Executive Control Functions in Simulated Driving

Abstract

Teenage novice drivers have elevated crash rates compared with more experienced drivers. This study examined the hypothesis that driving accidents in young adults are associated with individual and developmental differences in prefrontally-mediated executive control functions. High-school students completed a simulated driving task and six experimental tasks that tapped three basic components of executive functioning (response inhibition, working memory updating, and mental shifting). Individual differences in executive functioning were related to simulated driving performance, and these effects were selective in that the updating component of executive functioning was the primary predictor of driving performance. Furthermore, the observed effects were accentuated in participants with minimal experience of computer games, suggesting that computer game skills compensated for inefficient working memory functions. The results of this study suggest that individual and developmental differences in executive functions contribute to driving accidents in young adults.