Understanding
and Learning
The Emotional
Intelligence
Report 3
Jenny kyung Chung, Ashlee Matsuiand Chad Honda.
PSY 409a, Spring 2008, Generation 27
Dr. Leon James, Instructor, University of
Hawaii
Class Home Page
Section 1:Lecture Content
By: Jenny Chung
The website of this document is in class lecture notes #5
In the fifth lecture, Dr. James talked about six of the fifteen aspects of
driving that act as stressors. We live in an auto centric society where the
automobile has become the center of our society. Our country is no doubt a
country full of cars. 86% of our trips have some use of the car. An astounding
125 million American licensed drivers are on the road every day. Drivers aren¡¯t
the only ones who experience stress. Pedestrians and riders are also faced with
stress.
1. Immobility:
This is the fact where the driver behind the wheel has to take care of the
situation. This creates a situation because we are forced to sit around. This
is stressful no matter where we are. We increase the risk under stressful
conditions and makes more vulnerable to making mistakes. There wouldn¡¯t be
problems if no one made mistakes. 80% of accidents are due to our mistakes.
2. Constriction: Most vehicles are restricted to narrow roads
and highways. Traffic causes congestion and the chance of a person moving from
point A to point B without blockage is minimal. The continuous stop and go
increases stress and emotions on the road. This anxiety causes drivers to
increase risky behavior and aggressive driving.
3. Regulation:
Human nature causes people to want to make their own rules. Everything is
regulated by the government. People want to go against it. The government makes
the laws and has the right to enforce them. They tell us how fast, where and
how to drive. Drivers who do not follow the law are punished. We interact with
the law as drivers. We need to overcome the urge to rebel. The laws are there
to protect us.
4. Lack of Control: The lack of control increases frustration.
For example, we cannot control waves of traffic because we can¡¯t control what¡¯s
ahead of us. The flow depends on the available spaces and when one car slows
down it creates a domino effect of braking due to the lack of space. We are
exposed to this by the way people drive. We need to gather ourselves and gain
control over our automated venting. We increase stress when venting.
5. Being Put in Danger: We take a risk every time we get on the
road. We put ourselves in danger along with other drivers. We have a say in
this because we can contribute to this danger as a driver. Aggressive drivers
could create hostile situations and close calls. This stress is produced with
negative emotions. Altruistic driving is better than defensive driving. As an
altruistic driver, we become more rational and look out for other drivers. Its
our part the works with others to make success.
6. Territoriality: Drivers are given freedom. In this increase
of self-esteem, there is a attitude of defensiveness. Drivers feel territorial
when they drive. They feel their space is invaded which leads to personal
insults. This type of invasion can lead to aggressive reactions. This can be
dangerous and leads to more stress. We need to remember that we share the
roadway with other motorists.
Drivers as well as pedestrians need to be aware of these driving
behaviors. This awareness in stress causing behaviors can help us be safer on
the road. We need to remember the social context of driving and how this
privilege is an opportunity to be a part of a great driving community.
Section 2: Team Presentation on Readings
By: Ashlee Matsui
Road Rage and
Aggressive Driving: Chapter 4 pgs 81-108: The Road Rage Spectrum By: Dr. Leon James and Dr. Diane Nahl
Passive aggressive: the driver is trying to be annoying and frustrate other drivers. The intent her is to be oppositional,
this type of road rage is considered dangerous because you don¡¯t know if the
other driver is looking for a fight or just enjoys revenge. An example of this is the left lane
bandit, who may be motivated by stubbornness and may enjoy dominating others by
forcing and controlling their line up.
The book describes that the proper way, or the emotionally intelligent way to
deal with this type of driver would be to not look at them, tailgate or revving
the engine. The next topic the
group discussed was Verbal road rage, this is what kids learn at young age,
name calling at others, and can lower self-esteem which is not good for
health.
The definition for verbal road rage
is stated at the habit of constantly complaining about the traffic, keeping up
a stream of mental or spoken attacks against drivers, passengers, law
enforcement officials, road workers, pedestrians, speed limits and road
signs.
Children from a very young age watch their parent¡¯s actions while behind the
wheel, and their actions there may justify their children¡¯s actions behind the
wheel later. While this rage is
considered short term relief of stress for drivers it promotes an alienated
culture of discontent.
Epic road rage personalities, this is when the driver takes on a comic
book role and reaches an extreme measure against the other drivers. This may
escalate to the point of acting it out and is also considered to be combative
and confrontational. If this rage is acted up are totally circumstantial to the
presenting situation. For
some people, acting this way behind the wheel may give them a sense of being in
a fantasy ride with against the bad guys.
There are many different stories about epic road rage, some ending in
physical violence and others that do not result in physical contact.
At the end of this section there is a checklist that tests your epic
road rage tendencies; here are some examples of the statements presented:
The next topic brought to attention by the group was the term rushing maniac, which is the
extraordinary need to not slow down or the need to get there the fastest you
can. The group stated that this is
a very common problem that many people suffer from. This style of driving has lead to some
typical reasons and justifications for the need to rush:
¡¤ Being late for work
¡¤ Leaving home too late
¡¤ Busy schedule
The aggressive competitor is one that needs to be in lead at all
times, competitive and self conscious, they are careful not to make mistakes
but fast to call out other drivers that made mistake. While competition is considered a good
thing here in the US, competition on the road can be a dangerous and life
threatening aspect to all other drivers.
Our culture and society seem to have an automatic resentment toward rules;
we don¡¯t seem to want to follow what has been put into place to help ensure the
lives while on the road. For
example with the posted speed limit at 55 the tendency is to go 65. I think
people don¡¯t realize that laws and limits are put there for a reason, which is
to help ensure lives and safer driving, but it only seems that people are out
to break these laws.
Many people are also considering cops as hypocrites because when they are off
duty they speed and they lower and raise their tolerance depending on their
quota of tickets they need to meet.
But regardless if this being true or not, speeding and breaking laws
affect the other innocent drivers that happen to be driving at the same time.
Tips for avoiding
aggressive driving
1. Don¡¯t look at
aggressive drivers in the eye
2. Keep away from
erratic drivers
3. Stay cool and turn
on ac or radio
4. Go with the flow
5. Don¡¯t slam on
brakes even if the car is tailgating you
Driving
Lessons: Chapter 8 pgs. 105-119 By:
J. Peter Rothe:
Risky Vehicles, Risky Agents
By: Peter E.S. Freund and George T. Martin
The first topic presented by the group was the autocentric
transport systems which is the high dependence on the automobile for daily
transport and the lack of alternative modes of transport. With the auto becoming the world¡¯s
dominant form of transportation, there are side effects:
l auto traffic tends
to dominate all transport space, and can create a problem for bikers
l leads into other
consequences of having this mind set
l need to have
enough road ways and space to create road ways and parking spaces
l ¡°risky vehicles¡±
dominate and can cause vulnerability
l Larger vehicles
also can cause domination of space
l taxes: to afford
road ways, increased need for cops to ensure safety and following laws
l dept. of highway
and transport
Statistics on
how times are changing:
l 86.4% of all person trips per household
in 1995 were by auto
l between
1977 and 1995 the number of vehicles of household increased by 12%, while the
daily vehicle trips per household increased by 61% and the daily vehicle miles
increased by 65%
l occupancy
for car trips declined
l traffic
accidents lead to approx 40,000 deaths per year in US
l world
total: 1 million deaths (death by auto)
l more
people die from traffic accidents than HIV, STD¡¯s, cancers, war, self inflicted
injuries, malaria, cirrhosis of liver and violence
l road
accidents are the leading cause of deaths for males 15-44
l pedestrians
account for 19.3 % of traffic fatalities in US and 13 western European nations
in 1992
The hard means of mobility, which means large and heavy vehicles, focuses
safety on its drivers and not on the pedestrians and on each other. The vulnerability aspect that has come
along is the increased safety that has been counterbalanced by increased in
auto use. The level of
crashworthiness which is the amount of material capable to take blow and that a
bigger vehicle can do more damage had lead to a greater sense of security and
therefore riskier behaviors.
The crashworthiness is affected by the crash space which is the amount of
material capable of absorbing impact before it reaches the vehicle¡¯s
occupant. The autocentric
transport favors the harder vehicles and ensures the softer vehicles in the
situation will be vulnerable.
Risky agents: the politics of consciousness
The routines of daily life have changed so much with the applications of
technology in the past several decades, but with this have come potentially
dangerous inventions. For some just
the usage or being able to relate can put so many at high stress levels, this
can also put those who are unable to meet the demands at a risk. The modern day life have made it
mandatory to deal with road traffic on a daily basis, but not all people can be
expected to be careful and alert drivers, thus a reason for traffic accidents
is not the system itself but the demands that are too high.
Alcohol and drugs can play a part in distracting the driver, but there are
also normal distractions such as the cell phone and eating while driving. Other examples include day dreaming and
thinking about ones personal problems, or the fact of human error. In recent years more and more anti-auto
movements which are local oppositions to various driving related tasks such as
construction work on the road or better mass transit units have been on the
rise. Yet it is not the fault of
the auto but the autocentric systems with their
dominance.
ARTICLE 3
Student Reports on Driving Personality
Makeovers
(a) Is it for me?
1. Cherisse Eguchi¡¯s Report 2
2. Jayson Nakasone¡¯s Report 1
(b) Should I let them
cut in? and Tailgating
(c) Traffic Psychology and
Speed Limit Debate
(d) What works in changing
road user behavior?
These two
student reports are divided into 3 sections which are:
i. Journal of incidents and feeling had while driving
ii. Selected behavior that wanted to change, passenger along with him in car
and when they noticed a behavior they told him and he would calm down
i. Found exercise useful and found themselves angry and suggested people to
do this experiment also and realize they are going to find stuff about
themselves they don¡¯t like
i. Reinforcing: some how person offend and make them feel uncomfortable
ii. Sucking in: not because angry but don¡¯t want people to cut you off
iii. Running late: want to speed to and peoples in way
iv. Not paying attention: talking on
phone and gap closing in front
v. Position: appropriate in certain situations and create hostile situations
ARTICLE: WHAT WORKS IN CHANGING ROAD USER BEHAVIOR
¡× Why is a different
approach necessary?
o 85% are attributed
by user error
o 4 tools suggested
to make safer
1. Legislation: seat
belts, helmets, speed limit changes, drunk driving
2. Enforcement: necessary for legislation to be
effective
¡¤ On view: immediately happens when drivers view officer, fast and erratic
to slower and goes on beyond law enforcement sighting
¡¤ Memory: happens when see officer on road and when drive on same road slow
down, back to same spot, can last up to 2 weeks
¡¤ General halo effect: enforcement influence geographic behavior
3.
Reinforcement: rewarding wanted
behaviors,
encourage
¡¤ Under utilized
4. Education
1. common
2. parents and
teachers: teens who are learning to
drive: educate throughout lifetime
3. doctors: educator
for driving safety by discussing with patients the negative effects of stress
but doctors are not willing to educate patients about driving safety
4. important create
social norms and we follow these norms, create safer norms then safer drivers
Conclusion: to
decrease no. of accidents use all 4 of these methods and incorporate other
safer methods.
Section 3: Team Presentations on Exercises
By: Chad Honda
(a)
The team talked about the Late Merge concept. This concept started when they wanted to
study the Road Rage, Aggressive drivers, driver behavior and stress which lead to
the implementation of the Late Merge concept. They did this phone survey which
developed into the Late Merge which was conducted in Dallas, Texas by the
Department of Transportation.
Late Merge is defined to encourage drivers to use all lanes approaching a
lane closure and then take turns near the merge point by using several static
signs in addition to normal work zone traffic controls. Basically, it involved signs that said
¡°Use all lanes to merge point¡±, ¡°Use both lanes to merge point¡± and ¡°Merge here
take you turn.¡± They also talked
about other theories like the Static Early Merge concept and the Dynamic Early
Merge concept as well.
Overall, the team said this Late Merge concept is hard to understand and
more difficult to explain because most people have a hard time understanding
the concept of the Late Merge theory.
They reported that it will only work if all drivers¡¯ uses this concept
and one driver can¡¯t do it all.
Each presenter had their own opinions as well as their friend¡¯s opinions
and sad it will depend on the situation if I¡¯m late or not, don¡¯t think it will
really work, and will only work if everyone gets involved.
(b)
The way that the team did their presentation started with explaining what
this study is about then giving statistics on the phone survey conducted,
explained the Late Merge concept, gave more ideas on the Late Merge such as the
Early Merge and finally gave their opinions about it.
The team interpreted the data in a different way that Dr. James had
envisioned. Dr. James was looking
for meaning of Late Merge and then moving into the concept, statistics and
other scenarios, if any, for the Late Merge. But the team started to explain the
study then give the statistics which lead up to the Late Merge concept. But it seems to have made sense; it was
different interpretations on how it should have been presented.
(c)
Some of the ideas that could have needed better justification or have
greater detail were to explain the Late Merge concept better. But as Dr. James explained while the
team was giving their presentation it is hard to explain this concept and also
sometimes people will not understand the concept.
The team did give it a try in trying to explain the concept which was not easy
to understand but make it easier to understand when talking it about in class.
Other than the explaining the concept a little better, the rest of the
presentation gave good examples and explanation of the Late Merge as well as
other concepts like the Early Merge and Dynamic Merge.
(d)
The success that the team used was working together in trying to explain
the concept to the class as well as to Dr. James. Explaining this concept I know was
difficult but the team worked together in giving the best explanation they
could.
They covered what is Late Merge, statistics of the study that lead to the
development of the Late Merge, showed pictures and maps of the Late Merge and
how it works. Gave Pro¡¯s and Con¡¯s
on the concept and also explained other concepts related to the Late Merge such
as the Early Merge and Dynamic Merge.
Also, having them throw in their own opinions about the concept, own
experiences as well as their friend¡¯s experiences and opinions gave it a good
¡°wrap¡± at the end.
(e)
Improvements that are needed in the instructions and procedures are to
maybe explain to the students that the concept of the Late Merge maybe
difficult to understand and/or explain and if you are having difficulty to come
and see Dr. James for more help.
Also, if the presentation should be done in a certain way it should be
mentioned in the instructions.
Everybody has different interpretations of things and sometimes either
interpretation could be correct but in order to make things less confusing and
clearer is to put a format of how this should be presented. Procedures need to be clearer.
Then in step two of the instructions asking about Google or other search
engines findings on this topic it says to report your findings which the team
did but it seems it needs to be mentioned or said in your presentation ¡°these
are the results of the Google searches¡± in which case the team reported on the
Early Merge and Dynamic Merge. It
needs to be defined in the instructions if something likes ¡°this is our Google
results¡¦.¡± Should be mentioned before telling the results. Generally, if things need to be done a
certain way or looking for a certain format it should be mentioned in the
instructions and procedures for each exercises.
(f)
The limitations of this particular exercise are that not everyone will go
along with the concept of the Late Merge or even the Early Merge or the Dynamic
Merge because everyone will need to do it in order for it to be effective. As the team reported the concept might
work if everyone of the majority of everyone on the roads uses this concept but
in reality this is not true and will probably not happen.
Of course there needs to be more studies done in order to prove that these
concept(s) will work in real word driving but as the studies show right now it
will generally work but the study needs to have more improvements in order to
be effective in real world driving.
(g)
When doing this exercise when I opened that PDF which is stated in number
one of the instructions, the first thing that I saw was the amount of pages
that it had. At first it did seem
overwhelming that we needed to read all of this but it also did talk about
other concepts so didn¡¯t come out that long since the focus was on the Late
Merge.
As I mentioned earlier, we did have some confusion on what the Late Merge
concept is and how it actually works.
One of the theories was that you are supposed to use any of available
lanes other than the lane that is being close ahead. Another theory, which was the correct
theory, was to stay in the lane that is closing and go all the way up to close
point and then merge. So there were
different of understanding of the concept, thus, making it harder to explain to
the class on the concept of the Late Merge.
When it came time to form you own opinion, there was a general consensus but
there were a few that had different of opinions. When asked friends, they generally
agreed but not really sure they fully understood concept even though they said
they did.
Overall, there were confusions on the topic and even the instructions so it
would be best to explain the instructions clearer and if something needs to
done in a certain it should be stated.
In the end, the concept of the Late Merge, as well as the concepts discussed
by the team and searches on the web, it¡¯s still something that needs to be more
studied and tested.
Section 4:
Annotated Web Links
By: Jenny Chung, Ashlee Matsui and Chad Honda
1. Late Merge Startegies
(http://www.virginiadot.org/VTRC/main/online_reports/pdf/05-r6.pdf)
This is report
on the study of the Late Merge concept and the possibility of easing traffic
and to drive more safely. This
relates to the phone study that was conducted in Dallas and talks about the
same techniques like the 3 to 1 concept which this report said should be the
one to use.
2. Dynamic Late Merge System
(http://www.dot.state.mn.us/trafficeng/workzone/2004DLMS-Evaluation.pdf)
This is another report that talks about the Dynamic Late Merge System in
Minnesota. This is other merge
concepts that are being tested besides the Late Merge in states. This concept was reported by the team
and how it could work.
3. Dynamic Late Merge Control Concept for Work Zones on
Rural Freeways
(http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/wz/workshops/accessible/McCoy.htm)
This gives a
synapse of the Late Merge, Dynamic Merge and Early Merge concepts and what is
concluded about each one. It gives
a nice overview of the three concepts and what is concluded about each one.
4. The
future direction of cars and technology
(http://www.driveusa.net/future_cars.htm)
This site
discusses the future of cars and all the new and interesting devices that
companies are coming up with to help make the roads safer. Some
interesting topics are smarter seat belts and cars that can drive themselves,
which in some cases may be safer for others on the road. The site also
gives interesting links to other sites.
5. Trying to Decongest Freeways
(http://www.reason.org/commentaries/poole_20010829.shtml)
This article written by Robert W. Poole, Jr. discusses that more freeways
are being built in attempt to lessen the amounts of traffic currently on the
freeway. But with more roads there also comes more drivers and then come
just as traffic full as before. This author also discusses that California
needs to update and repair their freeways and stop building more mass transit
systems.
6. Trying to Prepare
for Driving
(http://www.quia.com/de)
I thought this site was interesting because it gave people the chance to
practice with laws of 35 states and gave students the chance to interactively
learn. Some examples of the states
are Alabama, Arizona, Kentucky, Washington and Wyoming, but there is no
Hawaii. When you click on a state
it takes you to another page where you can learn what street signs mean or take
a driving quiz that supposed to prepare you for your driving exam.
7. The Rise of the Bigger Car
(http://observer.guardian.co.uk/columnists/story/0,,1776877,00.html)
This article talks about America¡¯s obsession with their cars, the author
describes that what has happened over the past decades is no accident, big
business and government planned to have things this way. In the 1940¡¯s and 50¡¯s, urban planners
pushed the ideal of having a cat on to society rather than using the public
transit. Now we are paying for this
at the pump where we are paying more than $3.00 a gallon.
8. On the Road, Driving through Michigan Work Zones
(http://www.michigan.gov/documents/MDOT_Truckers_Give_Break_155930_7.pdf)
This was made by
the Michigan Department of Transportation(MDOT) for truckers explaining about
the Late lane Merge, Michigan work zones. It nicely explains that speeding and
driver inattention are the leading causes of injuries and fatalities in highway
work zones and encourage to slow down in work zones. It also gives some tips
for the truckers.
9. Construction Area Late Merge (CALM) System
(http://www.transportation.org/sites/ssom/docs/MwSWZDI-2004-Meyer-CALM_System.pdf)
The site talks about some Intelligent Transportation Systems which opened
new doors to congestion reduction. By using wireless communications, several
systems that have been developed to apply some ITS technologies to highway work
zones, where the communications infrastructure is often unavailable. The two primary goals of the CALM system
evaluation were to compare the effectiveness of the CALM system(Late merge)
with that of conventional work zone traffic control (Early merge) and to
collect data that might be used later to improve the modeling of late merge
systems. Secondary goals included studying the effects of displaying real-time
downstream speeds and examining system deployment and operation considerations.
10. Toward Developing Strategies to Control Aggressive
Driving: An Introduction
(http://safety.transportation.org/htmlguides/AggDrvr/app06.htm)
It introduces the definition of aggressive driving, talks about issues
with programs to deter aggressive driving. It describes the problems in detail
from various perspectives. The site gives you a nice over view of aggressive
driving including objectives for an
Aggressive Driving Program, The AAHSTO Strategic Highway Safety Program and more.
11. Drivers to see raises in
toll bridges
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-01-27-tolls_N.htm
I thought this article was interesting because not
only are the prices of cars and of course gas going up but also the prices on
driving across bridges on the mainland. But luckily we don¡¯t have this
problem here in Hawaii.
12. More drivers out there today
than ever
http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/Departments/StudentJournal/volume3/Victor%20Ontiveros.pdf
The number of drivers out there on the roads today
have increased so much over the past several decades. Between 1998 and
2003 there we over 400,000 new cars sold but this doesn¡¯t include the used cars
that are being sold to others. This means that we have about 50,000
obstacles on the road that we need to watch out for.