Improving Visual Attention in Older Drivers

Changes in visual attention which occur with normal aging have been shown to be predictive of crash risk in older drivers (Ball, Owsley, Sloane, Roenker, 8z Bruni, 1993; Owsley et al., 1998). The purpose of this study was to determine whether visual attention skills of older drivers were amenable to training. Participants were 40 volunteers aged 60 to 81. Following an initial visual attention assessment, 20 participants assigned to the training group completed five 30-minute visual attention training sessions. The remaining 20 participants were assigned to a control group. Following the training interval all participants once again completed a visual attention assessment. Results: At postesting, participants whose initial scores were poorest, and who received visual attention training achieved scores similar to those of participants with the best initial scores, while the control group members showed significantly smaller improvements.