Jessica Young
Psychology 409a (driving psychology)
Fall 2009
Generation 30
Dr. Leon James, Instructor
Report 1: Psychology of
Virtual Driving
According to Maslow's
hierarchy of needs, human motivation can be categorized by five basics needs
that we strive to achieve throughout our lives. Physiological needs are on the
bottom of the pyramid because they are the most essential to survival. After physiological need comes safety and
security. Third on the pyramid is love
and belonging which include family and friendship. Esteem and respect follow love and finally
self-actualization tops of the pyramid.
Living in the United States of American has afforded most of us with the
basic needs on the hierarchy such as food, water, shelter, safety and
security. Americans tend to seek out the
upper tiers of the pyramid, having already accomplished the needs on the lower
levels. The "American dream"
is not to survive but to be happy and fulfilled in life.
Maslow’s
Hierarch of needs. Image found here
Happiness is defined by
the Merriam-Webster dictionary online as ," a state of well-being and
contentment."1 Happiness is derived from the satisfying the
needs listed on Maslow’s hierarchy.
Accomplishing each of the layers adds to a person’s overall well being. Fun can be a contributing factor in a
person's happiness. People engage in fun
activities in order to relieve stress and improve their mood. Fun according to Merriam-Webster online is,
“what provides amusement or enjoyment; specifically: playful often boisterous
actions or speech.”2
Video and computer games
are commonly acknowledged as fun by the current and recent generation. We now live in the digital age, and
technology has taken over or is a part of much of facets of life. According to the Journal of CyberTherapy and
Rehabilitation, casual video games can be used to decrease stress caused by
serious medical disorders. In the study,
changes to the patients' electroencephalography (EEG) were tracked and were
correlated to an increase in patient mood.
Physiological changes were also studied in the group, showing that using
casual video games could be a possible therapy to help treat stress related
medical disorders.3 The use
of video games as a physiological tool is just an example of how they can be
implement in society as a beneficial.
The stress relieving properties of casual video games can, in this case,
help the well being of an
Doing things that are
fun are not only beneficial to your health but are also great for fulfilling other
needs on Maslow's pyramid. Fun
activities, such as, playing video games online can also add to the social
needs of a person. With the invention of
the internet, masses of people from across the world can interact with each
other with the push of a button.
Cultural differences and world views can be bridged through the use of
the internet and the gaming community.
Online games such as second life can help you to connect with other
people in a way that was not possible a few decades ago. People find friendships and even love through
the internet.
I know of a few people
who were too shy to go to parties but they were able to make connections with
fellow gamers online. They played games
together on a regular basis and formed a friendship out of that
camaraderie. The enjoyment they received
from online games allowed them to build a bond with other players and
eventually they felt comfortable enough to meet the other players in real life. They found that they belong to a group and
that sense of belonging would not be possible without the online gaming
community.
I used to play video
games with my brother when we were children.
When we played video games together we didn't fight because we had to
work together against a common enemy in the game. My brother introduced me to the gaming
community online, and although I don't play as much as he does I still find it
a welcomed diversion from a stressful week.
I go online and play games in which you can be part of a team but at the
same time you don't have to be purely yourself.
Online gaming allows people to wear a 'mask of anonymity' which allows a
person to be anyone they want or feel free to be themselves. It grants the player a liberty to play
without the inhibitions that generally govern real life or to play with them.
Online games offer a
connection between myself and the rest of the gaming community. Anyone can create a new identity through an
avatar. You can be bold if you are
usually meek, you can be wild though you are usually calm. These possibilities of creating a new visual
representation of the self allow a person to explore themselves. When I go into second life I have green hair
and I can fly. In reality I would never dye
my hair green with spikes, which is why I chose to do it in the virtual
world. It's fun to change who you are
for a few minutes and see how other people react to it. It's interesting to watch my fellow students
change their behavior while in second life.
A normally shy student can have the biggest personality in the virtual
world. That freedom is liberating and
also provides a person the ability to analyze and discover themselves.
Video games offer
experiences that wouldn't necessarily always be entertaining in actuality, but
in the contents of the game become entertaining and fun. For example, when playing games that involves
shooting zombies, it's fun to use your skills and intelligence to overcome your
opponent. In reality most people do not
find mortal danger fun or entertaining but that’s why they can enter the video
game world.
Screenshot from resident
evil 5 video game. Image found here
I played a game online
that always consists of two teams. The
members of each team have a goal in common and in the game they work together
and must communicate in order to succeed in defeating the other team. In this particular online game people can use
their microphones to communicate with each other. I was very entertained listening to the trash
talk but also cooperation among the guys playing the game. I did not use the
microphone, and since the game was male-dominated they all assumed I was a man
and did not hesitate to treat me as such.
When I was performing poorly they did not give me any slack, but berated
me for it just as much as the next guy.
I had fun watching that interaction between men because usually men tend
to sensor themselves around women. The
combination of anonymity and assumption that the players consisted of only men
allowed the guys to be released from the usual societal norms.
It was fun to act like
one of the guys in the game. In reality
guys treat women differently but in the game each person was no different from
the next. When I did well in the game
they praised me and when I didn't do well they didn't back down. I was a different person in the game and that
was what made the game fun for me.
One of my favorite
moments while playing male dominated games online is when the guys start to
talk about how girls are horrible at the game.
It's funny that they don't realize or don't care that there are women
who play the game. It felt good when I
got to the first place rank and then told them I was a girl; that was my form
of entertainment. The dynamic of the
gaming environment changed. They treated
me differently throughout the rest of the game; firstly, because I was winning
and secondly because they found out that I was not a guy. I don’t know why it was fun for me to prove
myself to these random people, but it was.
It felt good to show them that I could play with them and that I could
handle whatever they could throw at me during the game. I’m usually very competitive when I play any
games, so that personality trait carried over into the virtual world as well.
The actual game play experience
was fun too, because it had a great game dynamic, challenging but not difficult
to the point of frustration. I knew how
to play and advance and what I needed to do to win. Another challenge in virtual games is being
able to translate what you want the avatar to do with the controls that are
possible in the game. Par of the fun is
advancing and acquiring the better equipment as your status increases. Your personal score is always available for
the other players to see in the games I play, so the ranking served as a public
statement of superior skills, which my competitive nature appreciates. I was proud of what I had achieved and my
rank was proof of what I had accomplished.
I like games that involve more effort reaping better or more rewards. It’s that instant gratification that you
receive from hard work that makes it enjoyable.
Games are only fun when
they stimulate you mind and body. Personally, I feel like the more senses you
have to use in a game, the more fun it is to play. I like playing games that involve shooting
with a controller that looks like a gun.
You have to actually point the controller at the screen and just like in
real life you have to aim. I enjoy games
that include movement, for example, the Nintendo Wii is a lot of fun because it
is a more active video game. With wii
games you have to move the controller and push buttons in order for the
character on screen to move. For example,
in the game wii sports you have to mimic a boxer punching, or a baseball player
swinging a bat in order for your avatar to punch or swing.
Person
playing wii baseball. Image found here
Games are also fun when
there is a lot of competition among friends or strangers. Some games are more fun with friends because
you continue to discuss the game with friends after the actual game is done. Friendly competition adds to the excitement
of a game because it uses more of your mental and emotional concentration to
play with people you are familiar with.
Knowing your competition can give you either an advantage or a
disadvantage.
Throughout
history humans have evolved and so have their needs and desires. From hunter-gatherer societies to the digital
age we live in today, the human race has changed. The well being and happiness of
The evolution of video
game controllers
Image from here
Virtual driving in
second life using an avatar is a new experience for me. I have played video games but never played a
game that does not have a beginning or an end, but rather it coincides with real
time. Creating a new identity in the
game was a new experience in and of itself.
Usually in the games I play the characters already have a set design
that remains static throughout the game.
I decided to go with an avatar that does not represent the actual me in
most ways. This way I can be someone I
am not, at least visually.
Driving in the virtual
world is a lot different from driving in reality because the sensory systems used
are much more complicated in real driving.
The motivation for driving is different from the virtual world to
reality. The driving dynamic is
altogether different but if you layout a specific skill it is easier to focus
on that particular skill while driving in second life.
At first it just takes
some time to adjust to the steering in the virtual world. It’s just like the first time you drive a
car; you have to get the feel for the car and with experience you can adjust
accordingly. It gets easier to drive but
as you progress you also learn the boundaries and limitations of the car.
In second life the cars
that we drove were very limited. The
virtual cars don’t have brakes, rather you let go of the forward arrow to stop
acceleration. Some of the newer cars we
started to drive allow you to change the gears of the car, but the forth gear
is so fast that it is hard to control and basically useless for the experiments
that we are conduction in class. If you
drive in first gear, the ride gets boring because you are just going around the
square track over and over again.
When driving, a person’s
behavior can be broken down into the threefold self, which includes: affective,
cognitive, and sensorimotor. The
affective part of the self deals with the reasons or motives behind our
actions. While driving in second life
there are many cases where the affective self should be explored in order to
better understand the motives behind the action.
While I’m driving on the
virtual track I tried to think about how I would drive in the real world but
all too quickly I realized that I don’t think the same way as when I’m really
driving. There are so many motivating
facets to consider when I’m driving in reality.
The major motivation is that a destination must be reached and therefore
I drive in order to get to that destination.
In second life I don’t need to drive to get to another location because
I can teleport and it would be impossible to drive over the water.
For the sake of the
assignments I tried to visualize myself driving as I normally would. I found that quite difficult because, as
earlier discussed, my major motivation for driving is transportation, so I
tried to shift my way of thinking so that I could immerse myself in the world
of second life and virtual driving. My
new motivation for driving was to explore how I would drive given the freedom
of another identity.
I used the cognitive
self when I participated in group driving exercises. I thought about following the flow of traffic
and common courtesy for my fellow drivers.
Avoiding other cars that hit me was a little more difficult because some
other drivers were not able to stay in their lines but, understandably not
everyone got used to the controls and the road at the same time as others, so
it wasn’t the easiest task to keep the group together. As a group, I think we did fairly well, considering
most of us are beginners to the world of second life. I wanted to challenge myself to see if I was
capable of driving properly in the virtual world. Thinking about the rules of conduct and
courtesy for others on the road is a prime example of the cognitive self.
The sensorimotor self
was harder to experience in virtual driving because most of the motor functions
required were not used in that type of environment. I only had to use my hand to drive the car in
the virtual world. In reality much more
motor functions are required for driving. However, I still had to use my sense
of touch and sight to drive in second life.
When we were riding on the jet skis and surfing I could imagine the
sensations that would go along with those two water activities because I have
actually done both of them in reality.
The sense of thrill and that I felt when doing those activities in real
life added to the excitement of doing the activity in the virtual world because
I was able to better visualize what it would feel like to actually be doing it
at that very moment.
There is a lot of risk
involved when driving in the real world.
According to the statistics given in class, there are 42,000 deaths and
6.5 million hospitalizations from driving related incidents each year in the
Because driving is a
serious event each person is required to take an exam in order to obtain a
driver’s license. Driving can be very
dangerous if the wrong person is behind the wheel. The excitement for people who race their cars
is drawn from the risk that it involves.
Street racers put themselves and others in danger for the thrill of
danger and speed. They spend a lot of
money on their cars to make them superior to their competition. The risk of losing all that they have gained
would not be exciting if not for the prospect of winning the race and
overcoming their opponent. It’s like
gambling or paying a game, the excitement is only there when there is a chance
for loss as well as gain.
The risks are different
in virtual driving because the physical person is not in any danger. The car is not real nor was there a cost to
obtain it, no significant time, effort or money was used, therefore, loss or
risk while driving in the virtual world.
However, as I got used to the driving and it was necessary for me to
envision myself in the virtual world as a driver, I was able to make a
connection between my virtual self and actual self.
As a class we tried to
move together as a group around the UH track.
Second gear in the car I was driving was really difficult to control but
I was able to get around the track without flying off. The difficult part about the cars in second
life is that they don’t follow the laws that govern the physical world. If you are driving really fast on the track
and you hit one of the walls, instead of crashing, your car will drive/fly up
the wall and possibly over the wall. The
first time I made the car fly over the wall and into the ocean I realized that
it takes some time to get out of your car and fly back to the track. Because losing the car involves taking extra
steps, I tried not to fly that far off the track or I risk falling behind and
taking extra time. That incident forced
me to drive slower or at least with more control.
The sense of risk that I
felt during our group exercises was what I would call a risk of
obligation. I felt obliged not to fall
behind and make everyone wait for me, nor be an obstruction for the other
drivers. I also didn’t want to have to
take the extra steps to get a new car and teleport back to the track. All the aforementioned are the types of risks
I experienced during the group exercise that were not tied to excitement but
rather a responsibility not to take the risk for the sake of consideration.
The risks that I found
exciting were all risks that involved me testing my own skill level and risking
a shortcoming in that department. The
obligatory risks were not exciting to me because they all involved taking more
time or being a disruption to the other people on the track, which seemed more
like risking a lack of consideration for others. An example of a fun risk was when we all
tried to drive together on the amazing track, the risk was falling off the
track, but because the track was so expansive that risk did not include falling
at a detriment to others. Staying on the
track was a challenge to myself, which I found entertaining. If the track did not ascend to the higher
levels there would be little to no risk of going off the track. The addition of the multiple levels of the
track added to the risk involved and also my personal entertainment.
A
second driving episode involved the whole class getting the same cars at seel
circuit and then taking those cars back to the UH track. At the home track we all drove cars that had
four gears and included a reverse gear as well.
We drove together on the track as a group and the risk was being left
behind or going off the track. Once you fall
off the track you have to speed up to second gear in order to get you car back
on the track. This group activity was
more exciting than simply driving around individually because we all had a
common goal.
A sense of mastery is
essential in video games as a component of motivation and fun. The goal of most games is to overcome
obstacles and master the opponents or challenges in order to win the game. In virtual driving the sense of mastery is
related to successful driving with the group and individually. On the racetrack at UH in second life there
is a timer that can time how fast you can go around the track one time. At first this was difficult because other
drivers were also using the track so I had to move around them, which would
slow down my race time. Other drivers
would also ram into me while they were doing their own driving activities
around the track. I used these obstacles
as a challenge. If you fall off the
track you can get stuck by the walls and have to reverse your car to get back on
the track, this wasted a lot of time. I
drove around the track many times and was finally able to mark a time of
thirteen seconds. I was using a fast car
while in the second gear because any other gear was too slow or too fast and
control would become an issue. After
succeeding in reaching that time I continued to challenge myself to get an even
faster time.
I expected that I would
do fairly well driving in the virtual world because I have played driving video
games before. One of my favorite video
games is Mario Kart, which consists of the characters from Mario Brothers
racing on go karts around various tracks.
The karts in the video
game are more sophisticated than the cars we used in second life because you
can drift around corners, jump, deploy weapons, and boost. I played Mario Kart until I had mastered all
the levels and finished the game.
The fact that I was able
to be at a skill level in the game to unlock all the options gave me a great
sense of mastery and also the confidence that I would be able to drive
successfully in the virtual world.
Driving under the
experimental conditions we set up in lab was helpful to me because it gave me a
goal and a motivation for my virtual driving.
I was first able to do condition 1, which was to follow too close and
then at an appropriate distance. After
doing my initial assignment I continued to do some of the other experimental
driving conditions, for example, I started driving too fast and aggressively. I tried to write my notes while driving and
using my phone. All of these conditions
that are mimicked by real life driving help me to gain a different prospective
of the driving situations. I don’t
usually drive distracted or while multi-tasking in reality so simulating that
in second life gave me an insight into how a distracted driver drives. I’m usually a calm driver and don’t have road
rage because I have seen what road rage is like. I know someone who has sever road rage. For example, this person tail gaits and goes
as far as stalking the offensive driver for a few miles. I have seen the person with road rage get out
of the car at a red light and confront the driver that has caused the
offense. After having been a witness to
these accounts to road rage, I have trained myself to think about driving as
circumstantial rather than personal.
Giving other driver’s the benefit of that doubt that they did not intend
to cause an offense against me personally has helped me to be calm while
driving. I don’t get offended by another
person’s driving because I assume they meant no malice towards me.
3Russoniello, C. V., O'Brien, K., Parks, J. M. (2009) Journal of CyberTherapy and Rehabilitation.
Vol 2(1), 53-66
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4Eid, M. (2008). The
science of subjective well-being.