PSYCHOLOGY 409A April 14, 2006

Outline 9:

DRIVER SKILL

By Lincoln James Whyte

Lonero, Lawrence P. (2002). Driver Skill. In Rothe, J. Peter (ed.), Driving Lessons: Exploring Systems That Make Traffic Safer (pp.211- 219). Edmonton: University of Alberta Press.

Instructions for this activity are found at:
www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy24/g24-oral1.htm
Instructor: Dr. Leon James

Concept 1: Taxonomic Model of Driving and Driver Skills

Knowledge: cognitive and memory. Provides background for all cognitive and perceptual functions to occur.

Attention: cognitive and perceptual. Management of cognitive and perceptual capacities.

Detection: sensory and pre- attentional. Recognize changes in the environment.

Perception: sensory and cognitive. Creates awareness and understanding of changing situations.

Evaluation: cognitive and affective. Estimate consequences and probabilities of alternate actions.

Decision: cognitive and affective. Chooses optimal response.

Motor skill: perceptual- motor. Executes intended maneuvers.

Imagination: cognitive. Time, speed and space decisions.

Motivation: affective and social. Prioritizes and balances goals and values.

Responsibility: cognitive, affective and cultural. Chooses goals and value, directs self- monitoring, controls transient states.

Concept 2: Driver Skills in the Future

New and ever changing technology will require skills to evolve and new skills to develop to master the art of driving vehicles full of complex and advanced features while safely managing the vehicle. Things to expect in the future that will require these new skills and evolution of current skills:

•  Driver education, training and testing on computers and simulators
• car phones
• airbags and other safety devices such as anti- lock braking systems
• GPS navigation systems
• Traffic information and route planning systems
• Multimedia entertainment systems
• TV’s and DVD players
• Video game systems
• Radio- based data systems
• On-board e- mail and internet
• Centralized control for driver inputs to vehicle systems (touch screens)
• Multiple zone climate conditioning
• In- car shopping, reservations, banking and bill paying
• Electronic brake-force distribution to supplement ABS
• Electronic yaw-stability systems
• Radar proximity sensors
• Smart cruise control and collision warning systems
• Video- based collision prediction, warning and active avoidance
• Active anti- roll suspension
• Infrared night vision enhancement
• Heads- up displays
• Sonar parking guide systems
• Black box systems
• Highway- vehicle data communication
• Emergency call systems and breakdown diagnosis/assistance
• 2 way satellite communications
• run flat tires
• passcard keyless entry
• automatic road toll transponders
• higher performance engines
• smart all wheel drive systems
• other not yet imagined systems

These and other things will require changes to the way that driving is taught, learned and tested as well as the way vehicles are manufactured and designed. Keeping up with changing technologies such as these examples are one reason why drivers can benefit from life long driver education programs.

Related Links:

1) Future Cars http://www.driveusa.net/future_cars.htm.

I chose this link because it provides further links and many pictures to help describe the future of automobiles from in car technologies such as computers, navigation systems, advanced audio systems all the way to vehicles that are self piloted. It is clear that as cars become more and more computerized the skills required to operate them will change to accommodate the technologies.  

2) Driver Skill Enhancement Program http://ppc.uiowa.edu/driving-assessment/2001/Summaries/Driving%20Assessment%20Papers/18_Bogdonoff_Seymout.htm

I chose this link because it is a professional look at increasing driver skills to help improve driving. I thought that this program was very well put together but it would be nice if it incorporated more of the skills that Lonero mentioned in chapter 14 of the textbook than just preparation and anticipation.

3) Escape the Police http://www.metacafe.com/watch/34042/escape_the_police/

I chose this short video clip because I found this driver’s “skill” to be very impressive. Most people think of the sensorimotor aspect of driving when thinking about driving skills and completely ignore the many other types of skills required to operate a vehicle on the roads such as those mentioned in this outline and in more detail in the textbook. From what I have noticed is that something like what this driver is capable of doing constitutes the extent of the layman’s definition of skills regarding driving. Before taking this course I definitely would not have thought of something such as a drivers ability to control his emotions or cognitive assessment of a situation when asked to think of driver skills.  

My Home Page: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leon/409as2006/whyte/home.htm

G24 Class Home Page: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy24/classhome-g24.htm