PERCEPTUAL STYLE AND SPATIAL ABILITY IN STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT IN DRIVER EDUCATION (FIELD INDEPENDENCE, DEPENDENCE, SIMULATORS)

This study investigated the relationship between simulated driving performance and a set of psychological constructs, namely measures of cognitive style and spatial ability that have not traditionally been applied to the study of driver behavior. However, these constructs are considered to be most promising in accounting for a major portion of variance in driving situations.;Two major experimental hypotheses were set forth: (1) Improvement in driving ability as measured on a driving simulator can be more accurately predicted from measures of perceptual style than from measures of spatial ability. (2) Improvement in driving ability as measured on a driving simulator can be more accurately predicted from combined measures of perceptual style and spatial ability.;The results of this study did not appear to support the perceptual information model of driving behavior used in this study. The battery of predictors classified less than 10% of the achievement sample. Individual differences in perceptual style and spatial ability were found not to be related significantly to simulated driving performance. The zero order correlations between the predictors and the criterion achievement measures were each small (< .17) and not statistically significant at the .05 level.;These results may be explained by the influence of external factors on field-dependent subjects in a classroom setting. Field-dependent subjects tend to be more socially oriented than field-independent subjects.;Eighty-nine driver education students in their junior and senior years in a high school located in Westchester County, New York, served as subjects for this study. The sample was comprised of 40 males and 49 females. The questionnaire, a self-report inventory, and cognitive test data were obtained in one experimental session. The driving simulator pre-test was given during the first scheduled driver education class. The post-test on the driving simulator was given during the last scheduled driver education class.;In general, unsettled issues remain in the attempt to identify the correlation of field-dependence to learning. More work is needed to define the nature of the differences at issue.;The findings indicate that further research is needed pertaining to the use of driving simulators in the education of novice drivers. Continual research into the known and the unknown components of driving behavior must be encouraged if driver education curricula are to be more effective in educating student drivers.