 (Baird et al., 2006).<br />

The various types <strong>of</strong> autism are denoted as Autistic Spectrum Disorders<br />

(ASD). Individuals with ASD have difficulties in processing social<br />

information and do not communicate very well. Autistic children <strong>of</strong>ten show<br />

restricted and repetitive behaviour. ASD is the result <strong>of</strong> divergent brain<br />

development in which many parts <strong>of</strong> the brain and brain systems get<br />

affected. In order to anticipate future events, <strong>drivers</strong> have to predict what<br />

other road users in their vicinity will do. Drivers with ASD may have<br />

difficulties in doing this (due to difficulties in processing social information).<br />

Only one study on this subject could be found (Sheppard et al., 2010). In this<br />

study, the hypothesis was that <strong>drivers</strong> with ADS have poor hazard<br />

perception skills where the hazard is a human being (pedestrian or cyclist),<br />

but not where the hazard is a car (in which the driver is not visible). To test<br />

this hypothesis, adult participants (with and without ASD) watched video<br />

clips taken from the driver's point <strong>of</strong> view. In these clips, a hazard<br />

developed, but the clips never ended in a crash. Participants were asked to<br />

press a button as soon as they had detected a developing hazard. When the<br />

button was pressed, the screen froze and the participants were asked why<br />

they had pressed and what could happen in the clip. In half <strong>of</strong> the clips the<br />

hazard was a human being (pedestrian, bicyclist). These were the social<br />

hazards. And in half <strong>of</strong> the clips the hazard was a vehicle in which no person<br />

was visible (the instrumental hazards). Participants with ASD identified<br />

fewer social hazards than the comparison participants, but were not different<br />

in identifying instrumental hazards. When hazards (both social and<br />

instrumental) were identified, the reaction times <strong>of</strong> the ASD group were<br />

longer than <strong>of</strong> the comparison group. The slower reaction times can have<br />

been caused by poor hazard perception skills, but also by impaired strategic<br />

planning <strong>of</strong> motor skills <strong>of</strong> persons with ASD.<br />

Inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity are the main characteristics <strong>of</strong><br />

ADHD. Neuropsychological findings suggest that these behaviours result<br />

from underlying deficits in executive functions such as deficits in response<br />

inhibition and delay aversion. The total brain volume <strong>of</strong> patients with ADHD<br />

is lower than that <strong>of</strong> matched controls. The differences in volume are the<br />

most pronounced in the PFC and the cerebellum. Not only the total volume<br />

42

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!