title: The effect of age and personality on the main cognitive processes in drivers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study is the evaluation of how the decline of cognitive abilities caused by aging is moderated by biologically determined personality dimensions: Neuroticism (N) and Extraversion (E).
  
  
  METHODS
  The research was conducted with the participation of 160 men in good physical health, professional drivers, aged 20-70 (Mean = 40, SD = 11). Personality traits were measured using Eysenck's Personality Questionnaire - Revised (EPQ-R), while Ravens Progressive Matrices, Go/noGo Task and Peripheral Perception Test were used to evaluate cognitive processes. The score of Ravens Progressive Matrices was treated as a control variable.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results of the study, based on a Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analysis, indicate that besides the intelligence level, age is the best predictor of cognitive functioning level and that this influence is additionally moderated by the N trait level as well as, less frequently, by the interaction of age and E.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This means that high N trait level increases the influence of age on cognitive functions decline. When the N trait level was low, the age differences in measures of cognitive performance were not significant. Thus, the level of N trait may play an important role in the process of cognitive aging. The results are discussed in the context of a driving safety research.
authors: Military Institute of Aviation Medicine, Warszawa, Poland. mpbiernacki@gmail.com
authors: Marcin
authors: M
authors: Biernacki
authors: Adam
authors: A
authors: Tarnowski
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000523:psychology*; D003071:Cognition; D005120:Extraversion, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009497:Neurotic Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D010551:Personality / Q000502:physiology*; D011044:Poland; D012044:Regression Analysis; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult