Report 2
My Report on Driving Psychology
By Lester Papalii
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 and # 5.
Dr. Leon James,
December 2006
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
My Report on the Previous Generation
Select any four student reports from G20 listed in this directory of
links: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy/gc/g20-409as2004.htm
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?
The first report that I
read was by a student named Chad Garhartt and can be found at the following
webpage: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409as2004/chadg/report3.htm. The title of this report is “My Proposal for
Lifelong Drivers Education”.
The second report that I
read was by a student named Ikue Fukushima and can be
found here: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409as2004/fukushima/report1.htm The title of this
report is “Practical Applications in Driving Psychology”
The third report that I
read was by a student named Sara Phillips and can be found here: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409as2004/phillips/report3.htm
The title of this report is “My Proposal for Lifelong
Drivers Education”
The fourth and final report
that I read was by Hiroko Kikuchi and can be found here: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409as2004/kikuchi/report%202.htm The title of this
report is “My driving Personality Makeover Project”
How do their reports differ from your report?
I didn’t really notice any
major differences in the reports that I read in terms of content because we all
had read the road rage and aggressive driving book. I think the only major difference was that
they seemed to have more factual statements quoted from the textbooks whereas
my report was based a lot more on my personal opinion.
How is the theory or content similar?
The theory and content of
these reports is definitely similar. I
found many opinions and topics to be very similar to mine. It seems like all the concepts that I learned
during this semester were the same concepts that previous generations had also
learned about. I found myself agreeing
with many of the reports in terms of the author’s opinions. Many of them seem to view driving psychology
as necessary and very helpful to drivers.
In many of these reports the authors also report how by taking this
class it has impacted their driving and helped them to see where they need
help.
How do you evaluate their level of understanding of driving
psychology?
I evaluated their level of
understanding of driving psychology by asking myself if what they have written
down makes sense. I think for the most
part the reports were consistent and stayed on topic. I really enjoyed reading reports that
included their own experiences in driving psychology. In adding their own experiences it seems like
they truly understood what driving psychology was about or at least certain
topics of it. I don’t think that you can
do a report and not know what you are talking about and come across as
coherent.
What advice do you have about the generational curriculum?
My advice about the
generation curriculum is that it should continue to be consistent throughout
the generations it goes through. I think
overall the curriculum is good because each generation that learns it becomes
one step closer to becoming much better drivers. I also feel that this curriculum goes beyond
just the student taking this class; it also reaches the students friends and
family. In taking this class the
curriculum sort of forces you to involve your family and friends because not
only do you draw upon experiences from them throughout your lifetime but you
must also interview and get their opinions to complete assignments.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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?
a) The two textbooks assigned to
this class were "Driving Lessons" by Peter Rothe and "Road Rage
and Aggressive Driving" by Diane Nahl and Leon James. The significance of both of these books for
this class is to enhance the reader’s knowledge about the many different
concepts that go into driving a car. In
contrasting the two books I found that both provide a vast amount of
information that is very helpful to the average driver. Many of the ideas presented in these books
overlap one another and many are exactly the same ideas except for small
differences. My first reaction when
purchasing these two books for this class was that the road rage book looked
way shorter and would be an easier read.
My initial reaction was correct and thus I found the Road Rage book much
easier to read and comprehend when compared to the driving lessons book.
One reason why it was much easier to
read and understand was because of the sense that you were not just reading a
textbook you were actually comparing many of the concepts and ideas of driving
psychology to your own life. For example
many of the chapters in the road rage book provide checklists that allow you to
gauge your own driving habits and determine if you fall into a certain
category. In filling out the checklists
you are required to draw upon your own experiences and fill out the appropriate
response. In doing these checklists the
connection between your real world experiences and the ideas presented in this
book come together to provide a much deeper understanding of driving
psychology.
The main similarity that I noticed
in reading both of these texts was the idea that their needs to be a program in
place that focuses on drivers as a whole rather than trying to change drivers
on an individual basis. I felt that both
books recognize the importance of the concept of driving as something that starts
at a young age and continues well into old age.
The Road Rage book offers lifelong drivers education and quality
driver’s circles as a possible solution.
Whereas the Driving Lessons book offers the Integrated Traffic Safety
System and the Mission Possible @ Work program.
These programs mentioned are very much similar because they focus on
areas where intervention can be most successful and beneficial to society and
drivers as a whole. I think what both
books offer is an eye opening account of the problems drivers are currently
facing and how a change is required immediately in how we perceive and enact
solutions to these problems of aggressive driving.
High school is a place where the
desire to drive begins for many people because of the independence and
recognition driving a car brings. In
many high schools the ability to take a drivers education class is available to
those who wish to learn to drive. In
In my opinion both books would be
suitable for high school students to learn more about driving psychology. I feel however that the “Road Rage and
Aggressive Driving” book is much more easily digestible than the “Driving
Lessons” book. If I were a driver’s
education teacher I would use the Road Rage book rather than the Driving
Lessons book. The Driving Lessons book
does have a lot of good information, but it reads more like a textbook and I
think it would not have an effect on high school students as much as the Road
Rage book would.
(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.
b)
The driving world is a vast and dangerous community that we enter into
every day. The sheer amount of damage
that is done on our roadways is astonishing and must be addressed on both the
micro and macro levels. According to the website: http://www.the-eggman.com/writings/death_stats.html
motor vehicle accidents are the number one cause of accidental death in the
At each level of schooling a different focus
will be utilized. For example in
elementary school the focus will be on affective driving skills, in middle
school the focus will be on cognitive driving skills, and in high school the
focus will be on sensorimotor driving skills.
The lifelong driving program does
not stop at the high school level but continues through to adulthood by way of
Quality Driving Circles. The quality
driving circles take place in neighborhoods, families, or places of
employment. In each of these sections
from elementary school to adulthood various problems are focused on and
alternatives to negative habits are provided.
The lifelong driver’s education and
quality driver’s circles both focus on drivers as a whole and can be effective
when implemented. The individual driver
can also be targeted by going through a process called the drivers three fold
self. The drivers three fold self
provides the individual with alternatives to bad driving habits and encourages
supportive driving techniques.
(c) Describe the reactions of friends when you tell them
about driving personality makeovers and its psychological and social context.
c)
In telling a story to a friend or trying to explain something to someone
their reaction and interest are very important.
In explaining the concepts and ideas of the driving personality makeover
plan to some people that I know I decided the best way to explain it was in the
context of the real world. In explaining
the concepts to some friends I first asked if any of them had experienced anger
while driving and if so what did they do about it. All of them answered yes and most of them
said they had made some type of reaction towards the other driver be it
swearing, tailgating, or hand gestures.
I then proceeded to explain that this is a negative reaction and that
they should instead try to understand why this action had occurred instead of
being quick to react negatively.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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?
a) In my search for "road rage” in the
Google news section I came across multiple reports from all over the world
describing instances of road rage. Many
of the articles seem to report physical altercations or shootings between
drivers. I found these articles to be
very disturbing by the sheer brutality that many of the incidents had escalated
to. It is also rather frightening to
know that it is not just occurring in
The first article that I
came across was an article that took place in
In my opinion based upon my
search of Google I would say road rage has definitely become a general
phenomenon. I personally have never been
in a road rage confrontation, but I have witnessed one before. When I lived in Kapolei I witnessed a man on
a small motorcycle or moped get off his bike and attack the driver of a large
SUV. The driver of the SUV was a woman
who appeared to be talking on her cell phone, but when the man approached her
car she would not roll down the window.
All she did was sit there and look at the guy hitting her window. I think what happened was that the man was
cut off or almost hit when trying to get over into the next lane. When I witnessed this incident I was very
shocked and wondered what I would do in this type of predicament. I think that incidents like this occur all
over the world and there needs to be someway for drivers to avoid these types
of situations.
My reaction to these
articles was one of shock and amazement at how violent and angry people can get
over something like driving a car. I
think it’s really unfortunate that these types of events occur on a regular
basis and that we need to really prevent these things from happening. In reading these articles it made me realize
that we really do need programs like the ones mentioned in the two textbooks. Many of the articles I read were from other
countries and this made me wonder if foreign countries are much worse than the
(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.
b) I think that the cause of aggressive behavior
and road rage comes from a lack of emotional intelligence. According to the road rage book a person who
loses their temper is experiencing a “neural takeover” in the limbic brain. This basically means that when a driver vents
their anger, or feels wronged by another the power of that emotion alters their
normal thinking and judgment. The
sense of outrage is also magnified when we feel that someone has put our safety
in danger by an inconsiderate action. I
feel that many of the cases of road rage presented in these articles occurred
because many people felt disrespected or were put into dangerous situations by
the actions of other drivers.
On the individual basis the
solution to this is the threefold self using the AWM approach to changing your
behavior. In this approach you basically
reflect upon your own feelings and take the proper steps in correcting
them. This approach is a gradual step
towards becoming a supportive driver, but the individual must really want to
change their behavior. In question 1 I
discussed the use of the life long drivers education programs as well as
quality driving circles as solutions to various road rage related
problems. I think this would especially
work in these situations because it would address the need to retaliate against
other drivers who make bad choices.
These programs would prevent drivers from getting into these types of
situations in the first place because they would learn how to react properly.
(c) Tell your friends about what you found. Describe their
reaction
In describing the above
mentioned findings to some friends many of them were shocked and some were less
than amazed. For many of the people that
I shared this information with their reactions were of amazement by the
brutality of some of the articles. A few
people however were not totally surprised by this because they know that the
world is not full of nice people. I
think the overall feeling by my friends was that it was really unfortunate that
these events happened, but what can you do about it? I then related to them what I had been
learning in this class and most were happy that at least some people are aware of the problem, but some of them were also
skeptical about the ability to change others driving habits.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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?
The student reports
discussed in this section are basically the student’s comments about a
newsgroup topic. The first student
report that I chose was http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/499s2003/newsgroups/newsgroups20.html
The author of this report
takes 10 newsgroups topics on the concepts of driving and provides his insights
and comments about these various opinions.
In general I found this students report to be very good in its
presentation and ease of reading. I
found my self disagreeing with a couple of his opinions and thought this was a
well put together report.
The first topic the author
discusses is on the opinion that bad driving skills are what cause
road rage. The author disagrees with
this opinion and states that there is no true definition of a bad driver
because everybody has their own opinion of what constitutes a bad driver. I found myself totally disagreeing with his
opinion because I feel a bad driver is someone who doesn’t follow the rules of
the road which leads to more accidents.
The rules of the road are defined in the law books and common knowledge
of the various signs and rules found in driver’s manuals. If you don’t obey
these rules you are a bad driver.
I think it’s hard to say
what this person gained from doing his report because a lot of it was just his
opinion on various driving subjects.
In reading this assignment
I found myself for the most part agreeing with the author however I found some
of his opinions to be generalizations. I
don’t really find myself being influenced by his opinions because I didn’t feel
like he knew what he was talking about on some topics. So I kind of viewed his opinions with a little
bit of skepticism.
The second student report I
chose was http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/499s2003/newsgroups/newsgroups25.html
The first topic that the
author discusses is upon a complaint that drivers should turn on their
headlights when it is raining. The
author agreed with the newsgroup comment and felt that drivers should turn them
on in the rain because it creates a safer driving experience. I personally have mixed feelings about this
issue because I feel that if you can see perfectly fine without them on you
should be able to drive without them on.
I also think that it really depends on the situation and driving environment.
I think what the author
gained from this report was more of an awareness of the smaller issues of
driving psychology. In doing a report
like this you also sort of compare your opinions to those of others and it can
either reinforce or change your opinion of an issue.
In reading this report my
ideas were not heavily influenced by the author’s opinions. I found a lot of the issues in these reports
are minor and not really that big of a deal in my opinion.
(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?
To corroborate the reports
that I read, I went on Google and searched the newsgroups with the term
“driving”. My results were that I found
many similar newsgroups to the ones that these students did their reports
on. I feel that newsgroups are more of a
form for people to rant about their opinion of various subjects and I don’t
know how much credibility can be taken from their opinions. I feel that these newsgroups and their
opinions will always be the same because more and more people are turning to
the internet to share their experiences with like minded people. In reading many of these newsgroups I found
myself kind of irritated by the responses because many are just negative people
ranting about their experiences.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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.
My summary of The AWM approach
The AWM approach is a
gradual three step plan to change your bad driving habits. These recommendations are a gradual process
that can take a lifelong dedication to reducing these bad habits. The three letters stand for acknowledge,
witness, and modify, they are recommended to be incorporated in your daily
driving. The first step is acknowledging
that you have a problem. The second step
is witnessing your self committing this act.
The third step is modifying this bad habit that you have acknowledged
and witnessed. In response to the
negative habits that you experience it provides positive substitutes to use
instead.
(b) Now select the norms that characterize your threefold
self as a driver, passenger, or pedestrian.
As a driver I would say
that the norms that characterize me are valuing territoriality and
competitiveness. I find that one thing
that really irks me is tailgating especially if there is room for that person
to go around. I especially get enraged
when the tailgating happens at night because my car is very low, so a person’s
high beams flash in my rearview mirrors and it really distracts me from
driving. I guess I view tailgating as a
person invading my space because I expect everyone to drive at a respectable
distance. I also am a very competitive
person in certain situations and if I had one of those supped up cars I
probably would be very inclined to race all who challenged me.
I also find myself
supporting retribution ethics like when someone speeds by you and then you see
them get pulled over by the police. I am
not sure if this would fall under this category but I do feel good when I see
someone get pulled over. Also if someone
cuts in front of me or is tailgating I usually feel angry and glad if something
happens to them later. I am aware of
these feelings and know that they are negative and antisocial but I think it
will take some time for me to overcome these feelings.
The cognitive driving norms
that I feel I use in my daily driving are biased and self serving explanations
of driving incidents. For example if I
need to get into a lane and nobody wants to let me in I usually force my way
in. I think that I justify it by saying
that it’s their fault for not letting me over instead of planning ahead and
entering the next lane a lot sooner.
The only sensorimotor
driving norm that I display is error of perception in calculating my ability to
break at high speeds. On occasion I have
found myself nearly rear ending other cars when coming to a complete stop at
high speeds. I think this means that I
probably should get my breaks checked out or slow down sooner before I
stop.
(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?
The AWM Procedure
In doing this assignment I
decided to try the AWM procedure on my daily route from my house to U.H. and
from U.H. to my house. In my daily driving
it usually takes me about 30 minutes if I stay in the middle to far right lanes
or 20 minutes if I drive in the far left lane.
I usually however leave early so I drive in the middle lane most of the
time. In driving to
U.H. I usually leave around 9:00am and arrive at school about
9:30am. The drive for the most part is
an easy drive with not much traffic. I
do notice that during these hours many cars are usually speeding to get to work
and that it really annoys me sometimes because I feel pressured to speed up
when I don’t want to.
For my first trip I found
myself to be somewhat sleepy this morning which makes me kind of drive a lot
slower than normal because I am not fully aware yet. I also decide to drive in the far right slow
lane and traveling at a decent speed until I notice a bike rider and a truck
blocking his lane. At this point I am
not sure what the bicyclist is going to do so I decide to speed up and pass
him. The bicyclist however has decided
to enter my lane in order to pass the truck blocking his lane which forces me
to press my brakes to avoid hitting him.
Other than these couple of incidents I find myself making it to school
with no major incidents.
For my second trip I was
headed home from school which is usually around 12:00 pm and takes about 30
minutes. The only thing that I really
notice is that I am usually in a rush because I want to get home fast or get
something to eat for lunch. Also on my trip
home I have to go through many more stoplights and that may lead to why I am
more tempted to speed. When I drive home
there is usually no traffic so the ride home is pretty smooth.
In order to modify my
actions I must acknowledge and witness my behavior as I did in the above
paragraph. The next step is to modify my
behavior. I think the first thing that I
need to do is get enough sleep the night before that way I do not feel drowsy
when driving. An alternative could be to
drink coffee or some type of caffeine drink to keep me alert. I also need to relax when I drive and slow
down so that I am not in a rush. I think
it is also important to respect people on the road even if they are on a
bicycle.
My Conclusion
My conclusion after trying
the AWM procedure for two trips is that it definitely works in the sense that
it gets you to recognize your problems.
I think the difficult part about this procedure is actually changing
your bad habits willingly. I have used
this procedure much more often than I thought I would. It seems that every time I get into my car I
find myself thinking about the AWM procedure which is a good thing to a
degree. I say to a degree because it can
get kind of irritating to be constantly thinking about how you’re driving. The key to success for me in doing this
procedure would be to attack one problem at a time rather than all at
once.
If you are reading this and
are curious if this procedure will work I would say to try it out but only if
you really want to change your driving habits.
The desire to modify your bad driving habits is a major step in this procedure because if you don’t care about your
driving habits you wont get anything out of this assignment.
How to promote this in our society
I think this procedure can
be promoted in our society if we embrace that we as a society admit that we have
a problem. If you can convince people
that we have a problem on our roads than we can fully accept this
procedure. I think the best route for
implementing this procedure in our society is through places of employment and
school systems. If we make it a required
class at all levels of schooling we may see a change in behavior. The implementation in schools will be
difficult because I don’t think those in charge of schooling will feel the need
to teach those in kindergarten or any grade younger than 16. Another issue that could present it self
would be funding for the training or classes.
In reviewing my thoughts I
would say the best way to implement this is in the work environment. I think that it would be easier to convince
companies of the benefits of the AWM procedure than schools. If you explain to these companies that they
would save money by incorporating these programs we will see big changes in
driving behavior. In order to
implement these programs in any environment I think you have to go where the
money is. What I mean by this is that
the only people who would be willing to implement this are those who will save
money. If you could convince insurance
companies to provide discounts to those who take similar programs I could see a
major improvement in driving behavior by those who want to save money. Another way to promote this type of procedure
would be to make it a requirement that if you are arrested or given a ticket
for a driving infraction that you must attend a class that emphasizes these
concepts.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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)
The checklists located on p. 65-66 were titled “Fantasies of Retaliation
and Revenge”, “High Pressure Driving and Competition”, and “Impulsive and
Reckless Driving”. In having a friend
take these checklists he scored 12 out of 27 questions.
(ii)
The checklist located on p. 104-5 was titled “Are You an Aggressive
Competitor?” In having a friend take
this checklist he scored 3 out of 10.
(iii)
The checklist located on p. 212-3 was tilted “Positive Driving Behavior”
In having a friend take this checklist he scored 10 out of 14.
(iv)
The checklist located on p. 88-89 was titled “Your Passive Aggressive
Road Rage Tendency” In having a friend take this checklist he scored 0 out of
10.
(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?
How do you explain the results?
The worst score that my
friend checked occurred in the aggressive thoughts and feelings checklist. I think the results from
this checklist show that he needs to work on his fantasies of retaliation and
his competitive nature. In viewing his
results it seems like for the most part he is a positive driver except for a
few areas that need improvement.
Where did he get his style of reacting and driving?
I asked my friend where did
he acquire his style of driving and he said that it probably came from multiple
sources. He said that he learned how to
drive from his parents and in particular from driving with friends. I also asked him if he thought that various
media outlets like television, movies, or commercials had any effect on his
driving. His response was that he wasn’t
sure but he felt it could have been. My
friend felt that his style of driving definitely reflects his father’s style of
driving because his father was the one who taught him how to drive. He also
stated that in his household his father was the main person who would drive him
and his family everywhere so he couldn’t help but pick up his habits.
(c) Discuss how this activity helps you to become more aware
of yourself as a driver.
This activity helps me to
become more aware of myself as a driver because it provides a way to measure
myself as a driver under various circumstances.
I think that if you score high or low on these checklists that it
provides awareness to the possibility that you may have a problem in certain areas
of your driving behavior. The next step in recognizing your problem would be to
correct it by using the drivers threefold self and AWM procedure. This particular exercise also helped me
because it allowed me to see errors in other peoples driving and see that it’s
not only me that needs the help.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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.
How to succeed
In my opinion I feel that to succeed
at anything in life you must show up and get the job done. The bottom line to succeed at anything is to
put in the time and effort it takes to get things accomplished. With that being said the two things I
recommend you do is go to class everyday and do the assigned readings and
writings. The main assignment that you
should prepare for the most is the reports because they do take a while to
complete. I would also recommend
learning how to use ftp programs that will help you upload your assignments to
your own webpage. Learning how to ftp
can be very confusing and intimidating especially if you have never used it
before.
This report that I am writing is the
last assigned report for the semester which means we are nearing the end. This class has been very interesting and many
of the concepts and ideas behind driving psychology surprised me because of the
depth of the information provided. With
that being said you are reading this section of my report to help you in taking
this class. I think that for starters it
is a good idea to first look at the syllabus and get familiar with the amount
of work that will be required of you.
For the driving psychology class
this semester we had to do three oral reports, 10 outlines of the readings, and
two twenty page reports on multiple subjects.
If you are required to do the oral reports for your class i would suggest that you read and understand the subjects
thoroughly. This helps because you
basically want to know what you’re talking about when presenting your
information and it also gives you more confidence.
I personally found the oral reports
to be somewhat difficult mainly because of the nervousness you get in speaking
to a group of people. If however you
have no problem speaking to large groups this should be no problem for you
unless you are unsure about the information you are presenting. My advice to you is to try and not look at
your paper while presenting and take your time while speaking. It is a good idea to really practice reading
your report out loud as well that way you become familiar with what you are
saying.
The next assignment was the 10
outlines based upon the readings. The
readings for the most part are pretty easy to follow unless you get a topic
like the theory of risk homeostasis, which I found to be somewhat
difficult. The outlines are also pretty
easy because you create them by using your own style and methods that you
prefer. This means that you can
basically write down what you feel is important to remember. The only problem I had with the outlines was
actually doing them because I usually put off doing them until the very
end.
The third requirements are the two
twenty page reports. These two reports I
found to be fairly straight forward and not too difficult. I personally found the reports to be more
about time management than anything else because if you attend the lectures
regularly and keep up with the work they shouldn’t be overly difficult for
you. In managing your time I would
recommend starting on your report as soon as possible or at least go over the questions in your mind once a week. I would also recommend attacking the report
one page a week that way you will have time to truly understand how you will
answer the questions.
One more suggestion that i would recommend is learning about ftp programs and how it
works. The ability to ftp your
assignments to your website is very important because it can take time to learn
how to do it. I personally had used an
ftp program in the past so it didn’t take me too long to get my webpage up and
running, but I remember my first time using an ftp was very confusing. There are many different ftp programs out
there but all are pretty much the same I would recommend using the internet
explorer ftp mainly because it is free.
What You Should Expect
I think that you should expect to
learn a great deal of driving psychology and its implications in your
life. I know that when I started to do
the readings and listening to the lectures I found them much more interesting
when I could relate them to my driving experiences. I also found myself being much more aware of
my emotions and the actions of others while on the road. I personally feel that in taking this class I
have become much more of calm and supportive driver. I still have some areas that I need to work
on but I think I am a much better driver now than I was before taking this
class.
Class Home Page: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy25/classhome-g25.htm
My Home Page: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leon/409af2006/papalii/papalii-home.htm