The Role of Executive Functions in the Development of Perception of Dangers on the Road

This study examined the role of the development of the executive functions, including problem solving ability, visual search and visual memory in perception of safety and danger on the road. The design of the current study was descriptive- developmental. Using available sampling 140 children with age ranges of 8, 9 and 11 years were selected from the elementary schools located in 1 and 2 districts of Isfahan city. Perception of danger, problem solving ability, visual search, and visual memory were assessed by identifying safe/dangerous road-crossing task (Ampofo-Boateng & Thomson, 1991), the Tower of London (Shallice, 1982), the Trail Making test (Liorente & et al., 2009), and the Wechsler Digit Span test, respectively. The data were analyzed using MANOVA and stepwise regression coefficient. The results indicated that age was the strongest predictor of identifying safe/dangerous crossing sites and among the series of the executive functions, visual digit span significantly predicted the ability to identify safe/dangerous crossing sites. Since the findings supported the role of cognitive skills in the development of perception of dangers on the road, safety education programs should be designed based on the level of children’s cognitive ability.