The Effect of Insight and Error-Based Feedback on Young Drivers' following Behavior and Confidence

Young drivers are known to perform less than ideally in a number of traffic contexts. Behavior feedback is critical for the development of safe driving skills. Forty-two young drivers aged 18 to 20 were randomly assigned to three training conditions: an insight and error training condition, an error only training condition, or a control condition. Participants in the training conditions drove simulated trials in which a lead vehicle braked suddenly in front of them. The insight + error group received verbal performance feedback, while the error only group did not. The insight + error group showed a significant increase in time headway by the end of training. However, the increase was not significant in the follow-up drive one week later. Overall driver confidence was also not affected by the training. Results suggest that the combination of insight and error-based feedback modulates behavior over short time periods, but may not be sufficient for the adoption of safe behaviors over longer time periods.