Passage
Text messaging while driving increases the risk of a motor vehicle accident more than twenty-fold. The number of deadly highway accidents has spiked after decades of decline, mainly because of texting while driving. Despite this, nearly 40% of American drivers report having texted while driving and 20% of drivers report doing so regularly. Motor vehicle traffic accidents are the leading cause of death among Americans age 16 to 25.Researchers conducted a study to investigate the extent to which driving is impaired by prolonged gazes away from the highway (as a correlate to texting while driving) for males with and without attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Eighty 16-year-old males with a valid driver's license were recruited for the study; half had ADHD (26 diagnosed as mild, 14 diagnosed as moderate) and half did not. Each participant was asked to complete six driving tasks (eg, avoiding an object on the road, merging, making unexpected stops) using a highly realistic driving simulator that projects computer-generated, two-dimensional, 360º visuals, requiring the use of side and rearview mirrors. The baseline condition included no distraction. In the first distraction condition, participants drove while conducting a hands-free phone conversation, and in the second distraction condition they were texting while driving. Two dependent variables were assessed: (1) percentage of driving time with eyes diverted from the road, and (2) number of glances away from the road lasting longer than two seconds.Under both distraction conditions, participants with ADHD (compared to those without ADHD) demonstrated a significantly higher percentage of driving time with eyes diverted from the road, as well as a significantly higher number of prolonged glances away from the road. In addition, unsteady lane position while driving was correlated with both ADHD and texting. The researchers concluded that impairments in driving performance were due to the extreme cognitive workload of competing tasks and visual inattention.
-Which of the following conclusions about ADHD is most supported by this study?

Question

Passage
Text messaging while driving increases the risk of a motor vehicle accident more than twenty-fold.  The number of deadly highway accidents has spiked after decades of decline, mainly because of texting while driving.  Despite this, nearly 40% of American drivers report having texted while driving and 20% of drivers report doing so regularly.  Motor vehicle traffic accidents are the leading cause of death among Americans age 16 to 25.Researchers conducted a study to investigate the extent to which driving is impaired by prolonged gazes away from the highway (as a correlate to texting while driving) for males with and without attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).  Eighty 16-year-old males with a valid driver's license were recruited for the study; half had ADHD (26 diagnosed as mild, 14 diagnosed as moderate) and half did not.  Each participant was asked to complete six driving tasks (eg, avoiding an object on the road, merging, making unexpected stops) using a highly realistic driving simulator that projects computer-generated, two-dimensional, 360º visuals, requiring the use of side and rearview mirrors.  The baseline condition included no distraction.  In the first distraction condition, participants drove while conducting a hands-free phone conversation, and in the second distraction condition they were texting while driving.  Two dependent variables were assessed:  (1) percentage of driving time with eyes diverted from the road, and (2) number of glances away from the road lasting longer than two seconds.Under both distraction conditions, participants with ADHD (compared to those without ADHD) demonstrated a significantly higher percentage of driving time with eyes diverted from the road, as well as a significantly higher number of prolonged glances away from the road.  In addition, unsteady lane position while driving was correlated with both ADHD and texting.  The researchers concluded that impairments in driving performance were due to the extreme cognitive workload of competing tasks and visual inattention.
-Which of the following conclusions about ADHD is most supported by this study?

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

11ecba2d_0cf1_a405_a3bf_fd0b1c8ac27f_MD0008_00 Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is characterized by inattention and impulsivity. Inattentive symptoms include easy distractibility and difficultly focusing on tasks. Impulsive symptoms include behaviors that are not carefully thought out. The independent (researcher-controlled) variables in this study included: presence or absence of ADHD and the three driving tasks (no distraction and two distraction conditions). Under both distraction conditions (hands-free calling and texting), when compared to controls, participants with ADHD diverted their eyes from the road more frequently and for longer periods of time. This suggests that distraction increases visual inattention for those with ADHD. (Choice A) While it is true that people with ADHD are more likely than people without ADHD to make risky, impulsive decisions, impulsivity was not assessed in this study. (Choice C) The purpose of the study was to investigate how much a distracting task can impair the driving of males with and without ADHD. The study design does not support the conclusion that texting while driving has a similar effect on driving as does having ADHD. (Choice D) This study assessed how much a distracting task impaired driving. To conclude that teenagers with ADHD are worse drivers than those without ADHD, data collected in the baseline condition (no distraction) would need to show that those with ADHD performed significantly worse than those without ADHD, and this is not suggested by the passage. Educational objective: Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is characterized by inattention (distractibility, difficulty focusing) and impulsivity (acting without thinking about consequences).

Passage Text Messaging While Driving Increases the Risk of a Motor