Report
2:
My Understanding of Driving Psychology
By
Lynda Hoang
Instructions
for this report are at:
www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy21/409a-g21-report2.htm
Question
1:
Consider
Tables 1, 2, 3, and 4 in the Lecture Notes, in the Section on Driving
Psychology Theory and Charts at www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy21/409a-g21-lecture-notes.htm#Charts
Consult the article from which the Tables were taken. Using your own words,
describe the three behavioral domains and levels of a driver (nine cells).
Illustrate each domain with your own driving behavior skills and errors, or
that of another driver you know well, or a driver in a particular movie. Make
up a "driving personality makeover" plan for yourself (or another
driver you know well). Discuss the problems you anticipate in carrying out such
a plan successfully.
Table 1 (below) lists driving behavior as
skills and errors in the three domains of the driver’s threefold self. The driver’s threefold self is acquired
starting from childhood through our parents, other adults, media, etc. When we start to drive, we have already been
exposed to aggressive driving in three domains.
These domains are: Hostile
feelings (affective self), biased thoughts (cognitive self), and aggressive actions
(sensorimotor self). The affective self
manages our emotions while driving, the cognitive self manages the thinking
aspect of driving, and the sensorimotor self manages our motor skills and
actions.
Table
1
Driver
Behavior as Skills and Errors in Three Domains
|
SKILLS (+) |
||
|
AFFECTIVE (+A) |
COGNITIVE (+C) |
SENSORIMOTOR (+S) |
|
I've got to be careful here. Don't want to cut
anybody off. |
This person looks like he's in a hurry to get
in. I better let him in. |
(Waving and smiling:) Go ahead. |
|
ERRORS (-) |
||
|
AFFECTIVE (-A) |
COGNITIVE (-C) |
SENSORIMOTOR (S) |
|
I wish I could give that guy a piece of my
mind. |
I don't think people like that should be
allowed on the road |
(Yelling:) "You stupid idiot, why don't
you watch where you're going!" |
The three levels of a driver are listed on table
2 (below) from bottom to top. The levels
are proficiency, safety, and responsibility.
As a new driver, you start at the proficiency level. The safety and responsibility levels follow
later on in life. At the proficiency
level, you are primarily focused on developing the skills (affective,
cognitive, and sensorimotor) to drive.
At the safety level, you are mainly concerned about avoiding trouble,
and at the responsibility level, your primary motive is to be responsible for
your actions towards others, and you use the three domains to do this.
At each level, the three domains are
applied. The table separates the 18
behavioral zones of driving into skills and errors by assigning a + or -. Zones 1 through 3 represent the skills for
the proficiency level and zones 10 through 12 represent the errors. For the safety level, zones 7 through 9 are
the skills and 4 through 6 are the errors.
At the responsibility level, zones 7 through 9 are the skills and 16
through 18 are the errors.
Table
2
Behavioral
Zones of Driving
|
Affective Responsibility |
|
Sensorimotor Responsibility |
|
(7) altruism and morality vs. |
(8 )positive dramatizations and mental health (17) negative dramatizations and insanity |
(9) enjoyment and satisfaction |
|
Affective Safety |
Cognitive Safety |
Sensorimotor Safety |
|
(4) defensive driving and equity |
(5) objective attributions |
(6) polite exchanges and calmness |
|
Affective Proficiency |
Cognitive Proficiency |
Sensorimotor Proficiency |
|
(1) respect for regulations and self-control |
(2) knowledge and awareness |
(3) correct actions and alertness |
One skill I have is signaling before
changing lanes. First, I say “I want to change
lanes” (affective). Then I think “I have
to signal so people know what I’m doing” (cognitive). Finally, I physically change lanes by turning
the wheel and putting pressure on the gas (sensorimotor). One of my errors is bad-mouthing people who
don’t signal before changing lanes.
First, I get scared (affective), then, I think to myself “I hate it when
people scare me like that!” and finally, I shout “Argh! You are such an idiot!”
(sensorimotor).
Usually, no one can hear the obscene
comments I make because my windows are rolled up. But if they did, I would probably get into
trouble, so I should change this habit.
My driving personality makeover will consist of 3 stages that I repeat
over and over again: Acknowledge,
witness, and modify. I will do the first
two steps by keeping a journal where I list my faults (acknowledge) and record
actual instances of when I caught myself making these mistakes (witness). Then, I will physically change this specific
behavior when I drive. This is something
I will have to repeat constantly if I am to become a lifelong good driver. Since this is a long, arduous task, it will
be impossible not to stray at least once in a while. However, I think it is much easier to do this
than live a life as a stressed, angry driver.
I will just have to repeat this to myself whenever I feel like giving
up.
Question
2:
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. Select one Chapter from each text and give a summary
of it. Discuss in what way will these ideas contribute to society's driving
problems.
The book Road Rage and Aggressive
Driving by Leon James and Diane Nahl looks at driving behavior, in
particular, road rage, from a psychological standpoint. The articles are separated into three
parts: The conflict mentality, driving
psychology, and the future of driving.
These articles look at why people have road rage and how to remedy
it. It lists theories and principles
such as the Jekyll-Hyde syndrome and passive-aggressive road rage. There are many checklists and suggestions on
how to improve oneself as a driver such as the three-step driver
self-improvement program.
In this book, James and Nahl look at the
concept of road rage and why it is an increasing worldwide phenomenon. Emphasis is put on the “choice” we as drivers
have to become angry. It also takes into
account the role that fighting for status plays in displaying road rage
(especially among men). Passengers and
children are not ignored I this book. It
talks about how passengers and drivers affect each other and how children are
exposed to years of road rage even before they are old enough to drive.
I think this is a wonderful book and found
it very helpful because it teaches you that you have control of your driving
experience. Despite the fact that people
around you may do as they please, you can control your emotions and actions in
response to your surroundings.
Principles are illustrated with examples of real-life situations and
practical exercises for improving your driving skills are given. I would recommend this book to anyone who
drives because its focus is on helping you become a better driver. I think if more people learned about these
ideas and did these exercises, our roads would be safer.
Chapter 6 of this book is about the
three-step driver self-improvement program.
The program aims to help drivers develop emotional intelligence, or to
manage emotions while driving. The first
step is to acknowledge that you need a better understanding of road rage. You cannot change a habit without
acknowledging it first. The second step
is to self-witness yourself in the act of the habit you want to change. This is done so the material is available to
reflect upon later. The third step is to
modify the behavior. These steps must be
repeated continuously if one is to become a good driver in life.
Other topics discussed in chapter 6 are
resistance to change and irrational driving rules. All drivers resist changing their style at
first, but this gradually goes away because driving without inner pressure to
be competitive and criticize others is safer and more enjoyable. Irrational driving rules are assumptions
about driving that are groundless and only add to stress. Some irrational driving rules are: 1. I must make all lights. 2. I must go as
fast as possible. 3. If someone passes me, I’m going to slow.
The three-step program has great potential
in lessening society’s driving problems.
It makes it possible for each individual to improve their driving. If more people did this, the roads would be
safer and more enjoyable. The book also
made a good point in saying that irrational driving rules should not always be
followed. If society is conscious of
this, we may be less vulnerable to them, making roads less stressful and
competitive.
Driving Lessons: Exploring Systems that Make Traffic Safer by J. Peter Rothe discusses traffic safety in
respect to three sub-systems: Personal,
institutional, and technical. For the
personal subsystem, there are articles about how social behavior and lifestyle
affects driving. A key topic is the
threefold self. This includes the three
selves the driver needs to manage (affective, cognitive, and
sensorimotor). The section on
institutional sub-systems discusses traffic in relation to large organizations
and how they interact. This includes the
influence that economics, the law, media, and education have on traffic. The third section, the technical subsystem,
features articles about technical devices in relation to traffic. The road itself, with its rumble strips and
highway slopes is a technical device.
One device that has largely impacts driving is the cell phone.
This book looks at driving as a complex and
important task, not a menial, automatic one like many of us have come to
think. I think that is a great feature
of this book. It reminds you to take driving
seriously. Another good quality of this
book is that it shows the interaction of the different sub-systems and how it
affects traffic. Prior to reading this
book, I had never thought about that.
However, it’s good to realize that each sub-system is self-interested
and operates in different ways.
I would recommend this book to anyone who
wants a more thorough understanding of the traffic system. However, it is hard to understand because of
its elaborate language. This book
requires meticulous reading, so I would recommend it to those who want to
explore traffic, but for someone looking to improve their driving, I would
recommend Road Rage and Aggressive Driving.
Chapter 10 of this book is on Dispatchers
and Drivers. Dispatchers have a lot of informal
power over drivers. This chapter focused
on truckers. Their dispatchers tell them
where to drive, when to arrive, and how much they will be paid for it. This power is often abused because the
drivers need to make enough money to make a living. They can assign loads and hours according to
which drivers they prefer and may force drivers to work longer than they are
legally allowed. This compromises road
safety as well as the health of the drivers.
Many drivers go on amphetamines to stay awake for such long periods of
time. Then, because drivers work longer
than what is legal, they must break laws like cheating on logbooks. They also speed if they are only given a short
amount of time to deliver a load. This
kind of treatment, as well as bad-mouthing or scolding makes drivers emotional,
and that means compromised safety.
The points this chapter makes about the
influence of dispatchers and drivers have a lot of potential in making the
roads safer. I was shocked to find out
that dispatchers have so much power and truckers have to go through so
much. Even though my father is a taxi
driver, I didn’t know many of these things until after I read this
article. I think if people stepped back
and realized the things truckers have to go through, they would take action
(and some have) in making conditions better.
Some ways of doing this is to hire the right kind of people to be
dispatchers and by training them to be more supportive.
Question
3:
Discuss
these two Web sites: drivers.com vs. drdriving.org What are their main differences?
Be sure to consider at least these areas: articles, newsletters, letters,
style, probable audience, public relations or policy, advertising, size,
ranking.
Drivers.com and drdriving.org are similar in
the fact they are very informative and offer advice about how to improve your
driving experience. However, I found
major differences in these areas:
Articles, newsletters, letters, style, probable audience, advertising,
size, and ranking.
In terms of articles, drivers.com had
articles that “popped out” at you. In my
opinion, the articles were like newspaper articles or news programs on TV. Meaning, they used catchy hooks and tried to
lure you in. The articles on drivers.com
list the authors, but no background on them.
Also, I found a link that said to email them if you wanted to be a
writer! The articles on drdriving.org
were more educational. They weren’t as
catchy, but they were more reliable.
There were statistics and examples that backed up their statements. They also had credibility because they both
have their Ph.D. and wrote books on driving psychology.
Drivers.com offered a monthly newsletter for
free. I viewed the sample newsletter and
found that it wasn’t much different from their website, but without the huge
advertisements. It looked just like a
newspaper with big headings and pictures with captions. I could not find a newsletter on
dr.driving.com, but I did find a lot “Dear dr. driving” letters. My assumption is that this is because of the
size of the website, or the number of people operating it.
Drivers.com seems to be run by a large group
of people and target a large group of people, which is probably why they use a
newsletter. Drdriving.com seems to be
run by only Dr. James and Dr. Nahl and target a smaller audience, which is
probably why I couldn’t find a newsletter but did see many letters and their
responses to those letters.
As I mentioned, it seems drivers.com targets
a larger audience and drdriving.org target a smaller one. Another difference in terms of audience is
drivers.com target a more generic audience while drdriving.org targets a more
academic audience. My reason for
thinking this is that the advertisements at drivers.com are large and consist
of large companies like Firestone. Their
style is similar to TV, where they expect their audience to be mindlessly
watching the program, so they try to show as many advertisements and catchy
lines as possible. Drdriving.org has few
pictures and no advertisements, except for their book. The style is more academic-geared, as if you
are on your own to read what interests you.
I think it suits college students well.
As for ranking, I’d rank both of these
websites pretty high, but I’d rank drdriving.org a little higher than
drivers.com because of my own preference.
They are both good websites, but drdriving.org is more helpful to
me. There is so much credible material
and many suggestions on how to become a better driver. Drivers.com has a wide variety of articles to
appease a large group of people, but these articles were not as helpful for
me.
Question
5:
Consider
Table 5 in the Lecture Notes, in the Section on Driving Psychology Theory and
Charts at www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy21/409a-g21-lecture-notes.htm#Charts
Consult the article from which the Table was taken. Copy and paste the table
into your file. Now delete the examples in each cell and replace them with your
own examples that you make up. Discuss why driving is such a big problem in all
societies and why no effective solutions have yet been found for them. Discuss
the solutions offered by Dr. Leon James (DrDriving). What likelihood is there
that his approach will be adopted? Explain.
|
Table 5 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Driving is a big problem all over the
world. This is due to the fact that all
drivers are human, which means being emotional.
Our affective self affects our cognitive and sensorimotor selves. Since driving can be a life or death
situation, many of us become very emotional on the road. This can cause us to become impaired in terms
of thoughts and actions. This problem
often takes the form of aggressive driving.
As chapter 5 of Road Rage (James & Nahl) says, anger
intensifies aggressiveness and judgment becomes impaired accordingly. Many people don’t even realize this happens
to them. If they did, they would be
better able to control it.
Despite efforts to remedy this problem, it
still persists. One reason for this is
the “resistance to change” phenomenon.
Everyone has adopted their own style subconsciously is stubborn to
change. Another reason is the “risk
homeostasis” phenomenon. Although cars
and roads are constantly being made safer, people feel the need to experience
the same amount of risk. Therefore, they
drive more dangerously with their safe cars and safe roads. For example, a girl in our class doesn’t wear
her seatbelt. Maybe if there was no
airbag, she would be more likely to.
However, that would not make conditions safer,
it would only make it relatively the same.
Eliminating safety features is also unacceptable by moral
standards. So the best solution is
education. Dr. James suggested K-12
driving education. I think this is a
good idea; kindergarteners don’t need to learn about actually driving, but they
can benefit from self-assessment and affective skills. Children can also learn to be good
passengers. When they get older, they
can learn about cognitive and sensorimotor skills. These things can be taught in a number of
classes since these are skills they can use in many areas. The more mature population should also be
educated about phenomenon like resistance to change and risk homeostasis. If more people were conscious of these
habits, they are more likely to be able to change them.
Other solutions Dr. James offered are
quality driving circles (QDC) and the three-step driver improvement
program. QDCs are meant to motivate
drivers to practice self-improvement programs.
The three step driver improvement program is one such program. If each driver works on him/herself, then the
improvement will someday manifest itself on the road.
Even though I feel these are great ideas
that have tremendous potential, honestly, I think it will be a struggle to
implement. This is because people are
stubborn and lazy. Many people don’t
take the time to think critically about driving because the popular attitude is
that it’s just a mundane task. However,
I do think it is possible. By alerting
the public to the seriousness of driving and its problems, they will become
concerned for their safety. I think the
main problem now is increasing awareness.
That’s why education is key. When
people realize their weaknesses, they are better able to change them. Spreading the word and implementing K-12
driver education programs are good ideas, but it will require adequate funding
from the government.
Question
6: (Extra Credit)
Analyze
the Student Newsgroups Reports at www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/499s2003/newsgroups to
characterize the threefold self of the drivers that wrote the messages. Find 10
brief quotes from the messages they posted, and analyze each one, showing the
character of their threefold self. Discuss the writer's philosophy or
psychology of driving. Comment in the light of what you know from Driving
psychology in this course using the ideas and perspective from our two
textbooks.
1. “It's a jungle out there. well, not really: it's
worse than a jungle. It's a stretch of roadway anywhere in America, and in
place of the ravenous tigers and stampeding rhinos and slithery anacondas are
your friends and neighbors and co-workers, that nice lady from the church choir
and the cheerful kid who bags your food at the local Winn Dixie--even Mom and
Dad and Buddy and Sis. They're in a hurry. And you're in their way. So step on
it! That light is not going to get any greener! Move it or park it! Tarzan had
it easy. Tarzan didn't have to drive to work.”
This is a quote that shows how nice people,
like your friends and family, turning into competitive monsters on the
road. The affective self is saying that
these are nice people, yet the cognitive self is saying that you have to be aggressive
in order to survive out there because of what everyone else is doing. Why do nice people become aggressive behind
the wheel? For one thing, they are not
“people” anymore. Everyone is in a car,
and it makes it more acceptable to not be polite anymore. Also, driving is stressful. People get angry, and in a car, they are not
afraid to show it. If everyone’s
threefold self was developed, then the roads wouldn’t be so competitive because
they would all be supportive and concerned for each other.
2. “So many miles, so little
time. For Ron Remer, 47, a soft-spoken salesman, offensive driving was simply
part of the job. From his home in
This quote shows Remer’s affective self as
feeling stressed because if he didn’t arrive on time, it would affect his
work. His cognitive self is thinking
that he’s a nice guy, but on the road, he’s not because he has to make
money. Remer’s sensorimotor self is
telling him to drive aggressively to get to his destination on time. This fits the idea that we are all
self-serving people. Remer is more
concerned about doing what he needs to than being a supportive driver and thus
does not have a developed three-fold self.
3. “Remer says he's reformed now, having
had one of those little epiphanies that sometimes come to people who are pulled
over by the state police. He was stopped one night on the narrow and unlighted
This quote is also by Remer, but this time,
his entire outlook changed. In this
quote, his affective self received a big shock.
He no longer felt that it was okay to be an aggressive driver. His cognitive self realized that he had a
problem, and his sensorimotor self took action to fix it by going to a seminar
for aggressive drivers. His philosophy
of driving seems to have changed from being a rushing maniac to being a
supportive driver.
4. “At night, British
drivers seldom dip their lights for approaching traffic. The glare can get very
bad at times. I learned to drive here in the
This driver was self-serving because he was
more concerned with avoiding glare by dipping his lights than about blinding
other drivers, which is normal. He only
changed his behavior after he was on the other end of things and experienced a
problem with undipped lights. His affective
self was saying he didn’t appreciate the blinding lights. His cognitive self experienced
contradiction: “Why is it okay for me to
do this to other people when I don’t like it being done to me?” So therefore, his sensorimotor self took
action to change it.
5. “A research by Car and
Driver shows that the fatality rate of US Highways is actually a bit higher
then the Germany SuperFreeway (no speed limit.) In
My suggestion is that maybe establishing
your own speed limit forces you to exercise your three-fold self. People in
6. “On USENET I've actually
seen people "defending" tailgating and other stupid aggressive
behavior (LOSER behavior) on the road. People who exhibit this kind of driving
behavior exist to form the back side of the IQ bell curve. They not only pollute
the road environment but are frequently a danger to others. In the
I
feel that this person is being an automotive vigilante in text. It’s good that he is trying to enforce good
driving behavior, but he is doing so in a way that is aggressive as well. I think his affective self took over here
because he was so outraged at these aggressive drivers’ behavior, he forgot to
be supportive.
Throwing
things out of your car is not nice but neither is driving and polluting. It's
just the degree of niceness we're talking about. Again, some people are just
nicer than others. That's all.
Enough
'understanding' for a day. What really gets me is all these big minivans and
SUVs. They block your view. Ever been behind a big
This driver
seems angry that people don’t do what he thinks is right. He is overlooking the fact that the world is
full of diverse individuals who do things differently. Yes, It’s important to have social conformity
so that things run smoothly. Better
testing should be implemented, and polluting is inconsiderate. But this person is also making a mistake, and
that is not being supportive and giving people the benefit of the doubt. He is choosing to be angry (affective self),
and that doesn’t fix anything.
8.
“Regarding violent/hostile drivers who are behind you and acting like they want to get a hold
of you....I put my hands at the 10 and 2 positions of the wheel and display my
ample 90 inch 'wingspan' and flap those wings....that is a clear message to
them to get off my butt...if that doesn't work I put my hand up in the air
(without giving them the bird or anything)just to let them see the hands that
desire to be wrapped around their necks....I realize ladies might not feel
comfortable doing that...Henry Jackson”
This person does
not seem to be using his cognitive self.
Maybe if he did, he would see that he is being an aggressive driver, the
very thing that he dislikes. He is
acting out of his affective self and not taking responsibility for his
actions.
9. “The most aggressive drivers I see on the roads are
those darned SUV drivers! I don't know if driving such a tank gives one
a sense of superiority over all the little peons in sedans, or if people with aggressive
or superior attitudes to begin with have more of a tendency toward buying such
vehicles.-- ^,,^”
This person is
generalizing that people who drive SUVs are aggressive. While generalizing can have it’s downfalls in
terms of accuracy, this person makes a good point in saying that maybe SUVs
don’t make people aggressive, maybe aggressive people buy SUVs. This person is using his cognitive self. His philosophy seems to be that people are
responsible for their actions.
10. “My
experience is that the people who 'forget' to turn on their headlights are the
same ones that are tailgating, speeding excessively, fail to use their turn
signals, etc.
And might I add to Walt's gripe
the idiots driving around in semi- darkness without their lights on, or only
their parking lights. Sure, they might be able to see where they're going, but
no one can see them!
This person is stereotyping people who don’t turn
their headlights on as reckless drivers.
While this may or may not be true, believing this can be dangerous. He probably does not have a fully developed
threefold self because those who do would be concerned for this person’s safety
more than their own irritation. I think
anyone can forget to turn on their headlights at one time or another. He is right, however, that it is dangerous to
drive at night without turning on your headlights and we should all be more
cautious to turn on our headlights as well as watch out for people who don’t.
Question
7:
Our
textbook Road Rage and Aggressive Driving has exercises in several
chapters. Do the following four exercises: (a) Exercise on scenario analysis on
p. 205; (b) Exercise on acting as-if on p.128; (c) Exercise on self-assessment
on p. 134; and (d) Checklist of your road rage tendency on p. 40. What were
your reactions to the exercises? Discuss how these exercises help you to become
more aware of yourself as a driver. Do some of the exercises with another
driver you know. How do they help you understand some principles of driving
psychology?
The first exercise I did was the scenario
analysis. This scenario was about a 16
year-old boy who drove with his friend looking for a party. They lost the address, and drove around but
couldn’t find the place. On the way
home, a driver in a black SUV pulled up really close behind his friend’s
car. Then, the SUV swerved around cars
as to get ahead, but ended up behind the boys after a while. The boys decided to play a prank on him,
which was to drive tandem in from of him slowly. This enraged the driver of the SUV and he
pulled a gun on them, leading to a high speed chase which ended in the boys
getting tickets for reckless driving.
Table 9.2 in the text lists 13 things the teenager did that made up his
unrecognized road rage behavior. I am to
come up with how each step contributed to trouble and what should have been
done for each step.
Some suggestions I made was that he should
have left earlier, especially if they didn’t have the address. They also could have asked the friend who
threw the party for his address. These
steps contributed to trouble because they were driving in an unfamiliar place
late at night. I found this exercise fun
and informative. It was interesting to
see what kind of behavior contributes to trouble and coming up with alternate
behavior was helpful. This exercise made
it easier to understand why you should follow some of the basic safety
suggestions people always give you like not driving in an unfamiliar
place. It also illustrated the
“self-serving bias” theory because the teenager tried to blame the incident on
the driver of the SUV instead of taking responsibility for it. Now I realize that when I make these mistakes
myself, I am behaving foolishly and could face serious consequences like this
boy.
The exercise on acting as if required me to
be supportive of other drivers throughout the course of a trip. I did this with my boyfriend and found that
it was more peaceful than the oppositional driving style. For example, when someone took our parking
spot, we just joked, “Ok, I’ll just park in this nicer stall.” (even though it
was the same). However, I found it hard
to keep my composure sometimes, like when I was afraid we’d get into a
collision. But when I was able to keep
calm, it was an enjoyable experience. I
became aware of my impulsiveness by doing this exercise. I realized that although I feel angry at one
moment, if I don’t dwell on it, it goes away quickly. I feel this is an important thing to know
because it helps motivate you to keep calm.
For the next exercise, assessing myself as a
driver, I was to list my best and worst driving traits and then have my
passenger fill out the same list. I
listed my best traits as not speeding, yielding for others, and not running red
lights. I wrote that my worst habits
were being hesitant to go at an intersection and letting my mind drift. My friend’s list was almost the same as
mine. I had mixed feelings about
this. Although I was glad that I could
accurately asses myself, I was disappointed that I had these flaws. This exercise really helped me realize that I
need to work on my driving, especially in terms of letting my mind drift. If I don’t pay attention, I could cause an
accident.
The last exercise was a checklist on my road
rage tendency. I had to answer 20 yes or
no questions and at then end, I was to give myself a point for each yes
answer. Less than 5 means your road rage
is manageable, 5-10 is moderate, and greater than 10 means it is out of
control. I scored a 5, which means I am
at the lower end of what is considered moderate road rage. I thought this exercise was an interesting
way to measure one’s road rage.
Answering these questions forces me to think about my driving
behavior. I was able to see things I do
that I shouldn’t, like driving faster than what feels comfortable because I
think I’m holding up traffic. I really
shouldn’t drive faster than what’s comfortable for me. It’s good not to hold up traffic, but it’s
better to know my limits. This is
something I need to work on. I need to
gain better understanding of my limits and not succumb to pressure or bad
judgment. All of these exercises helped
me realize what my weaknesses are. If I
reflect on it later, like with the exercise on self-assessment, I can see what
I did wrong. Therefore, I have come to the
conclusion that I must continue to acknowledge what my mistakes are because
then I will know what I need to change.
Advice to Future
Generations:
Discuss
about what students should know to succeed in this course and what they can
expect to get out of it.
On the first day of school, I was surprised
to learn that this class was about driving psychology. I didn’t even know such a discipline
existed. When I registered for this
course, it was just titled “general topics.”
I thought it was going to be an overview of various fields of
psychology. However, I’m glad I stumbled
into taking this course. I’ve learned so
much valuable information in such a short amount of time. I want future generations to know that this
is a subject that concerns the quality and longevity of your life and those
around you. Also, this is a subject that
is very important, and almost no one talks about it! That is why I feel this is such a valuable
course
Taking into account the importance of the
knowledge this course provides you, I want to tell future generations not to
give up. There were some instances where
I felt overwhelmed with the presentations and reports. But here I am, writing the end of my last
report, and I am grateful I survived it.
It has made me more adept at public speaking and making outlines. I have learned things I can apply to other
areas in my life, like self-witnessing and self-modification skills. Also, I now know that I can choose how I want
to respond to events that happen to me.
This means I can choose to be more optimistic regardless of the
situation. This will improve the quality
of my life overall. I hope that in the
future, driving psychology will be mainstream knowledge and everyone will
practice its principles in various areas of life. Good luck!
Class
Home Page: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy21/classhome-g21.htm
My
Home Page: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409af2004/hoang/home.htm