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PSY 409A Driving Psychology, G20

Oral Presentation #2: CH12 Dream Cars and Driving Realities

BY SAYO YOSHINO

Instructions for this assignment: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy20/g20oral409a.htm

Ø Topic1: In the Driver’s Image

1. Concept: People’s imaginations and realities are not necessarily equal.

① A report from 1986 describes that people have different opinions about cars they like when they are in a normal state and in a hypnotized state.

· In a normal state: emphasize on price, reliability, comfort and appearance

· In a hypnotized state emphasize on: sense of freedom, sense of exhilaration, no precautions

② Not all people drive dream cars which have amphibious, powerful and luxurious features in reality.

③ When people see a luxurious or unusual car, they tend to think the owner of the car is rich, educated, competent, good- looking, well dressed and so on, but these assumptions are not necessarily true in reality.

④ Also, when people see old and unattractive cars, they tend to think the owner of the car is unkempt, lazy, unreliable and so on, but these assumptions may not be true.

2. Cultural:

① Many popular songs like “Hitchin’ a Ride,” “Car Wash,” and “Pink Cadillac” include pride, superiority in speed, the independence of cars and driving styles.

② Many people who grown up in the car culture have built up that thinking and feeling in extreme terms as norm.

3. Psychological:

① From Freud’s point of view, every fantasy involves the attainment of a wish. Therefore, the more you build up idealized images, the more you gain unfulfillable realities.

② Exaggerated talking, thinking and ads about cars lead us to aggressive driving behavior.

4. Driver’s Education:　

① In order to be supportive drivers, people should extend their passion and responsibility beyond their car to other drivers.

② They should keep updating their knowledge about technical details, performance and safety.

The information above came from Road Rage and Aggressive Driving by Dr. Leon James & Dr. Diane Nahl, P254- 257: CH12 Dream Cars and Driving Realities

Ø Topic 2: Driving Music

1. Concept:

① Music has been a regular part of the car environment.

② Drivers are getting positive and negative effects by listening to music.

2. Cultural: Drivers spend a lot of money on car sound systems

3. Psychological:

① Certain music makes drivers calm or excited. This kind of music can prevent aggressive driving behavior. However, certain music makes them feel aggressive. For this case, music may facilitate their aggressive driving.

4. Driver’s Education:

① Drivers need to know the effects of different kinds of music before they put it into a sound system.

The information　above came from P257- 258: CH12 Dream Cars and Driving Realities

Ø Topic 3: Dashboard Dining

1. Concept: Like driving music, eating food inside cars is very common, nowadays.

2. Cultural:

① In America, 18% of meals (in other words, one in five meals) are eaten inside cars.

② Fast- food chains are providing dashboard dining friendly meals. According to fast food restaurants report, about 50% of their sales are coming from the drive- through window.

· Taco Bell: Taco shells are less crumbly.

· KFC: Pita sandwich (chicken, dressing, cheese, or anything else are inside a pocket)

· McDonald’s: McSalad Shaker (salad comes in a plastic container that fits in a cup holder)

3. Psychological:

① Eating while driving is one factor which disturbs one’s concentration on driving.

· A business woman was rushing for meetings. She was looking at a hamburger to take a bite while she was driving and went right through red light.

4. Driver’s Education:

① First, acknowledge that eating while driving is common, but risky.

② People need to train themselves to handle dashboard dining safely.

The information　above came from P258- 259: CH12 Dream Cars and Driving Realities

Ø Topic 4: Intelligent Transportation Systems

1. Concept: Intelligent transportation systems (ITS) automatically help drivers’ routine actions by

designing systems like electronic fare cards and proximity warnings.

2. Cultural:

① In Seattle, after ramp meters were installed, crash rates dropped by 38% within 6 years.

② Each state uses electronic transportation technology to control and manage traffic.

3. Psychological:

① Since ITS is fairly new technology and provide various kinds of services to drivers, there is no enough data available to show the overall effect of ITS on aggressive driving.

② However, ITS seems to reduce the driver’s wrong actions (sensorimotor) and at the same time reduce experiencing negative feelings (affective) like anger.

1. Driver’s Education:

① Drivers should keep updating their knowledge about new technologies which are available to them in detail.

The information　above came from P264- 267: CH12 Dream Cars and Driving Realities

Ø Topic 5: Managing in the New World of Driving

1. Concept: When drivers install new technologies as part of their driving behavior, the key thing to do is to

train themselves before they use them.

2. Cultural: A result from a recent poll of drivers reports: 49% feel some or a lot of anxiety sitting in

traffic, 35% somewhat or very overwhelmed, 51% feel some or a lot stress in traffic

To think that these results are due to the congestion and delays are not necessarily true because most stress is due to aggressive and incompetent driving, and increasing pressure of multitask in vehicles.

3. Psychological (Psycho- somatic):

① According to the text, in the near feature, there are several expected stresses that drivers experience:

1. Increased production of gastric acid

2. Increased risk for gastrointestinal disorders

3. Increased production of “fight or flight” hormones

4. Reduced blood supply to the brain

5. Lowered immune response for several hours

6. Increased blood pressure

7. Higher heart rate

4. Driver’s Education: Drivers need specific training for using various devices such as cell phones,

e-mail, GPS communications, and map reading, and dashboard dining.

The information　above came from P267- 268: CH12 Dream Cars and Driving Realities