Report 2:
My Understanding of Driving Psychology
By Julia Dailey
Instructions for this report are at:
www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy23/409a-g23-report2.htm
I am answering Questions 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7.
The question I am answering is
Question 2:
(a) Give a brief review of our two
textbooks: Road Rage and Aggressive Driving (James and Nahl), and Driving
Lessons: Exploring Systems That Make Traffic Safer (Peter Rothe, Editor).
The reviews should be between 3 and 6 paragraphs for each text.
(b) Select one Chapter from each text and
give a summary of it.
(c) Discuss in what way these ideas will
contribute to solving society's driving problems.
(d) Any other comments you wish to make.
(a) A brief
review of: Road Rage and Aggressive Driving (James and Nahl), and Driving
Lessons: Exploring Systems That Make Traffic Safer (Peter Rothe, Editor).
The
book Road Rage and Aggressive Driving
(James and Nahl), was written to identify the many factors that are
contributing to the large number of collisions that occur each year. The book is broken up into three thematic
parts. The first part is, The Conflict Mentality, which covers
causes and behaviors of aggressive driving.
The second part is, Driving
Psychology, which provides the tools to become a better, non-aggressive
driver. The final part of this book, The Future of Driving, focuses on the
technology being created to regulate traffic.
In
the beginning of Road Rage and Aggressive
Driving (James and Nahl), the focus is on explaining our propensity toward
conflict and our mentality that this is appropriate. The first part is comprised of four
chapters. In chapter one, Driving in the Age of Rage, the book explores
the reality of road rage and offers readers an opportunity to gage their own
aggressiveness on the road with a checklist.
Chapter two and three investigate aggressive driving and its causes. The fourth chapter looks at the spectrum of
road rage and the various ways in which people express their rage.
The
second part of the book focuses on the psychology of driving, with five
chapters. The first chapter of part two
discusses emotional intelligence and gives suggestions on how to overcome
emotion. The second chapter offers the
three step driver improvement program which involves acknowledging, witnessing,
and modifying. The next chapter explains
how bad drivers today are forming the bad drivers of tomorrow by behaving
aggressively in front of children.
Finally this part offers us supportive driving and lifelong driver
education, two chapters that give solutions to the problem of aggressive
driving.
The
last part, The Future of Driving, is
comprised of three chapters. The war
against aggressive driving looks at the costs of driving in this manner, and
finds them far too high. Enforcement and
legislation are also investigated. The
following chapter is concerned with speed limits, and the rebellion against
them. The difference between aggressive
and assertive is outlined here. The
final chapter of the book discusses, Dream
Cars and Driving Realities, vehicle manufacturers are adding more and more
amenities which equal distractions to the drivers, this chapter helps one
understand how to deal with driving in this new and changing world.
The
book, Driving Lessons: Exploring Systems That Make Traffic Safer (Peter
Rothe, Editor), seeks non-traditional answers to traffic safety issues. The book is a compilation of essays with
authors from diverse backgrounds, intending to bring together the many aspects
which effect driving. This book is
divided into three sections; Personal Sub-Systems, Institutional Sub-Systems,
and Technical Sub-Systems. The
intentions of this book are to help broaden understanding of traffic systems,
and help traffic safety professionals find solutions to the problems that are
occurring.
The
first section of the book is comprised of seven chapters. The focus of each of these chapters is
Personal Sub-Systems and covers topics including neuro-behavior, stress,
pressure, social life, driving space, and driver identities. The section’s goal is to enlighten readers to
the resources a driver must have and explains how personal psychology impacts
traffic safety. A community based model
is proposed for coping with driving issues.
Social interactions and behaviors of drivers are examined and finally
this section explores change with-in personal sub-systems.
The
section on institutional sub-systems is comprised of seven chapters which cover
a broad range of different institutions involved in driving. There are four major groups targeted in these
chapters, the economic system which puts many drivers at risk in order to make
financial gains. The legal system which
attempts to modify behavior, enforce compliance, and punishment for
noncompliance. The media is another
system and is held responsible for social communication, it is held accountable
for both good and bad driving, finally, the education system which is seen as
in need of revitalization.
The
final section of this book uses six chapters to discuss technical
sub-systems. These chapters introduce
technology as the means by which all traffic issues can be solved, and the
greatest source of problems. Technology
has give police greater ability to monitoring driving behavior, but has also
yielded the cell phone, which has proven to be quite dangerous. This section attempts to connect the
sub-systems and show how to make the roadway system a functioning one.
(b) Select one Chapter
from each text and give a summary of it.
Chapter
seven from, Road Rage and Aggressive Driving (James and Nahl), is
entitled: Children and Road Rage. This chapter discusses the impact parents,
other adults, and the media have on children’s impressions of appropriate
driving behavior. Suggestions on how to
influence good road behavior are outlined in the section of the chapter,
“verbal rewards for good passengers”.
Examples of children exhibiting road-rage are offered to show the
alarming nature of this problem. A brief
description of the group Children Against Road Rage
outlines lessons for children that will help reduce aggression. The chapter concludes with a series of
exercises to help one achieve safer driver and passenger behaviors.
Chapter
ten from, Driving Lessons: Exploring Systems That Make Traffic Safer
(Peter Rothe, Editor), is part of the book’s “institutional sub-systems”. The chapter is entitled, “Dispatchers and
Drivers”, it was authored by the book’s editor.
The goal of this chapter is to increase knowledge about economics on the
road and the risk that is allowed and encouraged to make more money. Truck drivers assume great risk at the urging
of their dispatcher; as a result drivers get into trouble while dispatchers
receive no punishment. The chapter
concludes with a disclaimer telling the readers that the research that was done
was amongst truck carriers in good standing, but assures us that many are
operating far below these.
(c) Discuss in what way these ideas will contribute to
solving society's driving problems.
The
idea of curbing driving aggression in children has the potential to change
future road-users behavior completely.
Adults modeling good behavior now would drastically reduce the amount of
road rage today. These ideas are very
good in theory, but of course putting them in action, spreading the concern
from parent to parent is very difficult.
The desire for change is not enough that a widespread change will occur. When the tide shifts and people are more worried
about aggressive driving these tools will be available, but until then the
focus must remain on raising awareness.
Gaining
understanding of the many complex road systems is essential for the
professionals who are trying to fix the problems therein. A chapter like “Drivers and Dispatchers” is
important, because it give insight into an issue that many are unaware of. With the vast numbers of commercial truck
drivers on the roads comprehending their motivations, frustrations, and
distractions is a valuable tool in reducing dangerous driving.
The
question I am answering is Question 3:
(a) Discuss these two Web sites: drivers.com vs. drdriving.org
by first describing their overall appearance and purpose.
(b) What are their main differences? Be sure
to consider at least these areas:
(i) content of articles
(ii) content and tone of newsletters, when present
(iii) style of the site
(iv) probable audience
(v) public relations or policy, etc.
(vi) advertising (if any)
(vii) size (number of files or links)
(vii) ranking (see Google or Alexa)
(viii) Other sites that link to each
(c) Any other comments you wish to make.
(a) Discuss these two Web sites: drivers.com vs. drdriving.org
by first describing their overall appearance and purpose.
Dr.
Driving is an easy to navigate site which offers information on a vast array of
driving issues. The purpose of the
website is to answer the many questions that people have about aggressive
driving and to offer solutions to the problem.
Dr. Driving has many links to articles and a search bar which allows
users to explore with ease. Drivers.com
is much more sleek and professional in appearance; there are advertisements and
fewer links to articles. This site
appears to be catering to wide range of users as it also offers information on
computer drivers and has job postings.
(b) What are their main differences? Be sure to consider
at least these areas:
(i) The content
of the articles on these two websites is very different, Dr. Driving offers
more scholarly articles, written by researchers and other driving
professionals; whereas Drivers.com is offering hot topics that are of interest
at the moment. (ii) Dr. Driving.com
contains letters that readers have sent and Dr. James’ feedback and analysis of
the letter. Drivers.com sends a
newsletter to registered members. This
is a major difference in the two sites because Drivers.com is very apparently a
commercial site compared with Dr. Driving which is more concerned with
presenting information and solution. (iii) The style of these two sites is
very different; Dr. Driving is rather plain and has many links to more
information listed below its introduction.
Drivers.com is very flashy and is set up with many of its links on the
sides. Drivers.com has many visual
images and it has color themes and designs throughout.
(iv) The intended audiences of these two websites are very different; Dr.
Driving is appealing to those who want scholarly research and those who are
interested in solving the problem of aggressive driving, and other traffic
safety issues. Drivers.com has more mass
appeal and will draw in many people because it covers such a broad scope of
topics. The appearance of Drivers.com
makes it obvious that they are trying to be attractive and user friendly but
also are trying to sell products. (v) The public relations on Dr. Driving
are via email, many of the correspondences are posted on the website as a
central part of the site is answering questions from drivers or retelling their
experiences. Drivers.com has a
newsletter and discussion boards which allow readers to vent as well as ask
questions. The answers generally do not
reflect anything substantial, but wonder what researchers would think or say. (vi) The advertising on Dr. Driving is far more subtle then
that of Drivers.com. On Dr. Driving the
links to buy the book authored by the website administrator is in the middle of
the site, in with a paragraph of information.
The link is small and innocuous.
Drivers.com is very blatant in its advertising. It rents space to advertisers and tries to
sell books and other products. One must
register to receive the newsletter which is another opportunity to advertise.
(vii) It is difficult to tell which website is larger in
terms of links because they both have a lot; Drivers.com appears to be larger,
but this could be due to overlaps of links.
(vii) According to Alexa’s rankings Drivers.com averages about 30 million hits
per day, making it #81, 135. Dr. Driving
was below 1 million on average and ranked #350,903. (viii)
Alexa also had
information about the number of sites that link to each of the websites;
Drivers.com has 130 websites which link to it.
Dr. Driving has 18 websites which link to it.
The
question I am answering is Question
4:
(a) Select three of the following student
reports from Generation 15:
1. http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409af2001/ahsing/report2.htm
2. http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409af2001/chun/report2.htm
3. http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409af2001/lukey/report2.htm
4. http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409bf2001/morreira/Report2.htm
5. http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409bf2001/shellgirl/report2.htm
6. http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409bf2001/reaves/report2.html
7. http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409af2001/sophie/report2.htm
(b) Summarize each of the three reports. Be
sure you put a link to the report you are referring to.
(c) Add a General Conclusion Section in
which you discuss your reactions to what they did –
(i) their ideas,
(ii) their method,
(iii) their explanations.
(d) What did they gain from doing their
reports?
(e) How do their ideas influence what you
yourself think about these issues?
(f) Any other comments you wish to make.
(a) Select three of the following student reports from
Generation 15:
I have selected to
report on the following student reports:
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409bf2001/shellgirl/report2.htm
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409bf2001/reaves/report2.html
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409af2001/sophie/report2.htm
(b) Summarize each of the three reports. Be sure you put a link to the report you are referring to.
The
first report which I have selected to report can be linked to here. The author is Shell87, a former student of
Dr. James. This report is concerned with
emotional spin cycles, and how to avoid the negative side of them. The report is based on two weeks of data
collection. In the first week the author
took three emotional readings a day, rating affective, cognitive, and
sensori-motor activities. After the
first week the author reflected on the ratings and their meaning, then for week
two attempted to modify behavior to avoid negative spin cycles. The author felt this was a successful
experiment.
The
second report I have selected to summarize can be linked to here. The author of this report is Nicole Reaves, a
former student of Dr. James. This report
is presenting information on emotional spin cycles. The author provides a very through
explanation of all of the different states one can experience in a days
time. The article includes examples for
a two week long experiment in which the author monitored her own emotional
cycle and then modified her behaviors to see if the spin cycle could be
avoided. She was very surprised at the
ease with which she was able to avoid the negative hemisphere of emotions.
The
third report which I have selected to summarize can be linked to here. The author of this report is Sophie. Sophie is reporting on her two week long
examination of her emotional spin cycle.
She felt that she was a generally positive emotional person, but gave
two examples of events that caused her to go negative. Her negative experiences allowed her to
understand the ease with which one can become and stay negative. In conclusion she felt that making bridges
and self-witnessing are important tools in avoiding negative emotional
cycles.
(c) Add a General Conclusion Section in which you
discuss your reactions to what they did –
(i) their ideas,
(ii) their method,
(iii) their explanations.
(i)
I felt that all three presented their ideas well; they all had similar
conclusions about the effectiveness of the modifying behavior which was
encouraging. (ii) The first report, by
Shell87 most effectively showed the experiment and the results from self
witnessing. By laying out each day and
each time of the emotional reading it was easy to compare each week and see the
changes. (iii) The explanations of
the experiment and the actual data were best in Shell87’s report; however it
was far easier to understand how the rankings worked in the second report. Reaves’ did an excellent job of thoroughly
explaining the range of emotions and the social and psychological implications
of one’s location within the range.
(d) What did they gain from doing their reports?
Each of the students gained a tool; first to
self witness, and be able to understand how they are thinking, feeling and
behaving. Second they have the ability
to change the affective, cognitive, and sensori-motor by building a bridge to
the positive side of the emotional cycle.
Finally these students have gained an understanding of the impact their
emotions have on themselves and others, and the impact of other’s emotions on
themselves. Understanding the social
impact of emotions will help these students to be aware of when and how their
emotions are being influenced.
(e)
How do their ideas influence what you yourself think about these issues?
I had not considered this particular range
of emotions before, nor was I familiar with the circular range the chart these
students were using. I found their
information very interesting and the results of the experiment hopeful. I fully understand the potential to become
stuck in the negative cycle and I was please to hear the ease with which these
students broke free. I was also pleased
to see the exact method of data collection and read the students’ summaries of
their weeks. I think I have a better
grasp of ways to deal with people who are depressed.
The question I am answering is Question
5:
(a)
Consider Table 5 in the Lecture Notes, in the Section on Driving Psychology
Theory and Charts at www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy23/409a-g23-lecture-notes.htm#Charts
(b) Consult the article from which the Table
was taken.
(c) Copy and paste the table into your file.
Now delete the examples in each cell and replace them with your own examples
that you make up.
(d) Discuss why driving is such a big
problem in all societies and why no effective solutions have yet been found for
them.
(e) Discuss the solutions offered by Dr.
Leon James (www.DrDriving.org). What likelihood is
there that his approach will be adopted? Explain. (f) Any other comments you
wish to make.
(f) Any other comments you wish to make.
(c) Copy and paste the table into your file. Now delete
the examples in each cell and replace them with your own examples that you make
up.
|
Table 5 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The above comes from: www.drdriving.org/articles/driving_psy.htm
(d) Discuss why driving is such a big problem in all
societies and why no effective solutions have yet been found for them.
Driving is a problem in all societies
because of the dangers associated with the road. These dangers make people tense and on edge,
when something unexpected occurs it can cause a driver to become very upset; a
reaction to their fear. Another aspect
that contributes to aggressive driving is competition; we feel competitive
behind the wheel and become angry when we perceive ourselves as “losing”. There are many contributing factors to road
problems and no two people present the same challenge which is why it is so
difficult to overcome these issues.
(e) Discuss the solutions offered by Dr. Leon James (www.DrDriving.org). What likelihood is there that his approach
will be adopted? Explain.
I think that Dr. James presents some very
well thought out solutions to the issues of driving today. Dr. James thinks that by implementing more
involved driving lessons in schools and starting at a young age we can raise
better drivers. Training people to be
Supportive Drivers is the overall goal of Dr. James’ work. I think that the outcome would be ideal but
it is very difficult to implement the tools necessary for change. Everyone will admit that our roads are
dangerous, but no one will take responsibility or action to make a change in themselves, the best we can hope for is that schools take a
serious look at driver education and put effort into starting at a young age
and tailoring lessons to the appropriate skill level.
The
question I am answering is Question
7:
(a) Our textbook Road Rage and Aggressive
Driving has checklist exercises in several chapters. Do the following four
exercises:
(i) Exercise on How Passenger-Friendly Are
You on p.184-5
(ii) Exercise on Witnessing Your Aggressive Driving on p. 140-3
(iii) Exercise on Your Road Rage Tendency on p. 40-42
(iv) Exercise on Your Verbal Road Rage Tendency on p. 91
(b) What were your reactions to each
exercise?
(c) Discuss how these exercises help you to
become more aware of yourself as a driver.
(d) Do some of the exercises with another
driver you know. How do they help you understand some principles of driving
psychology mentioned in the book? Discuss and illustrate.
(e) Any other comments you wish to make.
(a) Our textbook Road Rage and Aggressive Driving
has checklist exercises in several chapters. Do the following four exercises:
(i) Exercise on How Passenger-Friendly Are You on
p.184-5
(ii) Exercise on Witnessing Your Aggressive Driving on p.
140-3
(iii) Exercise on Your Road Rage Tendency on p. 40-42
(iv) Exercise on
Your
(b) What were your reactions to each exercise?
I was surprised that I am so
passenger-friendly; I had never considered that people might behave
differently, so it was nice to see that I am doing something correctly. The self-witnessing activity was the most
difficult, I am glad that I did it, because I identified some important flaws I
was unaware of. My road-rage tendency is
clearly toward verbal expressions of aggression. I was aware of this prior to the checklist,
but reading some of the options was startling in how commonplace they seem; yet
they are totally inappropriate. Seeing
some reactions on paper revealed their absurdity.
(c) Discuss how these exercises help you to become more
aware of yourself as a driver.
I am more aware of flaws and strengths I
posses. I did not realize how dependant
my good driving is on having a passenger in the car; if I could model those
behaviors while driving alone I would be much better. My biggest behavioral flaw is verbal
road-rage; by understanding the diversity of drivers on the road I would easily
overcome my most obvious issue. Also
relaxing my pace and sense of urgency to be somewhere, I am guilty of blaming
others for detaining me.
(d) Do some of the exercises with another driver you
know. How do they help you understand some principles of driving psychology
mentioned in the book? Discuss and illustrate.
After having another driver I know complete
the exercises I realized that road rage can occur in very unlikely people. Stepping into a car is like stepping into
another body with completely different attitudes and ideas. The driver I know that completed the exercises
is very calm and thoughtful, yet this individual rated very high for road-rage
and low for passenger consideration. The
person changes in the vehicle to become aggressive and demeaning toward others. I think this exemplifies the concept that people
think it is okay to behave badly on the road.
Step 3:
Add a Section called "My Report on the
Previous Generation." Select 3 students from G22 and summarize what they
did for their Report 2. Their class folder is at: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leon/409as2005/
Justin Golder’s Report 2 can be found at: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leon/409as2005/golder/409a-g22-report2.htm
Justin
Golder’s report two is concerning his understanding of driving psychology. He answered several questions regarding
driving psychology. First he reports on
the three behavioral domains, and then the report summarizes six student’s
reports from a previous generation. He
completed and reflected on some exercises from out textbook, a chart of driver
behaviors was completed, and then a comparison of two websites was done, and
there are a few summaries of some of his fellow student’s reports. Finally a section of advice to future
students of Dr. James’ driving psychology classes.
Brandie Wade’s Report 2 can be found at: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leon/409as2005/mcwade/409a-g22-report2.htm
Brandie
Wade’s report two covers the same topic as Justin’s and she chose to answer the
same questions that Justin chose. This
report covers; the three domains of driving, a comparison of two websites, six
summaries of previous student reports, a table of driver behaviors, and some
activities from the book. Brandie offers
some advice to future students after summarizing some of her classmate’s
reports.
Chris Nerona’s Report 2 can be found at: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leon/409as2005/nerona/409a-g22-report2.htm
Chris
Nerona’s report two while very similar to the report I have summarized above varies
slightly in that he states that he would be answering five questions but in the
report only answered four. He like the
others discusses the three domains of driving, compares two websites, covers
the same table of driver behaviors, and completes exercises from the book. Chris does not summarize his fellow students,
nor does he offer advice to future students.
Step 4:
After answering the five questions, add a
Section called Advice to Future Generations. Tell them what they should know to
succeed in this course and what they can expect to get out of it.
Advice
to Future Generations:
I
would strongly recommend following Dr. James’ instructions exactly. I think that getting a head start on his
assignments is beneficial as you may be surprised at the amount of time you
must put into each one. Report 1 for my
generation was much more difficult that report 2 but both require a lot of time
and explicit following of directions.
Attend class each meeting as you will lose points rapidly for
absences. Talk in class, it is really
frustrating to everyone when the class sits there looking half alive, get the
opinions of your classmates and challenge Dr. James, it is so much more
interesting that way.