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Report 2:
My
Understanding of Driving Psychology
By Ynhu Le
Instructions for this report are at:
http://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 http://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.
All drivers operate in three separate
but interacting behavioral domains known as affective (A), cognitive (C), and
sensorimotor (S). The “affective” refers to the emotions and motivations we
have while driving. The “cognitive” refers to our thinking and reasoning while
driving, and they can be logical or illogical. The “sensorimotor” refers to the
sensations, perceptions, and actions that we perform behind the wheel. These
three behavioral domains interact with one another to form our driving
personality. Table 1 presents how driving behavior is represented as a
collection of skills and errors within those three behavioral domains of the
self. The skills receive a positive (+) symbol and the errors a negative (-)
symbol.
The nine zones of possible driver behaviors
are made up of three levels of development (1, 2, 3) within the three domains
(A, C, S). The three levels of development or driver competence are presented
from bottom up: Level 1 is Proficiency, Level 2 is Safety, and Level 3 is
Responsibility. Such representation is needed to show that habits are built on
top of habits, with the top habit being the most recently acquired. Once firmly
established, the higher habits can exert a downward influence on the lower
habits. Zones 1 through 9 represent skills for the three domains (A, C, S) at
three different developmental levels, and their corresponding errors are listed
in Zones 10 through 18.
Level 1 is labeled “Proficiency” to
represent the new driver’s initial need to focus on staying calm and alert (affective
proficiency), being aware of the surroundings (cognitive proficiency), and
coordinating body movements to avoid crashing (sensorimotor proficiency). Level
2 is labeled “Safety” to represent the motivation to avoid getting into trouble
(affective safety), the attribution of trouble (cognitive safety), and
exchanges and reactions to the trouble (sensorimotor safety). Level 3 or the
highest level is labeled “Responsibility” to represent the motive to take
responsibility for hurting others (affective responsibility), having prosocial
thoughts and plans to increase the quality of driving life (cognitive
responsibility), and whether being happy or stressed out (sensorimotor
responsibility).
As a driver, I’ve noticed that I
exhibited all of those behavioral zones of driving at one time or another. The
table below illustrates each domain with my own driving behavior skills and
errors and some examples that I made up. Creating this table is my first step
in doing what Dr. Leon James would call the “Lifelong Driver Self-Improvement
Program”.
The 18 Behavioral
Zones of Driving
|
Affective Responsibility A3 (+ or -) |
Cognitive Responsibility C3 (+ or -) |
Sensorimotor Responsibility S3 (+ or -) |
|
(7) I should be careful and yield to the pedestrian. (16) I
wish I could run her over. |
(8) I
think that old lady is trying to cross the street. I should slow down and
brake. (17) I
don’t think people like that should be allowed on the road. |
(9) Smile
and motion the pedestrian to cross. (18)
Yelling at the pedestrian: “You want to die? Watch where you’re going!” |
|
Affective Safety A2 (+ or -) |
Cognitive Safety C2 (+ or -) |
Sensorimotor Safety S2 (+ or -) |
|
(4) I
should be careful. I don’t want to follow too close behind that car. (13) That
slow driver is pissing me off. |
(5) That
guy must be a good driver. He’s following the law. (14) I
think that guy is stupid for going under the speed limit. |
(6)
Signal and then change lane when it’s safe. (15) Honking
and flashing my high beam at the slow moving car. |
|
Affective Proficiency A1 (+ or -) |
Cognitive Proficiency C1 (+ or -) |
Sensorimotor Proficiency S1 (+ or -) |
|
(1) I’m
not in a hurry. I’m feeling relaxed. (10) Oh no!
I hope I won’t be late to the meeting. |
(2) The
red light on the school bus is flashing. I better stop. (11) I
think it’s okay to pass the school bus with its
lights flashing if there’s no cops around. |
(3)
Putting both hands on the steering wheel and straightening my posture. (12)
Leaning over to look for my cell phone in my purse. |
To become a better driver, I need to come up with a “driving
personality makeover” plan. This self-modification plan contains two stages. First,
I must do whatever it takes to avoid being an aggressive driver. I will carry
out this stage using the AWM (Acknowledge, Witness, Modify) approach. Second, I
will do whatever it takes to become a supportive driver. I will carry out this
stage by adding new skills to my three behavioral domains (A, C, S).
The steps I plan to take in order to
avoid being an aggressive driver are:
1) Acknowledge that I am an aggressive
driver by focusing on one negative habit at a time. For example, acknowledging
that my speeding habit makes me an aggressive driver because I am putting
myself and others in danger.
2) Witness myself performing the negative
habit. For example, keeping track of how often I go over the speed limit and
being aware of the amount of pressure applied to the gas pedal while driving.
3) Modify the negative habit. For example,
reducing my speed by 4-5 MPH at a time and do so until I can drive at or under
the speed limit.
The steps I plan to take in order to
become a supportive driver are:
1) Make a list of things I can work on
to maintain a supportive orientation toward other drivers on the road
(affective level), analyze driving situations objectively (cognitive level),
and behave like a happy driver (sensorimotor level). For examples:
·
Feeling
appreciation when being given advice by passenger (affective)
·
Feeling
forgiving when another driver cuts in front of my car without signaling
(affective)
·
Acknowledging
that slow drivers are not trying to irritate me; they’re just trying to drive
carefully (cognitive)
·
Waving
thank you to the driver that lets me cut into the lane (sensorimotor)
·
Gesturing
and smiling to let another driver go first (sensorimotor)
2) Work on one item from the list at a
time until I have learned to master the whole list.
3) Create a new list and repeat Steps 2
and 3.
My “driving personality makeover” plan is not as simple as
it looks. I anticipate on running into some problems that could prevent me from
carrying out my plan successfully. For instance, I could get stuck on one
particular step and would not be able to complete the whole plan or I might
loose interest and decide to give up. In order to complete my plan
successfully, I need to stay focused and motivated. I really look forward to
becoming a better driver; a benefit to myself and to society.
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 review
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.
In the book Road Rage and Aggressive Driving, Dr.
Leon James and Dr. Diane Nahl trace the aggressive driving problem to its roots
in childhood when child passengers witness their parents' aggressiveness
towards other drivers and from the media’s portrayals of driving. The book
educates the readers on the growing problem of road rage. I think this is a
great book because it promotes self-assessment and provides adaptive techniques
for driver self-improvement. Most importantly, the authors proposed a Lifelong
Driver Education Program that could help drivers to continually improve their
driving skills and knowledge throughout their career as drivers.
The structure of the book enables readers to have a
comprehensive view of the many aspects of road rage. The contents of the book
are divided into three major sections. Section 1 is titled “The Conflict
Mentality” which covers Chapters 1-4. This section talks about aggressive
driving and mental health, causes of highway hostility, and the road rage
spectrum. Section 2 is called “Driving Psychology” which covers Chapters 5-9.
This section talks about emotional intelligence for drivers, children and road
rage, the three-step driver self-improvement program, supportive driving, and
lifelong driver education. Section 3 is titled “The Future of Driving” which
covers Chapters 10-12. It talks about the war against aggressive driving, dream
cars and driving realities, and speed limits. There are exercises and
checklists scattered throughout the book to help readers learn how to become
better drivers.
Chapter 6 of this book is called “Three-Step Driver
Self-Improvement Program.” It is a three-step program that would help an
individual become a better driver. This program requires an individual to be
objective when identifying problematic driving tendencies and attitudes. The
three steps to the program are: 1) Acknowledge (A), 2) Witness (W), and 3)
Modify (M). First, the individual must learn to acknowledge that he/she has a
negative driving habit. Second, the individual must be consciously aware of the
negative habit while driving. Third, the individual must modify the habit. One
technique is to switch roles with other drivers to see the problem from a
different perspective.
Road Rage and Aggressive Driving provides readers with two plans of
attack to curb society’s driving problems: educating future drivers how to
become supportive drivers and providing help to those who are victims to road
rage. That’s the thing I like best about this book. It not only provides
readers an explanation about road rage, but it also provides real descriptions
and plausible solutions to society’s driving problems.
Another great book about driving is called Driving
Lessons: Exploring Systems That Make Traffic Safer, edited by J. Peter
Rothe. Driving Lessons is an outcome of the Traffic Safety Summit held
in
The structure of this book allows readers to see clearly how
the sub-systems are related to traffic safety. The Chapters in this book are
divided into three main sections. Section 1 is called “Personal Sub-Systems”
and it talks about how the driving experience occurs in a varied and complex
environment and it looks at the possibilities for change within personal
sub-systems. Section 2 is called “Institutional Sub-Systems” and it talks about
how institutions such as the government and school can have an affect on
traffic safety. Section 3 is called “Technical Sub-Systems” and it talks about
how the structure of the roadway system puts drivers into their roles and the
need for innovative driving programs to help drivers manage new expectations on
the road.
I think Chapter 11 of this book is an interesting chapter.
It talks about volunteer citizen activism and court monitoring. Court
monitoring (also know as court watch) is a program designed to give citizens a
voice in how their courts are run. In the case of traffic safety, victims and
concerned citizens were alarmed at the leniency in which drunk drivers were
treated by the Canadian criminal justice system. Volunteer citizen activists,
such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), monitor DWI or Driving While
Intoxicated court cases as a purpose to increase the extent to which DWI cases
are prosecuted and to maximize the penalties. Many believe that the actual
presence of monitors in the courtroom can make a difference to the outcome of
impaired-driving cases. Court monitoring is an effective program because
research have shown that court monitoring can increase the likelihood of
convictions, decreasing the likelihood of dismissals, and increasing the length
of jail time for repeat offenders. Thus improving traffic safety in the area of
drinking and driving.
I think that this book is useful for readers who have an
interest in the role of the driver in highway transportation and in taking a
new look at traffic safety. Driving Lessons is an advocate of looking at
driving through a much broader lens. I think this book contributes to the
understanding of society’s driving problems through its emphasis on the
cybernetic approach. According to cybernetics, society is composed of a number
of systems such as health and education that are themselves built on
interrelated sub-systems. In other words, the driving systems maintain their
form throughout various processes and instances of change. Therefore, traffic
safety can only be understood by looking at the overall interrelationships of
things.
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.
The two Web sites drivers.com and drdriving.org provide Web
users with an abundant of information about driving. Although they provide Web
users with driving information, there are many differences in the way those Web
sites are structured. My overall rating of the two Web sites is excellent. The
fact that there are a lot of differences between those two Web sites is what
makes them very interesting.
The
most obvious difference I noticed between those two Web sites is the style. For
drivers.com, there aren’t that many information on the index page. The index
page gives you two choices, one about computer drivers and the other about
human drivers. Once you click on “human drivers”, it will take you to the main
page where there are many more hidden links to choose from. In other words, the
information is not clearly laid out for you to see. In contrast, drdriving.org
will provide you with a lot of information on its home page. Its simple style
will allow you to scroll down the page and search for the information you need
easily. Drdriving.org may look like it’s
a one-page Web site at first glace, but its size is similar compared to
drivers.com in terms of the amount of information it provides.
In
terms of advertising, drivers.com has a lot more than drdriving.org and it even
has its own link, which is labeled “advertise”. That link will give you the
option of putting up your very own text style ads that will cost you some
money. Drivers.com also accepts and posts links from a wide variety of organizations.
On the other hand, drdriving.org barely has any ads. There are just a few ads
for books scattered here and there on the Web page. There are some sponsored
links listed. Everything else is free for personal use.
In
terms of newsletters, drivers.com has their own monthly e-mail newsletter that
they send to people for free. When you subscribe to their newsletter, you will
receive an e-mail message about new developments at drivers.com every month. I
don’t think I have seen any form of newsletter on the drdriving.org Web site.
Drdriving.org may not have any newsletter, but they sure receive a lot of those
Dear Dr. Driving letters. In the letters, people generally give their reactions
and opinions to the things that they read about on the Web site. I don’t
remember coming across any letters as I was searching through the drivers.com
Web site so I’m assuming that they don’t post them.
Drivers.com is an information resource for both traffic
safety professionals and the general public, with a wealth of information on
driver training, education, and licensing. I think drivers.com is very much
business oriented. The Web site is designed for adult audiences who would want
to purchase things or learn some quick information about driving in general;
with nothing related to driving psychology. I think drdriving.org would be more
appealing to drivers of all ages because it provides a lot of in-depth
information about driving psychology issues, and road rage news and
legislation. The interesting thing is that drdriving.org also talks about other
rages besides road rage such as air rage, surf rage, boat rage, and shopping
rage. This Web site would also be a great for college students who need to do
research papers on a topic related to driving psychology.
Another difference I noticed about those two Web sites is
their collection of articles. Drdriving.org has a lot of articles on road rage
and aggressive driving. For examples: “Violence and Driving – A Mental Health
Issue” and “Hawaii Road Rage and Driving Issues”. Drivers.com on the other
hand, has a lot of articles about driving in general. For examples: “Driving in
Other Countries” and “Battling for Space”.
Question # 4 (extra credit):
Select six student reports on driving psychology from Generation 20, as listed
in the
Report 1 – Driving Psychology: Theory and Application:
Information Taken From Jenny Arakaki (www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409as2004/arakaki/report1.htm)
and
Shari Arakawa-Longboy started her
Report 1 by telling the reader about the course called Driving Psychology and
she stated her opinion about writing generational reports in class.
In her Report 1, Jenny Arakaki mentioned that driving
psychology is a course on how to manage ones thoughts and emotions while
driving on the road. Jenny then went into details about an interesting concept
that Dr. Leon James pointed out in class called the accordion effect. “An
accordion effect occurs when one person steps on their brake which in turn
creates a chain reaction which will continue for many miles along the road”.
Jenny seems to like the fact that she’s part of Generation 20 because she
believes that the thoughts and opinions written in the reports from her
generation might help save someone’s life in the future. Jenny also thinks that
it’s beneficial to learn driving psychology so that people can have a better
understanding of the different driving styles and habits exhibited by other
drivers on the road. Jenny also went on to explain some interesting concepts
such as the “Scofflaw” and “Left Lane Bandit”. In her autobiographical section,
Jenny talks about her good and bad driving habits. Jenny’s advice to future
generations is to learn from our driving mistakes and work on them.
Report 2 – My Driving Personality Makeover Project:
Information Taken From Ikue Fukushima
(www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409as2004/fukushima/report2.htm)
and
Ikue Fukushima started her Report 2 by
briefly summarizing what she did for her Report 1. Since Ikue didn’t have a
driver’s license at the time she was doing this report, she decided to let her
boyfriend do an objective self-assessment on himself as a driver. Ikue let her
boyfriend take various tests and questionnaires from the book called Road
Rage and Aggressive Driving to analyze the various aspects of his
“threefold self” as a driver. Since the results to the tests and questionnaires
showed that Ikue’s boyfriend needs to work on his affective and cognitive self,
Ikue designed experiments to modify her boyfriend’s negative emotion and
thinking attitude. The results to those experiments showed that her boyfriend
improved in all aspects of his “threefold self”. The assignment helped Ikue’s
boyfriend be more aware of his aggressive driving style and philosophy.
Shari Arakawa-Longboy
also started her Report 2 by summarizing what she did for her Report 1. In
Report 2,
Report 3 – My Proposal for Lifelong Education:
Information Taken From Jesse Chang
(www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409as2004/chang/report%203.htm)
and
Jesse Chang starts off his third
report by giving the reader an overview of what he did for his Report 2. Jesse
then gave a brief review of Chapter 9 on Lifelong Driver Education in the book Road
Rage and Aggressive Driving. In addition, Jesse also commented on prior
generational reports about that particular chapter in the book. He also
discussed some of the things he learned from Generation 20 class presentations
about aggressive driving. Jesse discussed the oral presentations from three
students: Sarah Philips, Jeremy Kubo, and Christine Oishi. Some of the ideas in
Chapter 9 which he found to be interesting are: Teenagers At Risk, Roadrageous
Video Course, Post Licensing, Older Drivers At Risk, and Driving Psychology
Curriculum. By carefully reading that Chapter on Lifelong Driver Education,
Jesse was able to come up with a proposal for his own Lifelong Driver
Education. Jesse believes that from birth, the parent should create a
supportive, loving and nurturing environment for the baby. He even suggested
that hospitals should issue pamphlets about the Road Rage Nursery and how it
can influence a child’s future driving personality from day 1. The parent
should continue to be good role models as the child grows. Driver license will
only be given out to responsible teenagers who have gained a good amount of
knowledge from school on how to be supportive drivers. Adults with license
should participate in QDC’s or Quality Driving Circles. Jesse also thinks that
there should be an HPD unit created just for traffic management. As for the
elderly over the age of 65, he believes that they should be required to take a
physical exam annually to check for sight, reflexes, and coordination. His
advice to future generations is to not procrastinate.
Shari Arakawa-Longboy also starts off her Report 3 by
giving the reader a brief review of the purpose and summary of her Report 2.
She then went on to talk about the purpose of Report 3.
General Conclusion:
I am surprised to see the depth of
information about driving psychology that was covered in those reports. I think
those students did an excellent job in sharing their knowledge with future
generations. From reading those 6 reports, I think most of the ideas suggested
by those students are fairly similar. All of them acknowledged that they’re not
perfect drivers and they’re willing to change their driving habits for the
better. I think the methods that they’ve used to assess their driving attitudes
and behaviors seem valid and reliable. I also think that the explanations
they’ve provided are very thorough and logical. I’ve noticed that all the
students agreed to Dr. Leon James’ idea of Lifelong Driver Education. I think
that they’ve taken that idea to heart and will continue to improve their own
driving skills. I truly agree with that
idea myself. By doing those reports, the students probably learned that driving
aggressively and exhibiting road rage are things that can be learned therefore,
they can be unlearned with enough motivation and practice. Those students also
learned how to accurately assess their driving style by self-witnessing.
Self-witnessing is one of those leading steps towards change. Their ideas have
influenced me to think more about my own driving psychology and they’ve given
me a sense of motivation. I think it’s a matter of taking the initiative to
apply what you’ve learn to become a better driver. A better driver would
definitely benefit our society as a whole.
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 such a big problem in all societies because all societies are made up of a
diversity of drivers with different styles and needs. Driving is such a high
dramatic activity that stems from high risk and unpredictability. People expect
to experience freedom when they’re out on the road, but instead they encounter
restrictions that prevent them from driving as they wish. Those factors in
addition to individual personality factors can contribute to road rage and
aggressive driving. Perhaps the biggest cause of unsafe driving on the road is
people’s unwillingness to take responsibility for their own conduct, preferring
to blame other drivers.
There
are solutions that have been proposed to fix this problem, but none are
effective. Some of the solutions include having safer roads, better designed
cars, and better law enforcement. Despite these significant improvements, the
rate of traffic deaths and injuries remains relatively constant over the years.
These solutions are not effective because as the external environmental forces
for greater safety increases, the internal individual forces for maintaining
high risk also increases. This resistance to accident reduction or the “risk
homeostasis” phenomenon is attributed to the attitude and behavior of drivers
who tend to respond to safety improvements by driving more aggressively. Thus
it defeats the whole purpose. For example, if a road is made safer by
straightening it, drivers will compensate for the greater safety by driving
faster on it. Neither conventional driver education nor defensive driving
courses provide today’s drivers the training for emotional intelligence on the
road.
Dr.
Leon James suggested numerous solutions to this problem. Since driving is a
habit in three domains of behavior, driving self-improvement is possible and
effective in improving driving. Socio-cultural management techniques can be
used to change driving norms and behavior. An example would be QDCs or Quality
Driving Circles. The function of these groups is to build up the motivation of
drivers to practice lifelong self-modification activities. A three-step program
can also be used to help drivers develop better emotional self-control on the
road. The first step to this program is to acknowledge that every driver needs
traffic emotions education. The second step is to witness your actual behavior
while driving. The third step is to modify the behaviors you want to change,
one thing at a time. Most importantly, Dr. Leon James believes that we should
all have lifelong driver education. The purpose of a lifelong driver education
is to instill good driving habits throughout people’s career as drivers. The
major emphasis is that driver education should involve a new K-12 driving
psychology curriculum focusing on systematic self-assessment skills and
emotional intelligence for road users since most children are exposed to
aggressive driving at a very young age.
I
think some of the solutions proposed by Dr. Leon James are logical, but it
might be difficult to carry out those approaches. Our society has a lack of
motivation and most of us are not even aware of the severity of the problem. I
think we need to increase people’s awareness and focus the public attention on
the social implications of driving attitudes and behaviors. I also think that
the idea of a lifelong driver education can be adopted if we obtain enough
support from citizens and more resources from the government.
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 on “Scenario Analysis of a Teenager’s Unrecognized
Road Rage Behavior”. The scenario presented is about a 16 year old boy and his
friend who got lost on their way to a friend’s party around midnight. They were
on their way home when they encountered a disgruntled driver in a black SUV who
swerved right past them on the freeway. A while later, the boy and his friend
took the same exit onto another freeway with the SUV following behind them.
They thought it would be funny to take up both of the lanes and drive slow so
that the SUV couldn’t pass them. The driver in the SUV then pointed a gun at
them which led to a high speed chase on the freeway that could have been
deadly. The text identified 13 bad driving behaviors or specific chain of steps
those two teenagers performed that together make up this road rage incident.
The exercise requires me to come up with a comment on how each step contribute
to the teenagers’ trouble and how could they have backed out of it at each step
by doing something else.
Some
of the comments that I gave for the first exercise were: the teenagers should
not have been out on the road that late in the night, they should have called
someone to ask for directions, and they should have left the SUV driver alone
instead of doing something provocative. This my very first time doing this type
of scenario analysis and I think it was very interesting. Doing this scenario
analysis can help me develop my emotional intelligence because it allows me to
be more aware of how my behavior can affect other drivers on the road. The
teenagers in this scenario also avoid admitting that they did something wrong
and they refused to think objectively. Lost of objectivity is one of the
conflictual aspects of driving that acts as a stressor. I learned that drivers
lose objectivity and right judgment when a dispute comes up and subjectivity
can increase stress by strengthening the feeling that one has been wronged.
The
second exercise I did was on the “Inner Power Tool: Acting As If”. The purpose
of this exercise is to act like something doesn’t matter to me when I’m driving
on the road, even if I feel upset. In other words, when I find myself saying or
thinking about something in an oppositional driving style then I should change
my message into a supportive driving style immediately. For example, when I
feel like saying “Nope, you can’t come in here. We’re all in a hurry, not just
you. You’ll have to wait your turn” then I should be saying “We’re all in a
hurry, but there’s room for one more. Go ahead, be my guest”. Another example
would be: Instead of saying “Hurry up dude! You’re driving like an old lady.
I’m going to swear at him.” I will say “I feel like swearing, but it’s not
worth it. Besides, swearing at him might slow him down even more and I don’t
feel like causing trouble.” I did this exercise with my friend in the passenger
seat of the car and we thought it was easy and fun. I learned from this
exercise that obsessing about traffic or about how someone drives just isn’t
necessary because it would only make me a stressed driver. Driving in a
supportive manner will still allow me to get to my destination on time. This is
something I’ve never thought of before doing this exercise. Being more trained
in emotional intelligence will definitely help me become a better driver.
The
third exercise I did was on “Assessing Myself As a Driver”. The first part of
the exercise requires me to make a list of my best traits and another list of
my worst traits as a driver. I was very surprised to see that I had an easier
time listing out more of my worst traits than my best traits. I have to admit, I’m
not a very good driver after all. Some of my best driving traits are: always
wear my seatbelt, courteous to other drivers, and I don’t tailgate. Some of my
worst driving traits are: multi-tasking, speeding, not always using my
blinkers, and making fast turns. I also
asked a friend of mine to tell me what she would consider my best and worst
qualities as a driver. When I compared my lists with my friend’s lists, they
were about the same. I’m glad to know that I was able to assess myself as a
driver accurately. Doing this exercise on paper and pencil allows me to see the
areas that I need to improve as a driver.
Lastly,
the fourth exercise I did was on “Checklist: Your Road Rage Tendency”. There
are 20 questions to this exercise and I just have to read each statement and
circle “Yes” if it applies to me reasonably well, or “No” if it doesn’t. I
scored 8 out of 20. I think this exercise was very easy. A score less than 5
means you’re not an aggressive driver and your road rage tendency is
manageable. A score between 5 and 10 indicate that you have moderate road rage
habits. A score greater than 10 means your road rage tendency is out of
control. I wished I could score under 5, but that is not the case. I need to
accept the fact that I have moderate road rage habits. After all, acknowledging
that I’m not a perfect driver is the first step towards self-improvement. By
examining the pattern of my answers, I have gained a valuable insight about my
current level of emotional intelligence as a driver. I think I might be able to
reduce my score to below 5 if I start using some of the self-improvement
techniques that I learned in class. My answers for this
exercise is presented below:
1. I
swear a lot more in traffic than I do elsewhere. NO
2. I
normally have critical thoughts about other drivers. YES
3.
When a driver in a parking lot tries to steal the space I’ve been
waiting for, I get furious. YES
4. I
fantasize about doing violence to other drivers (e.g., using guns or blowing
them up or sweeping them aside) – but it’s just fantasy. NO
5.
When drivers do something really “stupid” that endangers me or my car, I
get furious, even aggressive. NO
6. It
is good to get your anger out because we all have aggressive feelings inside
that naturally come out under stressful situations. YES
7.
When I’m very upset about something, it’s a relief to step on the gas to
give my feelings an outlet. YES
8. I
feel that it’s important to force certain drivers to behave appropriately on
the highway. YES
9.
Pedestrians shouldn’t have the right to walk slowly in crosswalks when
cars are waiting. NO
10. Pushy drivers really annoy me so I bad-mouth
them to feel better. NO
11. I tailgate when someone drivers too slow for
conditions or in the passing lane. NO
12. I try to get to my destination in the
shortest time possible, or else it doesn’t feel right. YES
13. If I stopped driving aggressively, others
would take advantage of my passivity.
NO
14. I feel unpleasant emotions when someone beats
me to the light or when someone gets through and I’m stuck on red. NO
15. I feel energized by the sense of power and
competitions I experience while driving aggressively. NO
16. I hate speed bumps and speed limits that are
set too low. YES
17. Once in a while I get so frustrated in traffic
that I begin to drive somewhat recklessly.
NO
18. I hate large trucks and I refuse to drive
differently around them. NO
19. Sometimes I feel that I’m holding up traffic
so I start driving faster than feels comfortable. YES
20. I would feel embarrassed to “get stuck”
behind a large vehicle on a steep road.
NO
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.
The
things I’ve learned in this class are priceless. This class allows me to see
driving in a whole new perspective. I was able to acquire self-witnessing and
self-modification skills in the area of driving behavior. Not only did I learn
how to become a better driver, but I also learned how to improve my public
speaking skills and be able to publish my work on the Web.
Some
important facts we were told to memorize for this class are: There are at least
42,000 traffic fatalities that occur every year, around 6.5 million people go
to the hospital with serious injuries annually, and economic losses costs the
U.S. around $250 billion a year.
My
biggest advice to students who will be taking this course is to stay on top of
the materials. It can become very difficult at times to stay on track because
you’re basically working at your own pace and completing the work on your own.
Once you procrastinate, the quality of your work will not be as good as it
could have been if you didn’t. I know this because I am a big procrastinator
myself. Other than that, the class materials are fairly easy. You will mostly
be graded on the oral presentations and how well you follow directions while
doing your assignments. Just relax, open your mind to new ideas, and enjoy what
this class has to offer. GOOD LUCK!! J
Helpful Links:
Class Home
Page: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy21/classhome-g21.htm
My Home Page: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409af2004/le/home.htm
Report 1: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409af2004/le/409a-g21-report1.htm
Dr.
Driving: http://www.drdriving.org
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