www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18524854.400
In the study, Hermundur Sigmundsson at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim gave 17 volunteers, six of whom were dyslexic, two different tests. The first involved a 4-minute drive along a simulated country road at 50 to 80 kilometres per hour. In the second task, the volunteers drove through a city at lower speeds for 10 minutes. The simulator flashed up traffic signs in the drivers' field of view and measured how quickly they responded by pushing a button or saying "now". In the rural drive, the signs appeared directly ahead, while in the city they appeared in a variety of places.
The six dyslexic drivers took on average 0.13 seconds longer to react during the rural drive than the non-dyslexic controls and were 0.19 seconds slower in the city, where the simulated environment was more complex. In both tests the controls took around 0.6 seconds to respond, so the dyslexic drivers were experiencing a delay of 20 to 30 per cent (Brain and Cognition, DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2004.11.007).
teabelly
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I think this is a poorly executed experiment, at school we were taught the importance of a suitable sample size, I don't think 17 is anywhere near large enough. We were also taught that you should do 'control' experiments to test for natural deviation.
What I mean is, if you get two random groups of 8 people, and compare the two groups' reaction times, I wouldn't be surprised to see a 10% variation between the groups, especially when they are so small.
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eye thikn there si onthing wrogn with ym drive in.
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A dyslexic friend once told me about a dyslexic, agnostic insomniac who sat up all night wondering if there was a dog.
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My dyslexic friend's favourite is the one about the dyslexic satanist who sold his soul to santa....Ahem.
teabelly
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So you didn't read the line in the article where it says this:
>Sigmundsson [the scientist who ran the experiment] says his results need to be confirmed by larger studies before any action is taken.
Sounds like good science to me: a pilot to establish the hypothesis before large-scale testing to establish proof.
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He also has a control group.
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Nothing wrong with the experiment as such degrees Ph.D's are handed out for research with smaller samples (providing this taken into account in the final analysis).
I'm dyslexic and I have been involved in conducting psychometric tests. There may well be a grain of truth here but not only are their other considerations that can affect the cognitive process - a headache, tiredness, stress, listening to the radio, Illness, an itch etc, It depends entirely on the nature of the dyslexia - a complicated and difficult condition to classify. On top of that, there is a lot more to good driving than quick reaction times!
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www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sleep/sheep/
test your reactions
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A further word about the delay in response from dyslexics. I wonder if any of the people on test were suffering Irlen?s Syndrome, which often accompanies Dyslexia, and can be mistaken for it. This is where the brain seems to suffer more than the average from ?veiling? glare. People are born with it - the sufferer does not know that they have it, only that they can?t read and write as other children can. Reading and writing is a great effort, and very tiring. The child is looked upon as slow and difficult, ?won?t do as told', 'won?t try? etc. One effect is that the sufferer can?t visualise black lines or print on a white background in a stable way. In the case of print it shimmies about, or the white background seems to wash over it. In the case of driving, my son-in-law says that the only way he can recognise town or road names is to ?Nail them to the background?. I.e., fierce concentration, and this takes a finite time.
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In the case of driving, my son-in-law says that the only way he can recognise town or road names is to ?Nail them to the background?. I.e., fierce concentration, and this takes a finite time.
If he did that where I live, by the time he'd worked out he wanted to be there he'd have overshot the whole town!
--
L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sleep/sheep/ test your reactions
I see you were sent that email as well then ;o)
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>> www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sleep/sheep/ >> >> test your reactions I see you were sent that email as well then ;o)
I'm a bobbing bobcat.
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L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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Dyslexics rule KO.
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L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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I think the real issue here is, supposing the results of the study were found to be true, would it be right to act on that information and impose restrictions on dyslexic drivers?
There are lots of conditions, permanent or temporary, which might possibly cause reaction times to be slowed, and once you start using one as a reason for restricting or banning driving, it opens up the proverbial can of worms.
What about women with PMT?
Post natal conditions?
Pregnancy?
Suppose they found that some conditions had a marginal racial imbalance?
Sometimes it seems to me it is better not to conduct research if society is going to have difficulties coping with the findings.
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Jackie Stewart is a dyslexic - interesting letter in Telegraph today
tinyurl.com/5m9xh
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Dyslexics rule KO.
IIRC Dyslexics lure KO.
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I'm an ambling armadillo ...
I must get by on good anticipation.
Hawkeye
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Stranger in a strange land
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There are loads of dyslexic drivers about.
The number I see indicate right and turn left, and verca vici
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I've got no problem with dyslexic drivers, I'm more worried by the lazy people that don't indicate, stop in yellow boxs and drive to close to the car in front.
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