Report 2
My Report on Driving Psychology
By Melissa Mills
Instructions for this report are at:
www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy25/409a-g25-report2.htm
I am answering Questions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7.
Dr. Leon James,
December 2006`
The Question I am answering is
Question 1:
(a) Contrast our two textbooks: Road Rage
and Aggressive Driving (James and Nahl), and Driving
Lessons: Exploring Systems That Make Traffic Safer (Peter Rothe, Editor). Name some ways they are similar, and some
ways they are different. Would either text be suitable for high school
students?
(b) Discuss in what way these ideas can help
solve society's driving problems. Be specific: describe the main problems (use
some statistics) and how can particular ideas in these two books help solve
those problems.
(c) Describe the reactions of friends when you tell
them about driving personality makeovers and its psychological and social
context.
(a) Contrast our two textbooks: Road
Rage and Aggressive Driving (James and Nahl), and
Driving Lessons: Exploring Systems That Make Traffic Safer (Peter Rothe, Editor). Name some ways they are similar, and some
ways they are different. Would either text be suitable for high school
students?
Road
Rage and Aggressive Driving by Dr. Leon James and Dr. Diane Nahl is a textbook on driving psychology. The book gives insight and valuable
information about road rage. The book
makes available information gathered by experienced professionals on how to
stop this phenomenon. There are a lot of
examples and ideas on how to change driving behavior which will decrease the
occurrence of road rage. The book is
broken down into three parts, Conflict Mentality, Driving Psychology and Future
of Driving.
Driving Lessons:
Exploring Systems That Make Traffic Safer, edited by Peter Rothe, also is divided into
three parts, titled Personal Sub-Systems, Institutional Sub-Systems and
Technical Sub-Systems. Through a
collection of articles, this book gives insight on how to improve driving
safety on the road by looking at driving through different perspectives. When reading these two books, one can see the
similarities and differences between the two books.
One
of the main similarities between the two books is they both address the issue
of road rage and aggressive driving.
Both books offer some definitions and example along with solutions to
the problems of aggression and road rage.
They both attempt to modify the behavior of drivers self along with the
environment in which one drives in (such as the car itself, the roads,
etc…).
The
books are quite different though. Road
Rage and Aggressive Driving contains a more focused, specialized view on
driving by relying solely on driving psychology (using the drivers threefold
self to explain drivers’ thoughts, feelings and actions on the road).
On the other hand, Driving
Lessons, edited by Peter Rothe, does not focus on
one area of study to explain the issues of driving and road rage. Through a collection of specialized articles,
driving is looked at through different perspectives (sociology, psychology,
engineering, law, etc…). By using
different perspectives, different types of driving systems are acknowledged
that will improve the current driving situation. Rothe attempts to
focus on the overall idea of safety, not just the psychological view.
I feel that both of
these texts would be suitable for high school students, especially before and during
the time when they attain their first drivers’ license. Driving Lessons would be good to read
to gain an all around view of driving and safety, along with hearing ideas from
different individuals talk about ideas in their own expertise.
Road Rage and
Aggressive Driving would be an
excellent book for all ages, including high school students. I think the writing in this book is great and
is very easy to read and understand. A
lot of what is said in the book and the examples given are really easy to
relate to. The modern issues and self
checklists and exercises really help in understanding yourself as a
driver. Through these exercises one can
really see what type of driver they are along with what areas of their driving
need improvement and that is the first step to becoming a supportive driver,
acknowledging you have a problelm.
(b) Discuss in what way these ideas can
help solve society's driving problems. Be specific: describe the main problems
(use some statistics) and how can particular ideas in these two books help
solve those problems.
I think that the ideas in these to books are a great
supplement in helping solve society’s driving problems. I don’t think that these books alone are
sufficient in solving all the problems on the road but I think that with these
books and other forms of driving education (a lifelong program) driving as a
whole could change for the better.
These
books provide a great foundation of knowledge on many areas of driving. They acknowledge the many problems present with
driving today including the driving environment (the roads, the cars, the laws,
etc…) along with the drivers themselves.
Not only do they acknowledge the problem though, they offer different
solutions to them. Dr. James and Dr. Nahl frequently refer to the AWM approach where you start
by acknowledging a driving, you witness the problem and then you modify it.
If
these ideas and techniques were acknowledged by society then maybe driving
would not be as dangerous as it is.
Maybe by reading these books people would realize how dangerous driving
is and realize they have some driving habits that need to be changed in order
to make the road a safer place. With
425,000 fatalities and 35 million injures each decade, something needs to be
done to modify the bad habits that are carried out on the road. I think that these two books in accordance
with other programs could start to improve driving safety.
(c) Describe the reactions of friends when you tell
them about driving personality makeovers and its psychological and social
context.
I went over the
driving personality makeovers that you can to improve your driving. The AWM procedure is a great way to do a
driving. I decided to teach this procedure to my boyfriend, Ryan and my good
friend, Clinton. I started by explaining
the driver’s threefold self, which is the affective, cognitive, and sensorimotor domains. They had a difficult time
understanding the concept at first, but once I explained it a couple times and
game them some examples, it made a lot of sense to them.
Ryan’s been my guinea pig for this
class so he already knew lots of actions, feelings and thoughts he needed to
change on the road but this was the first time
One negative comment that they both
had about the AWM approach was that it is too simple and won’t solve much. I told them that it isn’t as simple as it
looks. That their negative habits won’t
just change after modifying them through one drive on the road. It takes repetition. Also I added that this approach needs to be
done separately for each negative habit that they have. That doesn’t make it too simple to me. I had them both pick a negative habit that
they thought needed to change. I told
them to try the approach for a few days and then let me know how it went.
They both saw a big difference in
their driving just after a couple days of the experiment. They thought it was
hard at first. After awhile, they got used to
being more aware of their thoughts and actions, they both found it easy to keep
a positive frame of mind while driving.
As a result, they both felt a little less stressed out on the road. I think teaching my friends about the driving
personality makeover was a great thing.
I think that both of them are more aware of their negative habits on the
road (especially
The Question I am answering is
Question 2:
(a) Search Google News section, for
"road rage." Describe what you see. Is it a general phenomenon? How
do you react?
(b) How do you explain what's going on --
using driving psychology theory. Connect what you found in the news with the
problems and solutions you discuss in Question 1.
(c) Tell your friends about what you found.
Describe their reaction.
(a) Search Google News section, for "road
rage." Describe what you see. Is it a general phenomenon? How do you
react?
Examples
of Articles I Found
When I searched for road rage under Google
news many articles came up. Here are a
few interesting ones I found.
Woman Charged in Paramedic Road Rage by Jason Meisner http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-061205road-rage,1,7960852.story?coll=chi-news-hed
In this article,
from the Chicago Tribune, a 49 year old woman, Athena Morris, was charged with
battery after driving on to the sidewalk to get around a
ambulance (getting impatient). The
paramedics tried to stop her by reaching inside her car and turning off the
ignition. This ended up backfiring when
she rolled up her window, trapping a paramedic by his arm, and tried to drive
away.
With
the paramedics arm still trapped in the window, the driver, Morris then put the
car in reverse, hitting several parked cars.
She stopped the car and tried to run but the police caught her and
arrested her shortly after.
I
thought that this was a very peculiar case of road rage. The woman sounded absolutely crazy to
me. I can’t imagine what was going on in
her affective and cognitive self and why she would think to do all of
that. This is an extreme case of road
rage. I don’t think it is a regular
occurrence but it still comes to show that extremely dangerous situations can
come from angry, raged individuals.
Man Charged in Road Rage Slaying by Larry
Altman http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/articles/4827811.html
This
is another very extreme example of Road Rage.
The article is about a young man that was found dead last month (
The victim, Carlos
Alvarado (19 years old) was riding his skateboard down the street at about
The argument
escalated quickly. Soon, a group of ten young men were after Alvarado. Three hours later, Alvarado’s body was found.
General
Phenomenon
After reading about
these articles and noticing the prevalence of articles when typing up the words
road rage in the Google search engine, I realized that road rage is everywhere,
from extreme road rage, to more trivial road rage. Articles were being displayed from world wide
resources. Road rage is everywhere. People are being injured and killed everyday
worldwide intentionally by strangers, or people they know as a result of road
rage. It seems as the roads are not safe
anywhere and that something needs to be done soon to change this aggression on
the road.
Reaction
I was shocked at
how many articles on road rage there are.
When I searched for the phrase “road rage” on the Google search engine,
2,940,000 results came up and when I searched Google news, 2,400, articles came
up. That is amazing. It is crazy how big of problem it is and most
people don’t want to recognize or deal with it.
It saddens me to read such disturbing articles, like the ones described
above. I can’t believe people act in
such ways. I mean people are dying over
such trivial events. Like I said before,
something needs to be done to change peoples ideas on
driving.
(b) How do you explain what's going on --
using driving psychology theory. Connect what you found in the news with the
problems and solutions you discuss in Question 1.
The drivers threefold self, one of the most important
concepts of this class, can be seen in all of these articles. It is just a negative drivers threefold self.
Our generation’s norms can be seen through the drivers threefold self. Our affective, cognitive, and sensorimotor norms are all negative. An example of
affective norms is seen in these articles are the drivers negative feeling
toward the situation or other drivers on the road. Many situations on the road
start because drivers feel negative toward something that is going on in their
driving environment.
Negative cognitive norms are also present in these road
rage articles. These people in are showing
a lack of accurate risk assessment and emotional intelligence. They are also showing inaccurate views of
other drivers and situations. Negative
thoughts on the road lead to negative actions.
Negative sensorimotor norms are also present.
The individuals experiencing road rage in these articles are acting on their
feeling and thoughts. These actions are
often very dangerous.
(c) Tell your
friends about what you found. Describe their reaction.
My friends were in shock
about how often these road rage cases happen.
When
I told my friends about the number of articles I found on road rage they were
very surprised. They were also surprised
that road rage happens everyday all over the world. When I shared with them some of the accounts
I found of personal stories of road rage, they were shocked at the severity of
the acts. They couldn’t believe people
would act like that towards other humans just because they are angry or
impatient.
I
think looking up different articles on road rage is a real eye opener. You get to really see how prevalent road rage
is and get to read real accounts of road rage.
It is very shocking but a great way to learn more about road rage.
The Question I am answering is
Question 3:
(a) Select some student reports at www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/499s2003/newsgroups
Discuss your reactions to what they did – their ideas, their method, and their
explanations. What did they gain from doing their reports? How do their ideas
influence what you yourself think about these issues?
(b) Now go to Google Groups search and type
in "driving". See if you can corroborate the conclusions of the
student reports which were done several years ago. Is this still going on the
same way?
(a) Select some student reports at www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/499s2003/newsgroups
Discuss your reactions to what they did – their ideas, their method, and their
explanations. What did they gain from doing their reports? How do their ideas
influence what you yourself think about these issues?
Newsgroup 71: Janice Kamm
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/499s2003/newsgroups/newsgroup72.html
In Janice’s report she addressed three
issues discussed by other students. They
included rubbernecking, a proposed speeding law in
Regarding
the first issue, rubbernecking, Janice agreed with the story told by another
student regarding the safety issues along with the frustration that comes with
rubbernecking on the road. She feels
that the police should set up a screen on the side of the road, blocking the accident, to decrease the rubbernecking.
I think that this sounds like a better idea
than it actually would be. I think that
it is too much work and a waste of time to take the time to set up a screen
when the injured person should be the first item to attend to. Also I think the screen could strike some
curiosity in the drivers on the road.
They might slow down even more or lean in order to try and see what is
behind the giant screen on the side of the road.
The second issue
Janice discussed was concerning a proposed law in
Janice on the other
hand, didn’t necessarily agree with the bill but she thought that these
speeders needed to be stopped since they are causing an enormous amount of injuries
and deaths each year.
The third issue
Janice discussed was from two different students who wrote about the absence of
headlights while raining. They both
expressed that headlights should be on the moment that your windshield wipers
need to be turned on. Janice was unaware
of the headlight rule and felt that the first students report was
incorrect. She felt that he jumped to
conclusions about the other driver just because his headlights were not
on.
In the second
student’s report, also about using windshield wipers in the rain, Janice feels
that it is not right to stereotype drivers who do not use their headlights in
the rain as bad drivers. She thinks that
often they are driving slowly because they are being more cautious in the rain,
not as a result of the lack of visibility due to their absence of
headlights. I disagree with Janice on
this. I feel that driving without
headlights during bad weather such as rain or snow is very dangerous. In these situations headlights not only help
the drivers visibility but also allow the other
drivers on the road to detect other cars more efficiently.
Newsgroup 27: Attitudes
Driving Newsgroups:The
Endless Exploration in the World of Newsgroups
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/499s2003/newsgroups/newsgroups27.html
Newsgroup 27 contains twelve news stories each followed
by comments from the writer. Due to lack
of space, I will only share some of the stories and comments that I found most
interesting, but if you would like to view all of them, go to the link
above.
One news story from Newsgroup 27, reported that a
Canadian research study concluded that cell phone users were four times as
likely to be involved in an accident, which is the same ratio for drunk
drivers. The commentator of the article
thought that this study was repulsive and that cell phone use is a factor in
high accident rates than so should high occupancy in vehicles since the study
concluded that the reasons cell phone users were more at risks for accidents
was a result of the act of conversing.
The reviewer of the article did not have an opinion on
this case but thought that both the views of the commentator and the views of
the Canadian researcher were both interesting.
I personally think that cell phone use while driving is very dangerous
but I don’t think that the act of using a cell phone can be compared to driving
drunk.
I do think that something needs to be done to eliminate
the risks of accidents due to cell phone users.
It is too distracting to talk on the phone or text message while
driving. I don’t believe it is the act
of conversing that is so dangerous. I
think that it is the multi tasking along with the person who the driver is
talking to not knowing the current driving environment the driver is in and
therefore can not adjust (as a member of
the conversation) to events that are taking place on the road.
Another news story form Newsgroup 27, was titled, Which City Has the Worst Drivers? This article listed 1998’s top five
cities with the worst drivers. In order,
these included
This study was
done by Readers Digest Magazine in 1998.
To obtain these results, Readers Digest asked 200 interstate bus drivers
and truck drivers along with 1200 Readers Digest respondents. about the drivers in each state. The magazine factored in fatality, insurance
and car rental rates. They also sent
Will Ecembarger, into each of these top ranked cities to experience the driving
behavior first hand. The article then
describes some of the common behavior presented in each one of these cities.
The person reviewing the article was surprised by all the
activities people were engaging in while driving. One event that really surprised him/her was
that someone had constructed sort of a mini office in their car complete with a
fax machine, phone and laptop. In 1998
this was probably rare, but now many new cars are equipped with laptops, car
phones and a lot more technology so one can work and stay informed while on the
road. (I personally think that having
all this technology available in the car in not necessary and very dangerous).
(b) Now go to Google
Groups search and type in "driving". See if you can corroborate the
conclusions of the student reports which were done several years ago. Is this
still going on the same way?
In a 2006 design show done at the
. The mobile accident screen is called the Axi-Shield. It is
capable of fast and safe deployment on major roads, to reduce the likelihood of
secondary accidents caused by rubbernecking. The students who created it say it
could be set up in under five minutes. The student team that created the Axi-Shield believes it represents the most advanced mobile
anti-traffic screen in the world. More
information about the Axi-Shield can be found at http://www.eng.cam.ac.uk/news/stories/2006/design_show/
The Question I am
answering is Question 4:
(a) Consider Table 4 in the Lecture Notes at www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy25/409a-g25-lecture-notes.htm#Charts
Read the Section titled "The AWM Approach in Driver
Self-Modification" where Table 4 is located. In your own words
summarize what it is about.
(b) Now select the norms that characterize
your threefold self as a driver, passenger, or pedestrian.
(c) Try the AWM procedure on at least two
trips or episodes. What is your conclusion? How can this approach be promoted
in our society?
(a) Consider Table 4 in the Lecture Notes at www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy25/409a-g25-lecture-notes.htm#Charts
Read the Section titled "The AWM Approach in Driver
Self-Modification" where Table 4 is located. In your own words
summarize what it is about.
This section of the
lecture notes explains a driver personality makeover plan, known as the AWM
process. It is a great way to change
negative driving habits into constructive behaviors. The first step of the process is to Acknowledge poor driving habits that you have. The second step is to Witness those
habits while you are performing them and the last step is to Modify
your negative habits into more positive ones.
After defining each
step of the process, the lecture notes list the eleven basic driving
principles. These principles are
important when trying to fully understand driving psychology. There are many important ideas listed but the
most important, in my opinion, is the drivers threefold self and the three
domains of driving behavior; affective, cognitive, and sensorimotor. Throughout this class we have concentrated on
these domains to explain and modify driving behaviors.
The affective domain of
driving behavior operates the feelings
and motivations we maintain behind the wheel. The cognitive
self operate the thinking and reasoning we do while driving. The sensorimotor
self operates the sensations, perceptions and motor acts we engage in while
behind the wheel.
After describing the
threefold self as a basic driving principle, the lecture notes describe other
basic driving principles and what change they can do for drivers and also the
methods one can use to initiate this change. Change must begin internally and
the change done must be personal. One must acknowledge their own negative
habits and come up with their own way of modifying them.
The notes also
discusses that the only way for driving change to occur is with the threefold
self. Each driver independently needs to look at their own personal driving
flaws and create a plan on how to improve them.
New car inventions and laws cannot create positive change on their own.
Each individual driver needs to use the AWM process and modify their threefold
self.
One way for change to
occur more smoothly would be to attend a QDC (quality driving circles). In a
QDC, the driver would be surrounded by other drivers who may be experiencing
the same bad habits in driving. Through
discussion and exercises everyone in the QDC group could grow to be a more
positive, supportive driver.
Another point made in
the basic driving principles was that driving is a collection of subconscious
activities. Because of this it is very
difficult for a driver to accurately evaluate their driving capacity until they
have been trained to objectively observe their own driving habits. Also drivers need to be trained in other
areas such as, risk taking,
error recovery, and emotional control under emergency or provocation
conditions. So training is very
important when it comes to driving safely.
Lastly, this section of
the notes ends with saying that drivers’ education cannot end with the
obtainment of the drivers’ license.
Lifelong drivers’ education programs are needed in order to keep drivers
properly trained, in addition to being able to perform safe habits on the
road.
(b) Now select the norms that
characterize your threefold self as a driver, passenger, or pedestrian.
As a Driver:
Affective
self: When thinking over my affective
driving qualities, which are my feelings about driving, I realize I need a lot
of work in this area. Along with my
cognitive self, this area of myself needs a lot of
improvement. When I drive I tend to have
negative feelings toward the road and other drivers. I am often angry with other drivers and this
leads to more careless driving and more stress.
Careless driving leads to unsafe situations for both me and other drivers
on the road. It can also cause
additional stress on other drivers on the road.
Stress can have very unhealthy side effects later in life so the faster
I take care of these bad habits now, the safer and healthier my life and others
in society around me will be.
I
also feel rushed quite frequently. I
would say half of the time I drive I am in a hurry to get somewhere. This feeling makes me impatient and angry at
other drivers for things that are not there fault. For example, when I am in a hurry I often get
frustrated at the person in front of me.
With this frustration, sometimes comes risky, impatient behavior like
switching lanes frequently to try to get around the “slower” cars. Feeling rushed is one of my worst driving
habits that need improvement. Since
taking this class I have realized this and have started to try and modify my
behavior to decrease the feeling of being in a hurry on the road.
Cognitive
self: This is the other area of myself that needs a lot of improvement. My thinking and reasoning behind the wheel,
which are a result of my negative feelings, tend to also be very negative. Often while driving I find myself thinking
negative thoughts about other drivers. I
often criticize their driving and always think they are at fault for problems
on the road, not me. This part of myself need some improvement. Having negative thoughts on the road is not
only unfair to other drivers but sometimes effects my actions on the road. When I am angry, I make more risky decisions.
Sensorimotor self: I’m often aggressive in my thoughts and
feeling but not with my actions. I
almost never tailgate, cut into other lanes or speed when I am angry while
driving. I never flip other drivers off
or honk the horn at them. I may feel
angry and think negative thoughts, along with the occasional bad mouthing under
my breath, but I normally do not act out any aggression toward other
drivers.
As a passenger:
Affective
self: My feelings while I am a
passenger are quite different from my feelings as a driver. Lately, as a passenger I get anxiety. I always think that the driver doesn’t see
everything going on outside the car that I see. Besides that, I don’t feel like I have as
many negative feeling while I am in the passenger seat. I mean I still get angry sometimes, but not
as much as when I am the driver. I guess
as the driver I feel more aggressive and protective of myself and the car.
Cognitive
self: My thoughts can still be quite
negative about other drivers and the driving environment but they are not as
bad as when I am the driver. This may be
because I don’t pay as much attention when I am the passenger. Either way, I need to try and calm myself
down and not think so negatively when I am in the passenger seat.
Sensorimotor self: As a passenger I never make aggressive acts
toward other drivers. I am not in control
of the vehicle so I cannot use the car to act aggressively. I do not encourage the driver I am with to
act aggressively toward other drivers. I
usually get a little angry with them, talk badly about them and then brush it
off.
As a pedestrian (and bicyclist):
Affective
self: My feelings as a pedestrian
are that drivers tend to not respect people on the road without a vehicle,
including bicyclists. I ride my bike to
school and to work and drivers tend to treat me awful different. They always get frustrated with me and zoom
by really fast or honk or yell at me because I am riding in the street. It is irritating to me because I am just
following the law. I have to ride in the
street or I will get a ticket from the Honolulu Police Department. I understand that I travel slower than a car
but I am allowed (encouraged) to ride on the road so drivers shouldn’t get so
angry at me.
As
a pedestrian one also gets similar treatment.
Drivers tend to get frustrated when you have to cross the street. They also yell or drive by quickly. This kind of attitude makes me feel angry and
then I get mad at the drivers.
Cognitive
self: My thought as a pedestrian are
that drivers do not respect pedestrians and bicyclists. They feel that they have priority of the road
when in fact bicyclists share the road and pedestrians are also involved in the
driving environment. Both should be
respected and treated more kindly. Because of this treatment, I often have bad thoughts
about the drivers. I get angry and then
think that the other drivers are mean or idiots. When this happens I need to take a second and
think that the driver wasn’t out to get me, maybe they didn’t see me or they
made a mistake. They are not
automatically and idiot.
Sensorimotor self: I do not act aggressively toward cars as a
pedestrian or cyclists. I do sometimes
not follow all the rules of a pedestrian but I still treat the other drivers
with respect. It is dangerous though,
that I feel I don’t have to follow the same rules as the automobiles ( like run red lights).
I need to start following these rules because they not only put myself in danger but they confuse and anger drivers.
(c) Try the AWM procedure on at least two
trips or episodes. What is your conclusion? How can this approach be promoted
in our society?
Trip 1:
Since my worst driving habit is feeling rushed on the
road, I decided to use the AWM procedure and try to change this habit. I started by acknowledging the habit. Then I witnessed the habit. I did this by monitoring myself driving from
my apartment in Diamond Heat to school at UH Manoa
and back. I chose this trip because this
is when I feel the most rushed. As
usual, on my way to school, I noticed myself driving more recklessly and
feeling frustrated and angry at other drivers because I was in a hurry. I changed lanes often and drove over the
speed limit. I didn’t drive crazy on the
way home because I was not rushed.
After
witnessing the behavior, I realized I really do have a problem in need of
correcting. My reckless driving was
obviously a result of feeling rushed because I did not drive recklessly when
returning home from school. So after I
witnessed and acknowledged by bad habit, I went ahead and tried to modify it.
My
plan to modify this behavior was complicated.
How can I not feel rushed in the morning? What makes me run late to school? I decided first of all I needed to get up
earlier. So I set my alarm for 20
minutes earlier and decided to leave the house for school 10 minutes earlier
than normal. I also realized that it
takes me a bit of time to try and find something to wear. To solve this, I set out some clothes the
night before. Also, breakfast takes me
awhile to eat so I made a bag of cereal to snack on in the car and in my first
class. With these 3 modifications, I
tried driving the next day to school and once again witnessed my behavior.
I
immediately noticed the difference. I
was not stressed out on my drive to school which made me drive more alert and
calm. I arrived at school on time (even
a little early) and got to take my time walking to class, instead of
practically running. This was a great
idea for me to finally recognize this bad habit of mine and try to do something
about it.
I
think that the AWM approach worked great for me in this particular
situation. All three steps were very
critical in me changing my bad driving habit.
Without this assignment and knowing about the AWM procedure I probably
wouldn’t have tried to change this habit for a long time. I’m glad I started to modify it.
I
think society as a whole should try this approach to change their personal
negative driving habits. I do feel that
a lot of people on the road are like me and suffer from being rushed all the
time. My advice to them is to witness
this habit and once you do you’ll realize how important it is to change it (for
your health and safety).
Trip 2:
The second behavior I decided to try and change was
my attitudes as a bicyclist. I decided
to work on this habit because I bike way more often than I drive so my biking
habits are a little more important personally to my safety. When doing this assignment I realized that I
am not a very driver friendly biker. I
think negative thoughts about the drivers on the road and always think they are
out to get me. I also feel I do not have
to abide by the same rules as the cars (which might make them act more
negatively to me).
So
I set out to change this habit. I
acknowledged it and now I needed to witness it.
This wasn’t hard because I ride my bike everywhere; to work, the store,
a lot to school, etc.. I decided to monitor it on my
way to work and back. I chose this
because I work in
On
my ride, I noticed that I don’t like to stop for red lights. I feel that if I look both ways and no one is
coming I am able to proceed. I also
noticed how angry I get at other drivers for the dumbest reasons (like
accelerating as they drive by me). I
definitely needed to try and change these habits in order to become a safer
bicyclist.
After
I witnessed my bad biking habits, I needed to modify them. I decided that every time I thought something
bad about another driver, I needed to stop and switch my thinking to give them
the benefit of the doubt. For example,
when someone speeds by me and I feel angry, I needed to stop my anger and think
that maybe he was in a hurry to somewhere important or maybe he wasn’t speeding
at all it just seemed like it because I am traveling so much slower than
him. This was hard but I did it.
Next,
I needed to start abiding by the same rules as the cars on the road. This needs to be done for my own safety along
with helping the cars on the road respect me more. If I follow the rules, they will not get
angry at me. This was really hard
because it saves me so much time to break the rules. I did it thought and I just have to keep
thinking to myself that it is safer and I don’t run the risk of receiving a
driving ticket that would cost a lot of money.
The
AWM model also helped me improve my bad bicyclist driving habits. It helped my first of all acknowledge the
habits and also think of ways and reasons to change them. These habits will be the hardest to change
but I am determined to keep trying to train myself.
I
think
The Question I am answering is
Question 5:
(a) Our textbook Road Rage and Aggressive
Driving has checklist exercises in several chapters. Have a friend do the
following four exercises:
(i)
Exercise on Aggressive Thoughts and Feelings on p. 65-66
(ii) Exercise on Are You an Aggressive Competitor on p. 104-5
(iii) Exercise on Positive Driving Behaviors on p. 212-3
(iv) Exercise on Your Passive Aggressive Road Rage Tendency on p. 88-9
(b) Discuss the results with your friends.
How do you explain the results? Where did they get this style of reacting and
driving? How do they help you understand some principles of driving psychology
mentioned in the book?
(c) Discuss how this activity helps you to
become more aware of yourself as a driver.
(a) Our textbook Road Rage and Aggressive
Driving has checklist exercises in several chapters. Have a friend do the
following four exercises:
(i) Exercise on
Aggressive Thoughts and Feelings on p. 65-66
(ii) Exercise on Are You an Aggressive Competitor on p. 104-5
(iii) Exercise on Positive Driving Behaviors on p. 212-3
(iv) Exercise on Your Passive Aggressive Road Rage Tendency on p. 88-9
I
had my boyfriend, Ryan, do each of the exercises. He is a fairly mellow driver but he still has
his flaws. I wanted him to see his flaws and want to modify them. I did the exercises at the same time he did
and then we talked about how we answered and explained why we felt the way we
did. He was very happy to help out with
my report and he was a little surprised by some of his answers.
(b) Discuss the results with your friends. How
do you explain the results? Where did they get this style of reacting and
driving? How do they help you understand some principles of driving psychology
mentioned in the book?
(i) Exercise on
Aggressive Thoughts and Feelings: This exercise had three sections within
it. The first section is titled
‘Fantasies of Retaliation and Revenge’.
The only ones he answered “yes” to in this section were the questions
showing impatience with other drivers (and pedestrians) bad driving
behaviors. For example, slowing down
when someone tailgates and thinking bad thoughts about drivers who force their
way into a lane are two statements he agreed with. I have witnessed these
actions from him. He becomes aggressive
when he feels he is being attacked in some way by other drivers.
He also stated he
becomes angry from road hugging pedestrians.
This is because he is worried for them.
He gets angry because he feels they are being reckless and he doesn’t
want them to get hurt.
The second part of
this exercise is titled ‘High-Pressure Driving and Competition’. He only answered yes to three statements in
this section. He acknowledged that he
doesn’t like when cars get in his way and he takes risks to try to get around
them. He also feels a constant desire to
weave across lanes in traffic to try and get ahead. He does these two activities because he is
often in a hurry. Lastly, he admits that
he doesn’t have respect for drivers who don’t use their blinker. He feels that this causes a lot of
miscommunication which slows down traffic and can cause bad traffic accidents.
The last part of
this section has to do with ‘Impulsive and Reckless Driving’. In this section he answered ‘yes’ to quite a
few of the statements including, listening to loud fast music when he drives,
running yellow lights, driving after 2 alcoholic drinks and going through red
lights occasionally when no one else is around.
I don’t think that
listening to fast music for him is a problem.
I think it might actually help him stay focused. The other answers are a problem though. I have definitely been a witness to the
running of yellow lights. I have seen
him do this A LOT, and not even when he is in a hurry. When I asked him about this, he said that it
is necessary here in
(ii)
Exercise on Are You an Aggressive Competitor:
In this section he only
answered ‘yes’ to two of the 10 questions so I don’t think he is an aggressive
competitor but just needs to work on the two behaviors he admitted to doing on
the road. In this section he
acknowledged that he has learned that he can force his way into a lane by being
pushy and he believes that the most aggressive drivers end up getting what they
want. He agrees that these ideas are
not how the road should be but he thinks that is the reality of the road.
(iii) Exercise on Positive Driving
Behaviors: This exercise is different from the others. It is not a checklist of actions that you
engage in on the road. It is a checklist
of actions that you would be willing to adopt in order to improve your driving. Some examples are driving with greater
awareness, avoiding the symbols of competition, concentrating on developing
better on-ramp merging skills, etc…
He answered ‘yes’
he would be willing to adopt these behaviors to every question. This is very exciting. It shows that he is willing to become a
safer, more supportive driver (and that is not easy to find in everyone). He explained to me that if these behaviors
would decrease the number of fatalities and injuries from driving and also stop
others from being aggressive on the road, he would be willing to try and adopt
some of these behaviors.
(iv) Exercise on Your
Style
of Driving
I
think that Ryan was a pretty good driver before this experiment. He is not a very aggressive driver or person
in general so it is hard to rile him up on the road. But after doing these exercises in the book
he realized he does have some issues that irritate him and effect his
driving. I think by doing this he became
aware of some of his driving flaws.
I
think that he learned his style of driving, through society. Most of his learning came from his parents,
who are also not aggressive drivers. He
has been driving with them for 22 years now and a lot of what he has learned
about driving behavior has been from them.
Also, television, the media, relatives, friends, etc… have influenced
his driving. Overall, I think he has
turned out to be a good driver but like everyone else there is ALWAYS room for
improvement when it comes to driving.
(c)
Discuss how this activity helps you to
become more aware of yourself as a driver.
By pointing out the
different things that a person does makes them aware of their actions that they
might not have noticed previously.
Acknowledging and being aware of your behaviors (especially negative
ones) is the first and hardest step in starting to change those behaviors. It is easy to sit back and think that you are
in the right all the time and that your behaviors are appropriate. But when you are forced to carefully look at
yourself and ask yourself “Do I do that?” then it is hard to deny that you have
some flaws. You might be surprised at
the results you obtain.
After you become
aware and acknowledge your bad habits you will notice them more on the
road. You will witness yourself
performing those habits and will realize even more how much these habits need
to change. After observing yourself
several times you become familiar to what triggers the particular negative
action and you can be prepared for it and modify it.
When you modify,
you need to think of all the possible ways that you could change the habit and
then choose the way that will work best for you. Modification can be very hard but once you
find what works for you, the results will be worth it.
I think that these
exercises really helped Ryan. I don’t
think he had even thought about some of the behaviors on the checklists. Once he realized that the things he checked
as being a part of his driving habits, he realized that he had some driving
problems. He was not proud of most of
what he learned. I think the exercise
was a real eye opener for him.
I also think that
doing the checklists myself and discussing them with my boyfriend helped me a
lot. Like Ryan, I realized I also have
some bad habits on the road that I did not realize until this point. Also, discussing some of the actions present
in the checklists with Ryan and helping him understand the dangers in acting
out these actions really helped my learning and understanding of everything I
have learned in this class through the reading, class discussions and student
presentations. I think this was a great
learning activity for me and my boyfriend.
My Report on the Previous Generation
How do their reports
differ from your report? How is the theory or content similar? How do you
evaluate their level of understanding of driving psychology? What advice do you
have about the generational curriculum?
1. Driving
Psychology: Theory and Application, By: Sarah E. Phillips
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409as2004/phillips/report1.htm
2. Driving Psychology: Theory and Application, By Hiroko Kikuchi . http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409as2004/kikuchi/report%201.htm
3. My Driving Personality Makeover Plan, By Jenny Arakaki
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409as2004/arakaki/report2.htm
4. My Driving Personality Makeover Plan, By Ikue
Fukushima:
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409as2004/fukushima/report2.htm
How These Reports Differ from Mine
These reports
obviously differ from my report in that they had to cover different questions
pertaining to driving psychology. I
think that also a lot of their information is straight from the books and
articles from class. For example, Sarah
E. Phillips and Hiroko Kikuchi’s reports included a list of definitions. This can be taken straight out of the
book. My report is more of an
understanding and opinionated version of the texts. I think I probably retained a lot more of the
knowledge by doing experiments and explaining ideas to friends.
. Another difference is that all of these students reports began with a preface explaining the purpose
of their papers along with the work they did on their first paper. I liked this idea and I kind of with I would
have included one. I think it is a nice
introduction to the paper.
The person Ikue Fudushima interviewed for
her report was a very aggressive driver which was different from the person I
interviewed, my boyfriend, who is not an aggressive driver. She seemed to have a hard time explaining to
her boyfriend about the ideas of driving psychology. She mentions that she has tried to change her
boyfriend’s behavior, but he does not want to become a supportive driver. I am glad that my boyfriend was more
understanding and open to the subject. I
admired her effort.
How These Reports are Similar to Mine
The
similarities between all the papers are that we all cover the basic topics of
driving psychology like the driver’s threefold self, newsgroups, the AWM
procedure, etc… We
all use ideas presented to us through the books Road Rage and Aggressive
Driving by Dr. Leon James and Dr. Diane Nahl, Driving
Lessons, edited by Peter Rothe, and the lecture notes
and articles given to us by Dr. Leon James.
Ikue Fukushima’s ideas and experiences with
driving were similar to mine because she does not drive. I do drive but not often. I don’t have my own car so I usually bike
every where. I think that is different
than her who seems to mostly be a passenger.
As a bicyclist I still deal with the rules of the road and drivers but
in a different way.
My
Evaluation of Their Understanding of Driving Psychology
After reading through all of these students’ papers I think that they
all have a very good understanding of the ideas of driving psychology. Everyone seemed to understand the drivers
threefold self and the AWM approach, which in my opinion are the two most
important concepts.
They
all seemed like they worked really hard on their reports and I think they did
and excellent job. It’s always nice to
read what other people have to say about the same topic you are learning. You get to hear different perspectives along
with add to your knowledge of the topic.
I liked this part of the report.
I think it really benefited me in the further learning of driving
psychology.
Advice
about the General Curriculum
After
reading some of the previous generations work, I think that our report content
has been the best so far. I think we
covered a lot on the topic of driving psychology without just relying on the
book. We used journal articled, webpage
and other sources to gain knowledge and I thin we all learned a lot this
semester.
I do like the idea
of a preface. I think it would help the
paper if there was a little background knowledge present at the beginning. I also liked the idea of creating your own
lifelong education program. That sounds
pretty fun.
For Extra Points the Question I am
answering is Question 6:
(a) Search the Web and the
(b) Use the theory in the Lecture Notes to
explain what drivers need to learn about themselves in order to be able to
handle the proper use of cell phones while driving. Is it better to train
drivers to use cell phones properly or is it better to outlaw the use of any
cell phones while driving? Discuss the solutions.
(a) Search the Web and the University of
Hawaii Library Electronic Resources of full text journals to find out what is
known about how cell phone use affects people's driving. Summarize some
of this literature. Be sure you have articles from both the Web and the Library
Electronic Journals Databases. Give the full reference and link for each
article.
The articles that I I
found about cell phone use and driving are:
1. The Impact of In-vehicle Cell Phone Use on
Accidents or Near Accidents Among College Students
by Dong-Chul Seo and
Mohammad R. Torabi.
http://micro189.lib3.hawaii.edu:4062/ehost/pdf?vid=3&hid=123&sid=58ce6be1-240a-4fda-a36a-682ff1f343db%40sessionmgr103
2. Cell Phones and Driving http://www.iii.org/media/hottopics/insurance/cellphones
The first article I found from the
The
results of this study were very interesting.
Respondents said that 21% of
their accidents happened when at least one of the drivers were on the phone. The study also found that the use of
hands-free models can be just as dangerous as hand-held cellular phones. The study states that prohibiting the use of
phones in the car may not be the answer because of society’s opposition to the
idea
(b) Use the theory in the Lecture Notes to
explain what drivers need to learn about themselves in order to be able to
handle the proper use of cell phones while driving. Is it better to train
drivers to use cell phones properly or is it better to outlaw the use of any
cell phones while driving? Discuss the solutions.
Proper Use of Cell Phones While Driving:
Dr. Leon James suggests that drivers be
trained in risk taking, error recovery, and emotional control. He also states in Road Rage and Aggressive
Driving that people need to be trained to use the cell phone in the car. He offers a three step process to train yourself. First, he advices to learn how to use the cell phone before
entering the car. Learn how to check
your voicemail, answer the phone, etc.
Then, sit in your car (don’t drive) and practice making and receiving
calls. After you feel comfortable doing
that, slowly start to use the phone in the car.
Start by having short conversations and build your skills up
I
agree with Dr. James that training is very important. I think that part of the problem is not being
able to use the phone even before entering the car. Cell phones are complicated. With his three step program one can become a
better in car cell phone user but it is still quite dangerous to use the phone
while driving.
Better
to Train Drivers to Use Cell Phones or Outlaw the Use of Them
I think it is safer to outlaw phones
but more practical to train drivers. I
personally think that driving while on the phone is unnecessary. The research shows how dangerous it is. I think it would be safer for everyone if
cell phones were banned but I think this idea is unrealistic. I think it would be hard to inforce and hard to get support from the public. So instead of nothing being done about this
dangerous habit, training should be given to help drivers gain the skills
needed to talk on the phone while driving.
My
Advice for Future Generations
My advice to future generations is
to really get the most you can out of this class. It is set up in a great way where you can
really meet some great students and discuss issues that are very interesting
and also important in order to try and make our roads a safer place with more
supportive drivers behind the wheel.
Read the books (especially Road Rage and Aggressive Driving) and take the
time to truly take in some of these ideas.
Go to class and of course don’t procrastinate. Start the reports early and split them up
into easy, manageable sections. You will
have a less stressful semester, along with a better finished product.
Class Home Page: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy25/classhome-g25.htm
My Home Page: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leon/409af2006/mills/mills-home.htm