The Development of a Cognitive Skills Training to Support Driver Education: Experimental Validation of Theoretical Underpinnings

Crash numbers of novice drivers are, despite best efforts of all involved institutions, alarmingly high. One central explanation refers to deficits in cognitive skills such as hazard perception, which have a tremendous influence on accident involvement of younger drivers. Conventional forms of driver training have largely failed to build up skills that go beyond a rather descriptive knowledge of how to drive. Computer based trainings (CBTs) are assumed to provide new ways of tackling this problem. There are already CBTs available that address relevant issues and are presumed to be effective. However, their evaluations lack evidence for the superiority of the specific features of multimedia based interventions over other forms of training. This shortcoming, in addition to the fact that all available relevant CBTs have been developed within contexts that differs significantly from European conditions in terms of the “average” driving environment as well as the respective educational schemes, has prompted the authors to develop a new CBT that is intended to complement the existing driver training program by addressing critical cognitive skills. In a first step, the authors tested the CBTs theoretical validity by comparing the performance in the training itself between learner drivers and experienced drivers. The results show that experienced drivers achieve higher scores in the CBT. The authors conclude that their application does indeed address relevant cognitive skills that are associated with driving experience.