Report 2
My Understanding of Driving Psychology
By Aaron Reich
Instructions for this report are at:
www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy24/409a-g24-report2.htm
I am answering Questions 1, 3, 4, 5, and 7
The Question I am answering is Question 1
(a) Give a brief review of our two textbooks: Road Rage and Aggressive
Driving (James and Nahl), and Driving Lessons: Exploring Systems That Make
Traffic Safer (Peter Rothe, Editor). The reviews should be between 3 and 6
paragraphs for each text.
(b) Select Chapter 8 on Supportive Driving (by James and Nahl) in the
Road Rage book and Chapter 14 on Driving Skills (by Lawrance Lonero) in the
Driving Lessons book. Summarize their content. Be sure to refer to the author's
name(s).
(c) Discuss in what way these ideas can help solve society's driving
problems. Be specific: what are the main problems and how can particular ideas
in these chapters help solve those problems.
(d) 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
(e) Describe the reactions of friends when you tell them about driving
personality makeovers
a) Give a brief review of our two textbooks: Road Rage and Aggressive Driving (James and Nahl), and Driving Lessons: Exploring Systems That Make Traffic Safer (Peter Rothe, Editor). The Review should be between 3 and 6 paragraphs for each text.
Road Rage and Aggressive Driving by
Dr. Leon James and Dr. Diane Nahl
Some books are an enjoyable thrill
ride to read but have no practical value, while other books are full of
practical value and yet are nearly impossible to devote attention to. Still other books exist, rare as they might
be, that are as fun to read as they are practical. Road Rage and Aggressive driving is one of
these books. beginning to end, this book
is engaging and very reader friendly. It
is an enjoyable and light read and is full of practical knowledge that is
applicable to all walks of life. In this
concise summary, this book will be reviewed according to its content first and
then according to its style.
Dr.
Leon James begins the book with a personal story of the events that led him
into driving psychology and subsequent publication of the book. This personal disclosure from the author
brings him into a closer relationship with the reader. Dr. James very openly presents his weaker
side and admits that he was an aggressive driver, which tells the reader that
the author is being honest and is just as human as anyone else. Too often in books written by scholars do we
see a very arrogant, know-it-all voice; so this technique of disclosing
weakness by the author immediately drew me further into the book.
The
author’s success story of taking on the challenge of analyzing himself after
numerous complaints from his mother in law and over time pioneering the new
field of driving psychology is both interesting and inspiring.
The
content of the book is organized very well into three main parts, each of which
is divided up into several chapters that focus on the heading of the particular
part. The three main parts are 1) The
Conflict Mentality, 2) Driving Psychology, and 3) The Future of Driving. As one reads through the book, the content
progresses from a focus on aggressive (negative) driving styles to a focus on
supportive (positive) driving styles, and continues into what individuals and
governments can do to encourage such a shift in focus. All throughout the book there are testimonies
submitted from all kinds of drivers that are often entertaining and hilarious,
although sometimes disturbing as well.
Thus,
the content is being delivered from average people, which also helps the reader
relate to what is being said. The author
then comes back and discusses the good and the bad about the testimony. There are also very valuable tables that are
places throughout the text that help the reader to visualize an idea or concept
more clearly. Related ideas are
explained very well and the reader is never lost or left behind. It can be said with certainty that this book
was written in a way that will benefit anyone who reads it; and further, it is
a book that is very easy for anyone to read.
The
style of the book is visually stimulating, almost like a web site on
paper. It is full of bullets, numbering,
italics, changing font sizes, tables, quotations, and references. This non-orthodox style makes it easy going
from one page to another. Instead of
looking several pages of an unchanging style of text, the reader sees a variety
of differences happening with each page.
This encourages him or her to read on.
Further, there are checklists, self-analysis activities, and exercises at
the end of every chapter that are designed to bring the content directly into
the reader’s life.
This
gave the book a “workbook” feel, which is very appropriate for a book whose
major goal is to change the driving style of the reader. Working through these checklists and reading
the content of the book simultaneously is the only way to get the full benefit
of what Road Rage and Aggressive Driving has to offer. Personally, I did most of the activities as I
read through and was surprised at some of their results. Without such activities, it is easy to assume
that one understands the content; however, acting upon this new way of driving
is a whole different story. The book was
written in a very unique and entertaining style.
Both
the content and the style of the book are very contrary to the ordinary and
make this book a great read. I certainly
enjoyed this book a lot, and it was a world of difference from Driving Lessons,
which will be discussed in the next section of this report. I would recommend this book to basically
everyone, and especially those people in my life that are important to me and
drive aggressively. I have no doubt that
this book can save lives and probably already has.
Driving Lessons edited by J. Peter
Rothe
Compilation books are always
interesting reads because of the variance from one chapter to the next. Writing style and content vary from chapter
to chapter because of the variety of authors that contribute to the book. Driving Lessons is a very informative read
and offers several perspectives from experts in the field of driving psychology
and traffic safety. It has a wide range
of subjects and often changes drastically between chapters. In this brief report, I will summarize the
book Driving Lessons according to its organization and the breadth of its
content.
The
book is broken down into three main parts: 1) Personal Sub-Systems, 2)
Institutional Sub-Systems, and 3) Technical Sub-Systems. Each of these parts is composed of several
chapters by different authors, all of which are experts on a specific aspect of
traffic safety. Reading this book
provides one with the “big picture” of what is happening on the highways, from
the individual level all the way to the macro-level, laws and policies that
affect drivers in major ways. The book
is called sub-titled, Exploring Systems that Make Traffic Safer, so there is a
natural focus on the notion of ‘systems.’
This
language is a bit confusing, and seems to technicalize or futurize the realm of
driving, placing it out of the reach of the everyday reader. I am suggesting that the idea of ‘systems’ is
too mechanical and will turn off many readers.
Basically, the idea is that these ‘systems’ are methods that can
contribute to safer traffic.
Once
the reader is able to grasp the concept of systems and move past the initial
confusion he may experience, he will then be delighted by the vast resources
contained within the book. The breadth
of topics is remarkable, and each essay offers a different perspective on the
realm of traffic safety. In the first
section, topics like “How Intimate Social Life Contributes to Risky Driving”,
“Risky Vehicles, Risky Agents,” and “Driving Identities over the Lifespan”
provide deep insight into driving behavior that most lay people are not aware
of.
The
chapters in the first section allow one to realize how complex driving behavior
is and how different each driver is from others. The second section of the book explains
macro-level dynamics, for example, how dispatchers instigate truckers to break
laws, and how driver education in the workplace can be very affective. Once again, the second section makes the
reader aware of factors that contribute to both good and bad driving that he
might have never thought about before.
The third section focuses on futuristic traffic safety inventions, such
as red-light cameras and GIS, and their possible contributions toward safer
traffic.
Like
Road Rage and Aggressive Driving, the other book for this course, Driving
Lessons provides new and powerful insights into the driving arena that were
never part of the reader’s consciousness before. Driving Lessons is extremely informative and
credible, due partially to the wide variety of contributors to the
project. The book draws upon numerous
academic disciplines, including psychology, sociology, engineering, education,
and law to help paint the big picture of traffic.
After
reading this book, one is able to visualize the world of traffic much more
clearly; and if one takes to heart the knowledge and advice offered within, can
become a much safer and conscious driver, and thus a transmitter of positive
driving culture.
(b) Select Chapter 8 on Supportive Driving (by James and Nahl) in the Road Rage book and Chapter 14 on Driving Skills (by Lawrance Lonero) in the Driving Lessons book. Summarize their content. Be sure to refer to the author's name(s).
Chapter 8: Supportive Driving
from Road Rage and Aggressive Driving by Dr. James
and Dr. Nahl
Referred to by the author as the most important chapter
in the book, Chapter 8 focuses on what it means to be a supportive driver; that
is, the polar opposite of the aggressive driver and the role model for drivers
everywhere. If we think of aggressive
driving as what to avoid, supportive driving is what to strive for. For this reason, I think, it is called the
most important chapter in the book.
After breaking down aggressive driving and why it is so problematic,
this chapter offers the contrary model, the inner diamond that will shine after
brushing away the dust of aggressive driving.
In popular media there is
talk of “defensive driving.” According
to the author, this is not as good as most people think because it puts the
driver on the defense and maintains a position of being against other drivers. Supportive driving does away with the “me vs.
them” mentality posited by the defensive driving paradigm.
The chapter begins by
defining supportive driving and explaining its benefits. According to the text, supportive driving is
an accommodating style that emphasizes adjusting to the great diversity of
highway users and steering clear of the emotional entrapments of road rage
thinking. One of the first requirements
to becoming a supportive driver is recognizing the diversity of drivers on the
road and accepting that all drivers are different for good reasons. For example, visitors are slower to recognize
signs that are familiar to local drivers.
Supportive drivers
accommodate them by accepting the reality of unfamiliar drivers, instead of
becoming emotionally upset by their slower driving. Supportive drivers display adaptive thinking
and will also recognize the possibility that a slower driver may be in serious
physical or emotional pain. Supportive
driving supplies the emotional benefit of connecting the driver to his fellow
man and transcending all feelings of isolation.
Simple acts of waving thanks
or letting another go in front can put a smile on someone else’s face, which
may have a domino effect as they go out and make others smile. Those who live their lives believing that
making others smile, or at least trying to and accepting it when people do not,
is an essential human duty are people who are living the good life and are
acting as more spiritually evolved human beings.
Supportive driving has
mental and physical benefits as well.
Mentally, drivers can learn that their initial emotional reactions are
not “law” and they have the mental capacity to see them as transient and bring
themselves to more positive states of mind.
Thus, this kind of driving restructures thinking in a way that allows
people to quickly rise out of negative emotional states. Physiologically, supportive driving helps
contain road rage (both on the part of the driver and other drivers), reduces
stress levels, boosts the immune system, fosters community spirit, protects the
driver from emotional or physical injury, and protects the driver from
financial liability.
Good motorist-to-motorist
communication is an essential part of supportive driving. Drivers who are supportive should be aware of
the appropriate signals and use them when they see other drivers in trouble and
react to them when given by other drivers.
The peace sign, or V for victory, is especially appropriate. The chapter goes into a section about
training for supportive driving, indicating that drivers need to focus on
facilitating the efforts of other drivers rather than competing against them.
Maintaining a supportive
driving style protects one from the road rage of other drivers because he is
committed to helping other drivers, even the ones who drive aggressively. Positive strategies are the only way to
effectively disarm aggressors on the road.
The chapter describes the three driving philosophies: oppositional,
defensive, and supportive.
The supportive driving style
entails having a supportive attitude toward other drivers, having a tolerance
of pluralism, accommodating diversity, shrinking one’s emotional territory,
feeling integrated with the flow of traffic, transforming frustrating traffic
into a community-building opportunity, and practicing lifelong driver
self-improvement. I believe that this
chapter alone can strongly convince and affect peoples’ driving behavior.
Chapter 14: Driving Skill by
from Driving Lessons edited by J. Peter Rothe.
Driving skill pertains primarily to the sensorimotor
domain of driving psychology, although it also encompasses the affective and
cognitive domains, as the three are inseparable. This chapter very thoroughly explains the ten
categories of skill and presents a diagram that displays how each of these
categories interacts with one another.
In this chapter, skill is defined as a learned ability to perform some
task effectively and efficiently.
Driving skill, specifically, is built on a broad foundation of basic
human abilities.
These abilities can be
categorized as mainly human information-processing and have fundamental
limitations. The basic mental, sensory,
and psycho-physical capacities vary greatly between individuals (a concept
covered in the summary of Chapter 8 of RR, above) and within individuals across
time.
Experienced drivers as a group have important skill
advantages over less experienced drivers.
On the road, they are better able to control the vehicle, they do a
variety of tasks efficiently and automatically, they can extract the full
entirety of information from their environment, and they make quick driving
decisions when under pressure.
Essentially, these drivers are unconsciously competent; in other words,
they do not need to think much about what they do. Experienced drivers perform skills
naturally.
This chapter provides
information from a variety of studies.
One such study is research gathered by Mayhew and Simpson, wherein they
identified research support for eight individual traits as being related to
excessive risk of collision for young, inexperienced drivers: steering control,
speed control, parallel processing/multi-tasking, visual search/scanning,
hazard detection, risk assessment, decision-making, and risky lifestyle and
risk-taking. With the exception of the
last trait, the first seven can be thought of as driving skills.
This chapter provides a
table and subsequent descriptions of sensory, mental, and psychomotor functions
that are major components of driver skill. These functions are as follows: knowledge,
attention, detection, perception, evaluation, decision, motor skill,
imagination, motivation, and responsibility.
As the reader continues, each of these skills is described in
detail. Also included in this part of
the chapter is a process model of these skill categories.
It depicts a dynamic
operation of these skills. Attention and
detection work in a circular fashion, and the result of what is attended to and
detected is then processed by the driver’s perception. According to this perception, an evaluation
of the situation is made by the driver.
This evaluation comes from the perception and the knowledge possessed by
the driver and his or her current motivation.
All three of these things effect the evaluation. Upon making an evaluation, a decision is then
made.
The decision is then imposed
upon the imagination, responsibility, and motor skill of the driver and leads
to the outcome of the situation. All of
these skills work hand in hand as the person goes about his everyday driving.
The most important aspect of
this chapter, in my opinion, is that it opens the reader up to realizing
complex driving behavior really is. To
the average person unfamiliar with driving psychology, driving is driving, and it
does not seem that complicated on the surface.
However, when looked at carefully, it is clear that driving behavior and
driving skill is comprised of a multitude of skills that can be broken down and
analyzed. Analysis of the components of
driving skill can greatly improve one’s driving when a person realizes in what
areas he or she needs improvement.
Having a good knowledge of
driving skill and the complexity of the topic allows one to prepare for the
future more effectively.
(c) Discuss in what way these ideas can help solve society's driving problems. Be specific: what are the main problems and how can particular ideas in these chapters help solve those problems.
Let us imagine for a moment that we have a magic wand
and with the flick of a wrist can implant the knowledge of these two chapters
in the brains of drivers all over the world.
What would be the result of such an act of global white magic? I can confidently say that the world would be
a much better place, and it’s not just the roadways that I’m talking
about. A world characterized by
supportive drivers with the greatest of driving skills would be a world with
fewer tears, due to fewer funerals, due to less fatal collisions.
It would be a world of more
money, due to less mechanical and medical bills, due to less injurious
collisions. In such a world, there would
certainly be a lot more people walking around (and of course, driving around)
smiling.
Of course I realize that
this talk of magic wands and implanting knowledge in brains is crazy talk. My intention in painting this imaginary world
is only show how desirable such a world is for all of us, and to suggest that
the information contained within the two chapters summarized above is capable
of effecting profound change if it can ever be accepted and understood on a
global level. The main problems of
driving are that people are driving in selfish and isolated. They are driving with emotional static from
everyday life and taking it out on innocent people.
People are driving in
emotionally ignorant ways and are careless about the feelings of others on the
road. To add to the problem, people are
driving who are not capable of driving in skillful ways, either because of age
(too young or too old) or a variety of other factors. The contemporary world of driving is ridden
with problems, problems that these two chapters, more than anything else I
could imagine, are capable of solving.
As the number of supportive
drivers grows also does the safety of the roadways. People who drive according to the model
presented by Dr. James will be safer themselves and also carry an aura of
safety around them, protecting drivers in their immediate area. They will not selfishly put others in danger
or retaliate on other drivers. These
sorts of behaviors contribute to all sorts of unnecessary collisions. If all drivers were supportive, no one would
be angry while driving. Essentially,
supportive driving would completely eliminate negative experiences while
driving.
The information provided in
Chapter 14: Driving Skills of Driving Lessons is the compliment of the
information from the chapter on supportive driving. Both attitude and physiological skill are
required to reduce accidents and negative experiences on the road. It is not enough to have everyone in a jolly
mood while behind the wheel. There also
needs to be an increased quality of driving skills if we are to see the
problems in the driving world diminished.
Thus, if we combine the positive attitude of the supportive driver with the advanced skills of the skillful driver, and apply that to all drivers across the world, that is the magic formula that will keep a whole lot of people alive. Now, the problem becomes overpopulation, and that is a whole other essay for a whole other class.
(d) Describe any resistance you experience regarding this
orientation, including
- the idea that how you drive is a moral
issue of human rights
- the idea of lifelong driver education
and the idea of mandatory participation in QDC support groups
(i.) the idea that how you drive is a moral issue of
human rights
My
only resistance to the orientation described in the above section C is its far
distance from the ground on which we currently stand, or should I say, from the
way in which we currently drive. I do
not resist it, or refuse it, or think it wrong; however, I question whether
such a change is possible, or if it as I like to say, a magical wish.
Little by little we can make
changes, starting with ourselves, then to our families, and then to those we
work with, those we educate, and perhaps even those we drive by, smile, and
throw a peace sign up to. Easy it is for
me to say, as a student of two compassion-centered disciplines, Psychology and
Religion.
Is it possible for the
disgruntled garbage man to learn to be a supportive driver? Are all people capable of leaving their lives
behind when they get in the car? I mean,
too many people use the driving arena to take their problems out on others, and
I see it unrealistic if not impossible for some people to ever become
supportive drivers. Idealistically, this
would be fantastic! However, we must
keep in mind that there are criminals who drive. Is someone capable of stealing, cheating,
raping, assaulting, or killing going to buy into the idea of supportive
driving?
Or let’s not go so
extreme. Consider your average macho man
guy taking seriously the idea of supportive driving. Great as that might be, I have a hunch he
would be quicker to say, “That’s gay!” and laugh and continue flipping people
off and getting his testosterone and adrenaline rushes when driving. We have learned in driving psychology that
even good people can become monsters due to the isolated and constrained
situation of driving. What then does
this do for people who are already bad?
I think good people can
learn to be supportive drivers, but not all people are good. The day we are all good drivers is the day we
are all good people.
The way we drive is
certainly a moral issue of human rights.
Morality comes into play any time there is an interaction between two or
more people. Because driving involves
the driver and all other drivers around him, it is certainly an issue of
morality. Perhaps the philosophers need
to join the psychologists and begin working on the ethics of driving. However, even then, it will not be until a
top-down mandatory plan is imposed when changes will be seen in the way people
drive.
(ii.) the idea of lifelong driver education and the idea of mandatory participation in QDC support groups
Lifelong driver education is
a must if we are to see the changes in society close to what I presented in my
magic wand analogy. This lifelong driver
education must have some kind of mandatory quality-driving circles if any
positive change in the masses is going to occur. It is not in the scope of this report to lay
out a legislative plan for mandatory QDC’s and who
all is required to go, or how we get those who need to go to go; however, I
will say that it is the only way I can think of to provide everyday people with
the knowledge of Dr. James and other experts of driving and effect a change in
the world of driving that can save lives and improve the quality of life of
those who survive the trip.
(e) Describe the reactions of friends when you
tell them about driving personality makeovers
My friends, being mostly
college students and active thinkers like myself, respond to the idea of
driving personality makeovers positively.
Most of them agree it is an effective way to reconstruct their thinking
about driving. Even my most stubborn
friend eventually agreed that it would be good for him to do one, although I
doubt he will do it on his own. I
encourage him nonetheless as we travel together and get him to pay attention to
his emotions and not be controlled by them.
Like me, my friends think that the idea would be great for everyone but
would not be possible for everyone.
Some people are just too set
in their ways, too ignorant, too dependent on getting their negative emotions
out on the road to consider a driving personality makeover. The main component of such a makeover is the
motivation to change, and certainly there are those out there who simply do not
want to change. However, there is more
hope than despair, is what I can gather from my friends. It is worth trying to get people to perform
makeovers on themselves because some of them will, and that makes it worth
trying.
The Question I am answering is Question 3:
(a) Select three student reports at
www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/499s2003/newsgroups.
Be sure you put a link to the report you are quoting from. Summarize
what the three students were trying to do, what methods they used, and what
they concluded.
(b) 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?
(c) Now go to some driving newsgroups by Googling the
phrase driving newsgroups. 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 three student reports at www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/499s2003/newsgroups. Be sure you put a link to the report you are quoting from. Summarize what the three students were trying to do, what methods they used, and what they concluded.
Student 1:
Faith Matsuda –
Attitudes Driving Newsgroups: Examining Perspectives
in Cyberspace
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/499s2003/newsgroups/newsgroups21.html
- np1
Faith had designed a very eye-pleasing, easy-to-read,
well-formatted online report that provides her analysis of ten different
newsgroup postings from drivers who have shared their pro-aggressive driving
thoughts. Some of these posts from
drivers seem to be satirical and not intending to be serious; however, Faith
points out that the simple fact that society finds it funny to joke about
harming others for basic driving errors indicates that people have become
desensitized to these kind of violent jokes.
Through her analysis, she
was trying to show that many drivers have disturbing senses of humor
surrounding their driving lives, and that this indicates the collective
desensitization of highway vigilantism.
She is also trying to review the traumatic experiences of some drivers
and explain how the situation could have been prevented.
To demonstrate her points,
she has chosen 10 long posts from a road rage newsgroup, highlights the parts
of the posts that demonstrate affective and cognitive driving errors, points
out the driving skills they have expressed, and explains what could have been
done better.
The method that Faith is
using in this report is case-study analysis.
She takes each post and individually interprets it according to the
driving psychology skills and errors that are present. Being that she too is a student of driving
psychology, I agree with the conclusions she draws from each newsgroup
posting. In fact, her writing style
reminds me of my own, so some of her concluding remarks paralleled my own
thinking almost word for word.
Student 2:
(No Name Provided) - Attitudes Driving Newsgroups:
Danger on the Highway
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/499s2003/newsgroups/newsgroups18.html
This student applies the same methodology as student one
described above. His web site design is
not as sharp as the previous student’s page, and his remarks about each post
are considerably shorter; however, there are many points the student makes that
I agree with. He lacks the psychological
terminology presented by other students from this group, but he does present
his opinions clearly and represents a good understanding of the principles of
driving psychology.
Like the previous student,
this student presents ten newsgroup postings and then comments about the pros
and cons of each of them. One new
features of this report is that the student considers the intention of some of
the posters, that is, what was their intention in posting this message? This is indeed an interesting question. Why do people take the time to type out their
stories of being aggressive drivers or being the victim’s of road rage?
Those who post these
messages seem to be either road ragers who believe their behavior is normal and
funny and their stories would be entertaining to others, or people who have
been victims of road rage and want sympathy from others. In any case, it is clear that the experiences
of the posters was emotionally intense and motivated them to take the time and
effort to share with others.
Student 3:
Thaddeus Oba -
Attitudes Driving Newsgroups:
Skills and Techniques for Drivers to Be and Drivers
Now
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/499s2003/newsgroups/newsgroups23.html
Thaddeus Oba is yet another student who completed a
newsgroup analysis report. His site is
organized nicely and there is a good usage of colors that make it easier to
navigate. It is still not as easy as the
first student I reviewed in this report, Faith Matsuda, but his site is
well-organized and the content is interesting.
His focus is more on posts from people who intend to inform others about
the dangers of aggressive driving, although there are other examples he
provides of people who demonstrate aggressive driving habits through their
contributions to the newsgroup.
Like the other two students
above, this student applies the case-study method to driving newsgroup posts
from various people, pointing out either their valuable insights into driving
psychology or their absurd and ignorant ideas about driving. He utilizes driving psychology terminology as
he analyzes each post and shares with the reader some important thoughts,
although I do not agree with some of his conclusions.
In his examination of a post
that describes the joy the writer feels playing a road rage video game,
Thaddeus comments that this is a good and healthy way to relieve stress and get
rid of pent up road rage feelings through an imaginary scenario. “I believe that this proposal (of road rage
video games) is great for all of society because it would promote less
aggression on the road through displacement to the video game.” On the contrary, I do not think video games like
this would ever reduce aggressive driving, instead I believe games like this
further desensitize the driver and train him to behave aggressively in reality.
(b) 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?
In doing these reports, each student increased his or
her knowledge of the thoughts of average drivers, especially those drivers who
desire to share their experiences with others.
These students also gained insight into their own philosophy of driving
psychology; that is, their ideas about what is good and bad driving behavior
and what contributes to becoming a less aggressive driver. Their method of case-study analysis is appropriate
for the time of research they are doing; however, as a psychology student I
know that they can not draw any conclusive data out of these case studies. Any trends found in the case studies can not
be generalized because of the nature of case study research.
I
agree with most but not all of their explanations and opinions about the
drivers they are analyzing. For example,
in Faith Matsuda’s report, I agree with her comment on Newsgroup Posting 3
about not generalizing driving skills according to ethnic groups. She states that she “vehemently disagree(s)
with generalizing the experiences with a "few" uneducated drivers to
the entire population of that ethnicity.”
Actually, I agree with most of her explanations and opinions about the
newsgroup posting she chose. On the
other hand, I found some of Student 3’s explanations to be too simple, and I
feel that he chose short newsgroups posting compared to others.
These
reports do not particularly influence my own ideas about driving. Having worked hard in this course in driving
psychology, I have developed a strong driving psychology philosophy of my
own. I have solidified some of my own
insights gained from the study of driving psychology through comparing my thoughts
with the thoughts of these students and agreeing or disagreeing. This was a worthwhile activity because it
allowed me to see the understanding of driving psychology of students from
previous generations of this course.
I
have to say that I feel that I have a good understanding of driving psychology,
I am open to learning more in the field; however, I prefer to learn from
professionals rather than former students.
Of the three students I reviewed, I learned the most from Student 1. Her report matched close to my own writing
style and there were many times that I felt reassured that someone else felt
the same way about the issues she raised as I do. Looking over the posts in the newsgroups
reminds both me and former generations of students that aggressive driving is a
very real and very prevalent problem in our society.
(c) Now go to some driving newsgroups by
Googling the phrase driving newsgroups. 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?
With some initial
difficulty, I found several newsgroups on driving. I had to explore some of the previous
generations to discover that www.dejanews.com
is a great search engine for newsgroups.
I have explored several and found that there are still examples of
aggressive driving happening all over the world, from
It
is rather frightening to think that the road rage epidemic has not gotten any
better, even with all the work being done by Dr. Leon James and other driving
psychologists in the world. At least,
that is the impression I get from looking over the driving newsgroups. The newsgroups I looked at are: 1) road rage
freeway driver automobile accidents from mad angry drivers, and 2) ca.driving (
This research in newsgroups has been shocking. The road rage epidemic is as huge as it is a
personal problem; there is no one who has not been affected by it.
The
Question I am answering is Question 4:
(a) Consider Table 5 in the Lecture Notes, in the Section on Driving Psychology Theory and Charts at www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy24/409a-g24-lecture-notes.htm#Charts Read the article from which the Table was taken. Copy and paste the table into your file. Describe the Table in your own words: what is for, what it says, what it shows.
(b)
Copy the Table again and paste it again. But this time delete the examples in
each cell and replace them with your own examples that you make up. Title this
Section: My Version of the Table. Explain what your table shows and how you
came up with it. Discuss your Table with friends. Summarize their reactions.
Summarize your reactions to their reactions.
(c)
Discuss why driving is such a big problem in all societies and why no effective
solutions have yet been found for them. Refer to our two textbooks for examples
of some of the world wide problems and solutions proposed. Be sure to refer to
the author and page numbers. What
likelihood is there that his approach will be adopted? Explain.
(a)
Consider Table 5 in the Lecture Notes, in the Section on Driving Psychology
Theory and Charts at
www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy24/409a-g24-lecture-notes.htm#Charts Read the article from which the Table was
taken. Copy and paste the table into your file. Describe the Table in your own
words: what is for, what it says, what it shows.
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The above comes from: www.drdriving.org/articles/driving_psy.htm
The table above clearly demonstrates the dichotomy of
aggressive driving vs. supportive driving and the thoughts and feelings that
characterize each realm of behavior. It
is explicitly pointed out in this table that aggressive driving is NOT
emotionally intelligent and can also be called “reptilian” because it mostly
involves the more primitive parts of the human brain. Likewise, supportive driving is emotionally
intelligent and is also called “cortical” because it mostly involves the more
advanced parts of the human brain.
This distinction is important to understand, and is a
motivational force for people who want to better themselves and be more full
and completely human. All behaviors that
are reptilian in nature are undesirable and all people should strive to use
their higher brain regions in all aspects of life. This table shows that any action taken in
driving has a clear and opposite action.
Any aggressive behavior has a corresponding supportive behavior that can
be substituted with a conscious attitude adjustment.
This table clearly shows the superiority of
supportive driving, both according to ethical standards and brain
functioning. Aggressive driving is
called reptilian, unintelligent, impulsive, negative, selfish, and animalistic. On the other hand, supportive driving is
cortical, intelligent, well-thought out, positive, and harmonious. For someone to understand this table and
still drive aggressively would be for them to consciously choose to be stupid
and immature. Indeed, it is hard for
someone to understand this fundamental idea and go on being an aggressive
driver.
By studying this table, we can realize that driving
aggressively is a choice: it is the choice to give in to our initial emotions
and not even attempt to use our higher human capacities. Indeed, it is one thing to understand the
table and another to put the ideas presented into practice, but the motivation
to change is the only required component.
The dedication to change will come naturally after making the choice to
change. The examples in the table are
helpful because all drivers have experienced feelings on either sides at one
time or another.
(b) Copy the Table again and paste it again. But this time delete the examples in each cell and replace them with your own examples that you make up. Title this Section: My Version of the Table. Explain what your table shows and how you came up with it. Discuss your Table with friends. Summarize their reactions. Summarize your reactions to their reactions.
My Version of the Table
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