Texting while driving, executive function, and impulsivity in college students

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the cognitive processes underlying texting while driving. A sample of 120 college students completed a survey to assess how frequently they send and read a text message while driving. Based on this information, students were assigned to one of two groups: 20 students who frequently text while driving and 20 matched-control students who infrequently text while driving but were similar in gender, age, years of education, and years driving. The groups were compared on the extent to which they differed in self-reported measures of executive function and impulsivity. The groups were also compared on a behavioral measure of impulsivity: the extent to which they discounted hypothetical monetary rewards as a function of the delay. For this measure, the students made repeated choices between smaller monetary rewards available immediately and larger rewards available after delays ranging from 1 week to 6 months. The results show that the group of students who frequently text while driving showed (a) significantly lower levels of executive function and (b) higher levels of self-reported impulsivity, although the groups did not differ significantly on the behavioral measure of impulsivity. These results support a general conclusion that drivers with lower levels of executive function and higher levels of impulsivity are more likely to text while driving.

Who uses a mobile phone while driving for food delivery? The role of personality, risk perception, and driving self-efficacy

“…Given prior studies have laid the theoretical foundations that certain personality traits can predict generalized mobile phone use (Bianchi & Phillips, 2005;Butt & Phillips, 2008) and unsafe driving behaviors (Groeger & Rothengatter, 1998), researchers have started to focus on specific personality attributes that could account for the extra variance in MPUWD. A recent study found participants with a higher level of impulsivity were more likely to text (Hayashi, Rivera, Modico, Foreman, & Wirth, 2017), but the finding from another study discovered this result only applied for men's texting behavior (Struckman-Johnson, Gaster, Struckman-Johnson, Johnson, & May-Shinagle, 2015). Some studies revealed that sensation-seeking is significantly and positively related to interactions to mobile phone tasks while driving (H.-Y.…”

Executive Function Capacities, Negative Driving Behavior and Crashes in Young Drivers

“…Furthermore, low EF is related to impulsivity, sensation seeking and other risk-taking behaviors in teens [ 11 , 12 , 13 ]. Limited EF due to atypical development may contribute to poor attention and decision making, impulsivity, and the risky driving behaviors that contribute to the elevated crash risk among teen drivers [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ]. However, sensation seeking and rationalized risk-taking (i.e., weighing risks and benefits rather than impulsive risk-taking) also appear to increase with EF ability in adolescence (see the Life-span Wisdom Model [ 13 ]), indicating a complex relationship between EF and adolescent risk-taking behavior.…”

The roles of delay and probability discounting in texting while driving: Toward the development of a translational scientific program

“…A similar argument was made regarding executive function—cognitive abilities for adaptive functioning that allow for goal‐oriented, flexible, and autonomous behavior (Spinella, ). As with excessive discounting, impaired executive function has been shown to be associated with addictive disorders, such as substance abuse (Goldstein & Volkow, ), pathological gambling (Reid, McKittrick, Davtian, & Fong, ), and most notably, texting while driving (Hayashi, Foreman, Friedel, & Wirth, ; Hayashi, Rivera, Modico, Foreman, & Wirth, ). In this manner, both excessive discounting and impaired executive function occur across various impulsivity‐related problems, suggesting that they may be transdisease processes.…”