Preface
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Report 1 dealt with obtaining a better understanding of our driving behavior. We were to learn the sub-components of driving habits in the 3 domains of behavior which is the Threefold self (affective, cognitive, and sensorimotor). We were to explore prior generations that were relevant to driving psychology and learn from them. We then had to define terms given to us by using the text and prior generation reports. By defining these terms we learned the different concepts of Driving Psychology.
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The purpose of Report 1 was to help identify your driving personality. By being able to identify your driving personality you are able to see the areas needed for improvement. The purpose of Report 2 is to recognize your driving style and driving philosophies. You are also required to make changes in any bad habits you discover by intervention. You have to design an experiment to help make those changes. By constructing a well thought out experiment you will be able to focus on the problems and make changes.
Introduction: Objective Self-assessment
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In order to get a better understanding on what sort of driver I am, I was required to take a few tests from the given text Road Rage & Aggressive Driving. There are a lot of tests in the text but I am suppose to choose certain tests that cover the various aspects of my Threefold Self. The following is the list of tests I have taken which covers the Threefold Self. For each test I will describe and explain the scoring system. I will also give the diagnosis on my behavior and personality as a driver.
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Affective
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pg. 65 "Checklist: Aggressive Thoughts & Feelings"
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This Checklist covers 3 areas: (Driving Area-1) Fantasies of retaliation and revenge (Driving Area-2) High-pressure driving and competition (Driving Area-3) Impulsiveness and reckless driving. Items from each area are to help identify aggressive feelings and thoughts associated with road rage habit.
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The results from this Checklist is that I seem to have checked off more from Driving Area-1 and Driving Area-2. So this means that I have the tendency to have fantasies of retaliation and revenge like, feeling the enjoyment of paying someone back for tailgating me by slowing down, and I also have impulsive and reckless driving habits like, taking the chance of driving despite the fact I had a few alcoholic beverages. I know that slowing down when someone tailgates me makes that driver upset, but I feel that serves them right. That they have no reason to tailgate me for I didn't do anything to them. So slowing down when someone tailgates me makes me feel like I'm showing them they can't pull that crap on me. As for driving after consuming alcohol, I know that's not a good idea. But sometimes I just can't help it. It's hard to go out and have a designated driver because that sober person ends up not having fun when we go out. Despite the fact I drive under the influence, I know when I am capable of driving or not. When I know I can't, I make sure I wait till I am able to. But of course, I'm just trying to validate my actions.
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pg. 184 "Checklist: How Passenger-Friendly Are You?"
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This Checklist is suppose to see just how Passenger Friendly I am. If I take into consideration the rights of the passenger(s) riding in the car with me or if I feel passenger(s) have no rights because drivers have the right to do anything they want because the driver is the one in control.
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The results from this Checklist is that it seems I am a Passenger Friendly driver because I checked off every item. For example, I checked off how I always consider my passenger's feelings and I also think that passengers should just sit back, relax, and leave the driving to me but if they feel more comfortable participating I let them do so. This is just part of my personality. In any way or any situation, I always aim to please. I guess it's because I don't like the idea of people not liking me for some dumb reason. But all in all, I always try to make people happy and make sure they have no reason to not like me.
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Cognitive
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pg. 99 "Checklist: Are You An Automotive Vigilante?"
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This Checklist finds out whether or not I am an Automotive Vigilante. According to the text an Automotive Vigilante aggresses against other motorists who are chosen at random or for some reason with a constant stream of verbal abuse, offensive gestures, and threatening maneuvers with the car, sometimes to as far as physical violence.
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The results from this Checklist show that I am not much of an Automotive Vigilante because I only checked off 3 out of 10 items. Although, 2 out of the 3 I checked off had to deal with tailgating. In one I felt that getting out of a tailgater's way would only encourage such behaviors and on the other I felt that I would only use tailgating as a last resort when someone refuses me to pass when I'm in a hurry. Again, this deals with tailgating and how I feel it is wrong for them to do it to me. Although, I don't like it when people don't let me pass but I only would use tailgating as a last result because I know how much I don't like being tailgated.
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pg. 102 "Checklist: Are You A Rushing Maniac?"
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This Checklist finds out whether or not I am a Rushing Maniac. According to the text a Rushing Maniac has a need to avoid slowing down. A Rushing Maniac also takes anger out on anyone that causes them to slow down.
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The results from this Checklist show that I am definitely NOT a Rushing Maniac. Out of 10 items I only checked off 1 item which was, "I make it my primary goal to get to my destination in the shortest possible time and spend as little time as possible on the road". This is true for me, but it doesn't even bother me that much to be on the road in traffic. I hear people always telling me how annoyed they get sitting in traffic especially while driving a stick, but as for me I don't really care even if I drive a stick.
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Sensorimotor
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pg. 91 "Checklist: Your Verbal Road Rage Tendency"
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This Checklist finds out whether or not I have the tendency for Verbal Road Rage. According to the book Verbal Road Rage is the habit of constantly complaining about the traffic, having constant mental or spoken remarks on other drivers, passengers, police, road workers, pedestrians, speed limits, road signs, and so on.
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The results form this Checklist show that I have slight tendency to use Verbal Road Rage. I checked off 4 out of 10 items. Not that many items from this list but I know I have other words or phrases I use while driving that is not a part of this list. In that case I feel I have a high tendency to use Verbal Road Rage.
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pg. 97 "Checklist: Your Epic Road Rage Tendency"
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This Checklist finds out whether or not I have the tendency for Epic Road Rage. According to the book Epic Road Rage is the habit of fantasizing comic-book roles and extreme punitive measures against another driver. For example, chasing people down, beating them up, punishing them, shooting them, killing them, and sometimes all those fantasies are acted upon.
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The results form this Checklist show that I don't have the tendency for Epic Road Rage. Out of 11 items I only checked off 2. Although, 1 out of the 2 was about chasing someone down, pulling them over, and confronting that person. I'm not sure if it counts but I do chase some people down and try to wave them over but they never do.
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My Driver Self-modification Attempt
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Design of my experiment
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After reviewing a few prior generation reports, I found that Generation 2 and 4 had relevant topics to a Driving Personality Makeover. My Driving Personality Makeover design was based primarily from Generation 2's Sharla Supnet and Denise Tanaka's reports. The 3 bad habits that I implemented in my Driving Personality Makeover are; driving under the influence, retaliating against tailgaters, and verbal road rage. The reason why I chose Sharla Supnet and Denise Tanaka's report is because they both had the similar bad habits that I have. Sharla Supnet had a bad case of verbal road rage and Denise Tanaka had a tendency to tailgate people. Although, Denise Tanaka was trying to not to tailgate people while I am trying not to retaliate against tailgaters. Only one bad habit I could not find in prior generations was driving under the influence.
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The design of my experiment is basically similar to Sharla Supnet and Denise Tanaka's reports. I kept a journal/diary of my observations when I was behind the wheel of a vehicle. I recorded all of my feelings, attitudes, and behaviors. I especially kept count on how many times my 3 focused bad habits occurred. After about a weeks worth of driving I reviewed my notes and established that my Baseline.
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The following 2 weeks I continued to keep a journal/diary of my observations when I was behind the wheel. Although, this time I tried to intervene whenever I noticed a bad habit. For example, I would try not to drive under the influence of alcohol, I would try to keep my cool and pull to the side every time somebody tailgated me, or I would role my tinted windows down to prevent my verbal road rage
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Data Tables
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WEEK 1 Driving Under Influence Retaliating Against Tailgaters Verbal Road Rage Sunday 0 2 2 Monday 0 1 1 Tuesday 0 0 1 Wednesday 1 1 3 Thursday 1 2 2 Friday 1 1 2 Saturday 1 1 1 # of times out of # of trips 4 out of 12=33% 8 out of 12=66% 12 out of 12=100% WEEK 2 Driving Under Influence Retaliating Against Tailgaters Verbal Road Rage Sunday 0 0 1 Monday 0 0 0 Tuesday 0 0 0 Wednesday 1 1 0 Thursday 1 2 2 Friday 1 0 1 Saturday 1 0 0 # of times out of # of trips 4 out of 15=26% 3 out of 15=20% 4 out of 15=26% WEEK 3 Driving Under Influence Retaliating Against Tailgaters Verbal Road Rage Sunday 0 0 0 Monday 0 0 0 Tuesday 0 0 0 Wednesday 0 2 0 Thursday 1 0 1 Friday 0 0 1 Saturday 1 0 1 # of times out of # of trips 2 out of 13=15% 2 out of 13=15% 3 out of 13=20% Week 1 Percentages Driving Under Influence Retaliating Against Tailgaters Verbal Road Rage 33 66 100 Week 2 Percentages Driving Under Influence Retaliating Against Tailgaters Verbal Road Rage 26 20 26 Week 3 Percentages Driving Under Influence Retaliating Against Tailgaters Verbal Road Rage 15 15 20 -
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Analysis & Discussion
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Tables 1, 2, and 3 distinguish the 3 different weeks in the modification process. The 1st week is the baseline, which is before any intervention. Week 2 and 3 are the weeks where I tried to intervene my bad habits. The 4th table is the percentage scores of the amount of times I performed each bad habit for each week. The following bar graphs and pie graphs reflect the 3 tables and the percentage scores of the amount of times each bad habit performed.
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As you can clearly see, the amount of times I performed a bad habit reduced when intervened. It not only decreased in the percentage but also in the amount of days each bad habit was performed.
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The Driver's Threefold Self consists of: Affective Self (feelings and motivations), Cognitive Self (thinking and reasoning), and Sensorimotor Self (sensations, perceptions, and motor acts). By keeping the Driver's Threefold Self in mind I was able to intervene each of my bad habits. For example, when I am under the influence of alcohol I think of how that is considered reckless driving. So my Affective Self takes over and makes me realize that it is not a good idea to be driving in such conditions. Another example is how I tend to retaliate against tailgaters by purposely slowing down. Whenever someone tried to tailgate me I thought about how slowing down would just make that person more upset and tailgate me more. So in this situation my Cognitive Self took over by reasoning with the situation. Final example is how I tend to have Verbal Road Rage. To keep myself from performing Verbal Road Rage I drive with my tinted windows down. By doing that I no longer have that cover against other drivers which forces me to keep my mouth shut. In this case my Sensorimotor Self took effect.
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Conclusion & Future Plans
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The implications of my findings is that, the Driving Self Modification takes time. But if you stick with it you can improve your driving habits. It all depends how consistent you are in thinking about your bad habits and trying to change them. By the results of my experiment, it already shows differences in my driving behavior in a 2 week intervention program. I can only imagine how better of a driver I can become if I stick with it. I am somewhat serious about making changes in my driving behavior. I say somewhat because I guess I still feel as if I am a good driver. Although, I know there are a few areas where I definitely have to change my habits, which is stop driving under the influence of alcohol. That is the worst habit because I not only endanger my life, I endanger the passengers in my car and whoever else is on the road.
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Conclusion
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This assignment has helped me realize that I have bad driving habits. That I need to change and can change these habits to become a better, safer driver. This is useful to me because I can stop endangering the lives of others on the road. I can also prevent situations from getting worse. For example, what if I retaliated against the wrong tailgater? This person could be high on drugs or just plain crazy. He might just get so upset to the point of crashing into me. Same goes with my bad habit of Verbal Road Rage. I may just say the wrong thing to the wrong person and get my ass beat. From the beginning of the semester I thought of myself as a good driver. That there is nothing much I could learn from this course. But now, I realize that I am not such a good driver and that there is room for me to change my driving habits.
Future Generations
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For future generations, there is a lot you can learn from this experiment. The fact that you are logging down your actions behind the wheel, you will see all your habits that you never realized. Not only do you see what you do, you can learn how to intervene your habits. You will be able to see when the bad habit is about to occur and you can stop it from occurring. But before you can begin your Driving Personality Makeover you MUST have a plan. Once you have a plan you MUST stick with it in order to see positive results. Believe me, if you stick with it you will see changes in your driving habits. Oh, make sure to SAVE your work elsewhere other than your computer. You don't want to end up like me!! I had everything saved on my computer and my computer caught a virus and everything was LOST, no data was recovered. So, I had to redo this entire project...and believe me, it takes more then ONE NIGHT to complete this project. So that is the most important thing, SAVE SAVE SAVE your work.