Dr Joanne Bennett

Lecturer
School of Behavioural and Health Sciences

Joanne Bennett

Areas of expertise: road safety; cognitive function; statistics

Phone: (02) 97014398

Email: Joanne.bennett@acu.edu.au

Location: ACU Strathfield Campus

ORCID ID: 0000-0002-6182-6063

Dr Bennett graduated in 2018 from Macquarie University. Her PhD investigated the use of cognitive assessments to determine fitness to drive for individuals with dementia. Her PhD involved conducting cognitive assessments with older adults and adults with dementia and performing driving assessments to determine their driving capacity. Dr Bennett has a keen interest in research which investigates the relationship between cognitive function and road safety across the lifespan, and for all road users (including drivers and vulnerable road users such as pedestrians). She has also conducted research into the emerging field of automated vehicles.

Dr Bennett is currently a lecturer in Psychology at the Australian Catholic University in Strathfield. In her role as a lecturer she specialises in teaching research design and statistics to both undergraduate and postgraduate students. Dr Bennett has 10 years of experience in teaching statistics and runs specialised workshops on advanced statistical techniques such as structural equation modelling and meta-analysis.

Dr Bennett is a supervisor of a number of honours, clinical psychology and neuropsychology masters and PhD students. She has considerable expertise in supervising projects involving the impact of cognitive function and cognitive impairment on functional outcomes such as driving, as well as and the statistical methods required to analyse these projects.

A key focus of Dr Bennett's work is the translation of research findings into practice. Dr Bennett has been involved in the successful completion of a number of road safety industry and policy projects in collaboration with partners at the University of New South Wales, Macquarie University and Austroads.

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Select publications

  • Bennett, J.M., Chekaluk, E., & Batchelor, J. (2016). Cognitive tests and determining fitness to drive in dementia: A systematic review. Journal of the American Geriatric Society, 64, 1904-1917. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.14180
  • Zicat, E., Bennett, J. M., Chekaluk, E., & Batchelor, J. (2018). Cognitive function and young drivers: The relationship between driving, attitudes, personality and cognition. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 55, 341-352. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2018.03.013
  • Ledger, S., Bennett, J.M., Chekaluk, E., & Batchelor, J. (2019). Cognitive Function and Driving: Important for Young and Old Alike. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 60, 262-273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2018.10.024
  • Bennett, J.M., Chekaluk, E., & Batchelor, J. (2019). Determining Fitness to Drive for Drivers with Dementia: A Medical Practitioner's Perspective. Journal of the Australasian College of Road Safety, 30, 9-17. https://doi.org/10.33492/JACRS-D-18-00276
  • Moran, C., Bennett, J.M., & Prabhakharan, P. (2019). Road User Hazard Perception Tests: A Systematic Review of Current Methodologies. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 129, 309-333. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2019.05.021
  • Cunningham, M. L., Regan, M. A., Ledger, S. A., & Bennett, J.M.(2019). To buy or not to buy? Predicting willingness to pay for automated vehicles based on public opinion. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 65, 418-438. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2019.08.012
  • Ledger, S., Bennett, J.M., Chekaluk, E & Batchelor, J. & Di Meco, A. (2019). Driving and Cognitive Function: Does Age Matter? Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 66, 471-484. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2019.10.002
  • Moran, C., Bennett, J.M., & Prabhakharan, P. (2020). Cognitive correlates of hazard perception in young drivers. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 74, 104-119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2020.08.008
  • Bennett, J.M., Challinor, K., Modesto, O., & Prabhakharan, P. (2020). Attribution of blame of crash causation across varying levels of vehicle automation. Safety Science, 132, 104968. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2020.104968
  • Di Meco, A., Bennett, J.M., Batchelor, J., Chekaluk, E., Andrews, E., & Habib, J. (2021). The role of cognition for identifying unsafe young drivers. Safety Science, 138, 105099 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2020.105099
  • Chee, P., Irwin, J., Bennett. J.M., & Carrigan, A.J. (2021). The mere presence of a mobile phone: Does it influence driving performance? Accident Analysis and Prevention, 159, 106266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2021.106226
  • Murphy, J.M., Bennett, J.M., de la Piedad Garcia, X., Willis, M.L. (2021). Emotion recognition and traumatic brain injury: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Neuropsychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11065-021-09510-7
  • Wotton, M. E., Bennett, J. M., Modesto, O., Challinor, K. L., & Prabhakharan, P. (2022). Attention all 'drivers': You could be to blame, no matter your behaviour or the level of vehicle automation. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 87, 219-235. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2022.03.021

Industry Reports

  • Education and Training for Drivers of Assisted and Automated Vehicles (2020) , Austroads AP-R616-20 https://austroads.com.au/publications/connected-and-automated-vehicles/ap-r616-20
  • Use of Perceptual Countermeasure Treatments to Reduce Crash Risk in Tunnels (2022), Austroads AP-R668-22 https://austroads.com.au/publications/tunnels/ap-r668-22

Projects

  • Driving into the future: Hazard perception tasks in a virtual reality driving simulation - $7,500 ACU Faculty of Health Science Project Funding (2020)
  • Does a flexible mentoring arrangement between first - and third year psychology students promote psychological wellbeing, academic self-efficacy and student retention? - $8,000 ACU Learning and Teaching Grant (2020)

Accolades and Awards

  • Australian Postgraduate Award Scholarship (2013 - 2017)

Appointments and Affiliations

  • Lecturer, ACU 2017 -
  • Honorary Associate, Macquarie University 2017 -
  • Member, Australasian College of Road Safety 2018 -

International journal review panels

Journal Reviewer

  • Accident Analysis and Prevention
  • Alzheimer Disease & Associated Disorders
  • Artificial Intelligence Review
  • BMC Geriatrics
  • Journal of the Australasian College of Road Safety
  • Journal of Safety Research
  • Traffic Injury Prevention
  • Transportation Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour

Conference Reviewer:

  • Australasian Road Safety Conference

Public engagement activities

  • ACU Psychology Week Public Lecture 2019: Your brain behind the wheel - Driving as you age
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