Report
2
My
Understanding of Driving Psychology
By Teroa Paselio
Instructions for this report are at:
www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy23/409a-g23-report2.htm
I am answering Questions 2,4,5,7,10
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).
In Road Rage And
Aggressive Driving, the authors take an in depth look at road rage and
aggressive driving. They acknowledge
that these learned behaviors stem back into our childhood. The way our parents experienced road rage and
aggressive driving has definitely left a mark on us and how we later act on
these experiences. It points out factors
that contribute to road rage and aggressive driving. More importantly it gives suggestions,
exercises and checklists that you can perform to make you become a supportive
driver.
The Road Rage and Aggressive Driving book
has three distinct parts to it. Part One
is entitled “the conflict mentality”, Part two is called “driving psychology”
and Part three is referred to as “the future of driving”.
Part One “the
conflict mentality” consists of four chapters.
It looks inside the world of road rage and aggressive driving and lets
you in on the realism of these concepts.
It gives definition to most of the actions we do as drivers and helps us
identify if we are aggressive drivers.
Part Two “driving
psychology” consists of five chapters. These chapters takes a psychological approach to
driving. It goes over the emotional aspect of
driving that we might tend to overlook.
It also goes over an important self-improvement program which is widely
known as the three-step driver along with other driving curriculum that
supports a lifelong education of driving.
Part Three “the
future of driving” consists of three chapters.
The latter part of the book takes a look into what road rage and
aggressive driving is up against. The
world is an ever changing society and these chapters review what is being done
about aggressive driving and what needs to be done as we enter into a
technological era.
In the book Driving Lessons, you will read a variety
of essays produced by different authors.
Peter Rothe takes an approach that looks at
driving psychology in a different light.
The essays that his authors produce take an unconventional look into
finding answers that assist in forming a safer traffic environment.
Driving lessons
also consists of three separate sections.
Section One “personal sub-systems” include seven chapters. Section two entitled “institutional
sub-systems” also include seven chapters and section three called “technical
sub-systems” consists of six chapters.
Section One “personal
sub-systems” takes a look at driving psychologically. Neuro-behavior,
stress, social life, identities and other issues that deal with a persons
driving experience are explained in this section. It also examines changes that occur in the personal
sub-systems.
Section
two “institutional sub-systems talks about different systems that we might see
as having an influence on our driving experience. It
looks at communities that contribute to the driving environment. Lastly, this section talks about integrating
and changing our driving aspects with innovative ideas.
Section Three “Technical sub-systems talks
about technology and how it serves as the mediary of
different sub-systems. In this
section, one idea it talks about is the use of cell phones and how it has
become the latest technological innovation that directly affects a driver’s
psychological and social environment.
b) Select One
Chapter from each text and give a summary of it.
Chapter 7 “Children and Road Rage”
from the Road Rage and Aggressive Driving
book talks about how road rage and aggressive driving can be inherited by
children through the actions and experiences of their parents. Children aren’t able to drive and many of
their road rage and aggressive driving experiences are done while in the car
with an adult most likely their parents.
Behaviors that parents project while driving are picked up by their
children who consider these aggressive behaviors as the norm. In return children inherit road rage and
aggressive behaviors and thus the tradition gets passed down.
This chapter also provides us with
ideas and concepts to make children aware of what road rage and aggressive
driving are. There are numerous
activities in this chapter that allows children to recognize aggression as well
as appropriate and inappropriate behaviors as passengers and drivers. These activities will help them become aware
of their actions and emotions while in a car.
In Chapter 3 of Driving Lessons Dr. James Leon writes an essay on “dealing with
stress, aggression and pressure in the vehicle”. In this chap Dr. James lists 15 stressors
aspects of driving that can become stressors to drivers. These stressors include aspects of immobility
in a car, lack of control, as well as multi-tasking to name a few.
Dr. James describes road rage and
aggressive driving in this chapter as a cultural norm. These norms are taught to us as children
traveling with our parents as passengers and eventually picking up on their
actions.
Another important concept that Dr.
James writes about in this section is the driver self-witnessing and threefold
self. These concepts allow the driver to
become aware of themselves while driving. It looks at three domains: affective,
cognitive and sensorimotor that are
also integrated into a drivers experience.
These behaviors that we portray while driving will help to develop a taxonomy of driving behaviors.
c) Discuss in
what ways will these ideas contribute to solving
society’s driving problems.
The idea of concentrating some of
our efforts into educating our children about road rage and aggressive driving
will positively impact our society’s driving problems. By allowing children to experience these behaviors
through certain activities they become aware of the consequences as well as the
rewards for their actions. Hopefully we
can be able to break the cycle of aggressive driving and road rage by educating
our children as well as ourselves in order to pass down good driving behaviors
to the next generation. Instead of
having to UNLEARN the aggressive behaviors we have instilled upon them, our
children will inherit the correct norms of driving behaviors. By targeting the problem at its earliest
stage, we lower the likelihood of a person not being exposed to activities or
literature of aggressiveness and how we can cope with it in our everyday lives
as well as our lives on the road.
The driver
self-witnessing and threefold self are great ideas that will benefit our
society’s driving problems. If we are
able to educate our society on the ideas that Dr. James portrays in both books
about self-witnessing and threefold self we will not only be able to improve
our driving but we can become a supportive driver in this new age of rage.
d) Any other
comments you wish to make.
I enjoyed Chapter 7 on Children and
Road Rage because my driving experiences definitely affected the way I drive
today. My parents are very cautious drivers and I believe that the experiences I gained
while riding as a passenger with them have made me a better driver today. However, now that I’m driving with my younger
sister as a passenger I try to be aware that the actions I choose to display
can affect her thoughts or emotions on the norms of driving. It also allows me to educate her on how or
why I behaved in such a way and then reflect on whether it was an appropriate
or inappropriate behavior. Most
importantly it allows me to reflect and critique my behaviors.
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/409af2001/morreira/Report2.htm
5.
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409af2001/shellgirl/report2.htm
6.
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409af2001/reaves/report2.html
7.
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409af2001/sophie/report2.htm
The
three reports I selected from Generation 15 are:
1. http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409af2001/chun/report2.htm
2.
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409af2001/ahsing/report2.htm
3.
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409af2001/lukey/report2.htm
b) Summarize each
of the three reports. Be sure you put a
link to the report you are referring to.
1: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409af2001/chun/report2.htm
In the first report by Alyssa Chun
she talks about a concept called the emotional spin cycle and its significance. The spin cycle involves different concepts
such as emotions, feelings, the three-fold self and the hierarchy of motives.
Alyssa also conducts her own
experiments using the concept of the emotion spin cycle. Her experiment is a personal one which she
conducts on herself for approximately two weeks. At the end of her experiment she believes
that the emotional spin cycle was able to allow her to be more aware of her
emotions.
2. http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409af2001/ahsing/report2.htm
In the second report by Jennfer Ahsing she also reports
on the emotional spin cycle. According
to Ahsing the emotional spin cycle involves emotions,
feelings, three-fold self as well as the hierarchy of motives.
Ahsing
also tested out Dr. James theories by conducting her own experiment using the
emotional spin cycle. The Global rating
system she used the first week improved in week two. She also mentioned that collecting her data
was difficult if she didn’t remember to record her findings immediately.
3. http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409af2001/lukey/report2.htm
The last report was done by Natalie Lukey. She also
reported on the daily emotional spin cycle.
Lukey also conducted her own personal
experiment while using the emotional spin cycle. She used the three-step method which includes
“acknowledge, witness and modify. She also uses the self monitoring method. Lukey describes her
experiment as gaining an increase of awareness of her threefold self.
Similar to the other two reports, Lukey felt that using the self-monitoring technique could
have made some of her data collection biased.
Her two week experiment taught her a lot about herself. She uses the techniques daily and believes
that everyone should be aware of these life changing techniques.
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.
General Conclusion
of the emotional spin cycle student reports from Generation 15:
(i) Their ideas.
The student reports on the emotional
spin cycle all were similar in that they used the three fold self concept as well
as the three-step method. They all
believed that these techniques should be taught to everyone because of its life
changing ability.
(ii) Their methods
The student reports were all similar
in the way the collected their data.
They all used the three-fold self method and the bridge method and the
Global ratings. All three experiments
lasted two weeks.
(iii) Their explanations
The student reports were also similar
in their explanations. However, each one’s
conclusion was formed to how they performed in the experiment but in the end,
they all walked away with significant information about themselves.
d) What did they
gain from doing their reports?
After conducting their emotion spin
cycle reports, I think they all walked away with a better sense of
themselves. The experiment allowed them
to self-witness and look back on different days and realize how their emotions
affected them in their day to day life.
At the end they had valuable data that they could use to justify or
adjust their emotions.
e) How do their
ideas influence what you yourself think about these issues?
I truly believe that these
techniques of the three-step method and three-fold self should be taught to
everyone. I think it helps you develop
as a person not only in driving but in different situations that life
brings. I can relate to being emotional
at times. One aspect of my life where
this is helping me is taking care of my grandmother. Recently she has just been diagnosed with beginning
or mild alzheimers.
It gets really emotional trying to care for her because it’s something
new. Not just new for her but new for me
too. If my emotions get the best of me
they can trigger other aspects of my life, such as school. Many of times, I might have to call in sick
to work or school because of appointments or illnesses that she’s going
through. But if I am able to cope with
them by being aware of my emotions through methods presented in these reports, I
believe that I too will be able to be in total control of my emotions and my
life. I think these concepts should be
taught worldwide because everyone can definitely benefit from these methods
just as I am experiencing.
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
|
Table 5 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The
above comes from: www.drdriving.org/articles/driving_psy.htm
b) Discuss why
driving is such a big problem in all societies and why no effective solutions
have yet been found for them.
I think that driving is a big
problem in all societies because everyone has brings their own driving culture
to the road. People aren’t educated
properly on how to drive with skills that matter. We have gained our driving norms from our
parents and without educating ourselves we pass them on to our children. If our children aren’t educated on driving,
then they’ll pass down the same driving skills and nothing will change for the
better. I think there are effective
solutions but people aren’t being educated or other aspects serve more popular
than the solution.
c) Discuss the
solutions offered by Dr. Leon James (www.DrDriving.org).
What likelihood is there that his approach will be adopted? Explain.
Dr. Leon James offers many solutions
to effective driving. One solution that
I believe will be effective is the three-step driver. This method of acknowledging, witnessing and
modifying can benefit drivers in many ways.
I have been able to use this simple method and I believe that my driving
experience has changed. Driving
psychology is on the rise and I believe that with the internet, media and other
sources of technology, people will begin to search for answers. Our traffic situation in
d) Any other
comments you wish to make.
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
*ANSWERED
YES* *ANSWERED NO*
1. I always consider my passenger’s feelings
2. I adjust my driving to accommodate to my
passengers’ comfort
3. I
let my passengers influence my driving for the better
4. I want
my passengers to think of me as a good and safe driver
5. I
try to avoid making driving mistakes even more when I have passengers
6. I think
passengers should just sit back, relax, and leave the driving to me. But if they feel more comfortable
participating, I let them if it’s safe
7. My
passengers can control the air conditioning and windows
8. Passengers have the right to criticize the
driver’s behavior
9. I want my passengers to be grateful and show
appreciation, but if they don’t I won’t resent it or hold it against them
10. My
passengers can select the music.
(ii)
Exercise on Witnessing your Aggressive Driving on p.
140-3
Witnessing your emotions:
1. Getting angry when forced to brake by another motorist
2. Feeling insulted and furious when a
driver revs the engine in passing
3. Feeling hostile when your progress is impeded
by congestion
4. Being suspicious
when a driver doesn’t let you change lanes
5. Enjoying
thoughts of revenge and torture
6. Enjoying
the role of being mean behind the wheel
7. Feeling
satisfaction when expressing hostility against other drivers
8. Fantasizing racing other road warriors
9. Enjoying
stereotyping and ridiculing certain drivers
10. Constantly feeling like rushing, even when
you’re not late
11. Striving to get ahead of every car
12. Being pleased when getting away with breaking
traffic laws
13. Enjoying the feeling of risk or danger when
moving fast
Witnessing your thoughts:
1. Justifying rejection of the law that every
lane change must be signaled
2. Thinking
that it’s up to you to choose which stop signs should be obeyed
3. Thinking
that there is no need for speed limits
4. Being ignorant of safety rules and principles
(e.g., who has the right of way)
5. Thinking that it’s not necessary to figure out
the route before leaving, when it is
6. Not
leaving early enough; thinking you can make up time by driving faster
7. Thinking that some drivers are fools,
airheads, rejects, and so on
8. Thinking
that other drivers are out to get you
9. Believing that passengers have fewer rights
than drivers
10. Thinking you
can handle drinking and driving due to your special ability to hold your liquor
11. Thinking that you can use in-car communication
system safely without having to train yourself
12. Believing that pedestrians shouldn’t have the
right of way when jaywalking
13. Believing
it’s OK not to wear seal belt since you probably won’t need it
14. Thinking
it’s best to get ahead of others even if you cause them to slow down.
Witnessing
your actions:
1. Not
signaling when required by law
2. Lane hopping to get ahead rather than going
with the flow
3. Following too close for the speed
4. Gap
closing to prevent someone from entering your lane
5. Turning
right from the middle or left lane
6. Blocking
the passing lane, not moving over as soon as possible
7. Speeding faster than the flow of traffic
8. Shining
high beams to annoy a driver
9. Honking to
protest something when it’s not an emergency
10. Gesturing
insultingly at another driver
11. Speeding up suddenly to make it through a
yellow light
12. Making rolling stops when a full stop is
required
13. Threatening
pedestrians by approaching them quickly
14. Illegally parking in a marked handicap space
15. Parking or double-parking where it’s
illegal
16. Playing the radio loudly enough to be heard
by other drivers
17. Taking a
parking space unfairly or opportunistically
18. Driving
under the influence of alcohol or medication
19. Bad mouthing
other drivers when kids are in the vehicle
20. Ignoring the comfort of passengers or verbally
assaulting them when they complain about your driving
21. Failing to yield.
(iii)
Exercises on Your Road Rage Tendency on p. 40-42
1. I swear a lot more in traffic than I do elsewhere
2. I
normally have critical thoughts about other drivers
3. When a driver in a parking lot tries to steal
the space I’ve been waiting for, I get furious
4. I
fantasize about doing violence to other driver (e.g., using guns or blowing
them up or sweeping them aside)—but it’s just fantasy
5. When drivers do something really “stupid” that
endangers me or my car, I get furious, even aggressive
6. It’s good to get your
anger out because we all have aggressive feelings inside that naturally come
out under stressful situations
7. When I’m
very upset about something, it’s a relief to step on the gas to give my
feelings an outlet
8. I feel
that it’s important to force certain drivers to behave appropriately on the
highway
9. Pedestrians shouldn’t have the right to walk
slowly in crosswalks when cars are waiting
10. Pushy
drivers really annoy me so I bad-mouth them to feel better
11. I
tailgate when someone drivers too slow for conditions or in the passing lane
12. I try
to get to my destination in the shortest time possible, or else it doesn’t feel
right
13. If I stopped driving aggressively, others
would take advantage of my passivity
14. I feel
unpleasant emotions when someone beats me to the light or when someone gets
through and I’m stuck on red
15. I feel energized by the sense of power and
competition I experience while driving aggressively
16. I hate speed bumps and speed limits that are
set too low
17. Once in a while I get so frustrated in traffic
that I begin to drive somewhat recklessly
18. I hate large trucks and I refuse to drive
differently around them
19. Sometimes I feel that I’m holding up traffic
so I start driving faster than feels comfortable
20. I would feel embarrassed to “get stuck” behind
a large vehicle on a steep road
(iv) Exercise on Your
1. Hey
fool, get out of the way!
2. What’s
wrong with this driver? I can’t believe
how slow he’s going!
3. Nope, I won’t let you sneak into my lane
4. Hey, what’s the big rush? Don’t be so pushy!
5. I’d like
to see you squirm, you pushy geek
6. Did that
scare you? Good. I hope it teaches you a lesson
7. I’m
tailgating you now. Pay you back. So who’s the smart one, huh?
8. Figures, it’s a woman. Women can’t driver for #%*! (also works for
different social class, orientation, ethnic identity and age groups)
9. I hope you break your neck
10. Who do you think you are creep?
11. Get a
life!
12. Look that airhead left his blinker on!
b) What were your
reactions to each exercise?
I felt good after I completed the
passenger-friendly exercises. I believe
it’s important to consider your passengers feelings, while allowing them
influence you. I feel comfortable
letting my passenger control the music, or ac.
While completing the exercise on
witnessing your emotions, I felt a little embarrassed after seeing how my
emotions react towards other motorist. I
consider myself a very calm and collected person but I must say that when I get
behind the wheel I start to get territorial.
I know that I can control these emotions and this exercise allows me to
pinpoint when it is that my emotions rise.
In the exercises witnessing your
thoughts, I felt that I still have some areas where I need to improve. I especially fail in figuring out what route
I need to take before I leave. I always
tend to think it out in my head informally and then just go along with the
flow. Then when I get to my destination
I usually get lost and end up spending fifteen minutes wandering around, not
paying attention to other cars because I’m busy looking at street signs.
After the witness your actions
exercises, I feel that I really need to become aware of how I act out on the
road. I sometimes don’t take street
signs seriously and just make rolling stops when indeed I need to come to a
full stop. I think by reviewing this it
has made me realized that if I continue to act in this manner I might put
someone in danger
After the road rage tendency
exercise, one thing that I want to start and change is question number 19. I always tend to speed up when a car in the
back is going fast and I don’t want to hold up traffic even when I’m going
faster than feels comfortable.
After the verbal
road rage, I see that my emotions sometimes get the best of me. This is where the three-step driver method
comes in and this is where I need to implement these methods so that I can
become a supportive driver.
c) Discuss how
these exercises help you to become more aware of yourself as a driver.
These exercises made me realize that
sometimes I do engage in road rage and aggressive driving. I have always thought of myself as a rather
good driver. However, after taking the
exercises and listening to Dr. James, I am able to recognize aggressive
behavior in myself as well as aggressive driving and road rage. I have also learned that being a supportive
driver is the solution to the exercises.
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.
I completed the exercise with one of
my friends. I realized how unaware
others are about aggressive driving and road rage. My friend claimed to be a good driver but
after taking the exercises and seeing her answers I tried to explain to her
that her answers showed aggressive driving as well as road rage. It was clear to me that she knew nothing
about the three-step driver method. She
learned how to drive from her parents and always thought that their driving was
correct. It’s easy to see how one can be
easily influenced as a passenger. This
exercise eventually gave me the opportunity to explain to her the three-step
method which fired up a good conversation.
e) Any other
comments you wish to make.
The question I am answer is Question 10.
a) Explain the
“supportive driving” orientation in relation to the driver’s threefold self. Refer to our
book on Road Rage and Aggressive Driving where this concept is discussed.
Supportive driving is discussed in
Chapter 8 of the Road Rage and Aggressive driving book. The supportive driving orientation is about
an accommodating style that stresses the importance of being able to adjust to
the emotions of road rage. The road
encompasses all sorts of drivers and you have to be able to accommodate to the
different cultures of driving.
The threefold self contains three
concepts that affect our behavior. The
three concepts include the affective, cognitive and sensorimotor
behaviors. The affective behavior deals
with our emotions and feelings. The cognitive deals with our cognitive thoughts and decision
making. The third concept which
is the sensorimotor behavior deals with experiences
through our sensors. To be a supportive driver you need to use these concepts
while adjusting to other drivers.
b) Describe any
resistance you experience regarding this orientation, including
(i) the idea that how you drive is a moral issue of human rights
(ii) the
idea of lifelong driver education and the idea of mandatory participation in
QDC support groups
I believe highly in the concept of
being a supportive driver. I don’t have
any resistance regarding this orientation.
However, I do know that not everyone is aware of being a supportive
driver. How would one
be informed about the concept of supportive driving. I think if a person is unaware of the concept
like we have learned in class, they might not adhere to it if they just heard
about it on the road. I adhere to this
concept because I’ve learned the benefits of being a supportive driver.
I also think the lifelong driver
education and the mandatory participation in QDC support groups are also good
concepts. But I think it might be hard
to implement, seeing that we still haven’t gotten driving psychology curriculum
into K-12 worldwide yet. It might also
be hard for someone to commit to the support group.
c) Describe the
reactions of friends when you tell them about driving personality makeovers
When I talked about driving
personality makeovers with a few of my friends, they had some arguments of
their own. They felt that not everyone’s
intentions will be for good. They think
that the concept would help out the driving environment but is very unlikely to
happen. I think it would be easier if
everyone were educated about it first.
They thought it was a good idea but felt that it wouldn’t work cause no
one else knew about it and would do it.
But imagine if everyone else was educated about it.
d) Anything else
you have to say.