Before I get started with this report, I'm instructed to give you this link, Traffic Psychology. It is the instructions by
Dr. James for this report. This assignment in its entirety I feel is based around traffic
psychology. For our second assignment we have four topics to choose from. To make it equal
Dr. James decided to randomly assign the topics by having each student call out a number from
1-4 sequentially. When it was my turn, I ended up with the number four which topic is Being a
Driving Buddy. I personally don't have a problem with it, but if I did, Dr. James said we could
switch topics with someone else. As a matter of fact, I'm excited about this topic because this is
something I never imagined doing with a buddy. I'm hesitant but confident that a friend will be
willing to do this for me.
You see, if someone asked me to be a driving buddy for two days because it's a class assignment,
I'd probably say, "No Way." I mentioned in report 1 that change is difficult, in this report it
seems I'll be helping my buddy to see all of his/her negative traits. Who wants to be told that
you're a negative driver especially if you've been driving for years? Hopefully my friend will
recognize the importance of this assignment after I explain it to him/her.
I'm instructed to go to Dr. James Site Index to
research other students reports on Being a Driving Buddy and Personality Make
overs. Before doing so, I must add the three fold mission of this report and that's
the:
Affective,
Cognitive,
Sensorimotor Domains.
The Affective Domain focuses on
the individuals will, motivation, Feelings, which my paper targets, desires,
intents, goals, and values. The Cognitive
Domain which centers around understanding, plans, reasoning, thoughts, decisions.
Anything that deals with the thinking process of an individual would fall under the category of
cognitive domain. Last but not least, the Sensorimotor Domain that deals with
sensations, movements and speech acts. For example, turning your head, moving your arms,
twitching, lifting your leg, pressing etc.
Just what is a driving buddy and a personality Make over? Well, follow along and I'll do my best
to tell you what I've found.
The Search on Driving Buddy and Make overs: What it was
like
I was amazed at the experiences that people have had with their reports. I'll have links for you
under the headings Driving Buddy and Personality Make overs. It seems a lot of the students
have learned from their experiences and took it a step further, they've applied it to their lives. I
feel that's the beauty of these assignments that you're able to apply it to your life.
Everyone has blind spots meaning, the area in a persons life that needs fine tuning. It's an area
that others can see clearly but an area that becomes difficult for you as an individual to detect. A
good example would be a negative driving behavior such as switching lanes without signaling.
If this is something that a driver have been doing for years, then it becomes a habit and is
difficult to detect unless someone points it out to him. Dr. James has a theory about the Automatic Self which I feel would best
explain this topic. It has to do with training oneself to drive automatically. Anyway, it better
defines my blind spot theory. Both these assignments being a driving buddy and personality
Make overs have changed the attitudes of many. Pointing out to someone the negative driving
behaviors can and will in turn help eliminate some of your own negative driving behaviors. It
will also help to prevent from picking up any negative behaviors. I see this as a win-win
situation.
Driving Buddy: My Perception
My perception of being a driving buddy according to these instructions is simply this, spend two
days with a friend and basically observe and critique his/her driving. You want your friend to be
himself, to relax and put on his regular driving cap. You don't want him to be someone he's not,
at least not yet. What you do want is for him to think out aloud, to share his thoughts verbally
during the trip. There's a debriefing that follows.
Here are some examples of students who have done this assignment: Jennifer Kaneshiro says that she believes a
buddy is
someone who helps you become aware of your driving problems. It's like an agreement between
two people to help control negative behaviors. Kristy Kato says a buddy is a passenger
who
conveys information to you about your driving skills. He's like a personal coach. She says, don't
get confused with back seat drivers who basically convey negative attitudes. Chris Murakami says a buddy is one
who
helps. Much the same response that Jennifer and Kristy gives.
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Personality Make over: My Impression
My first impression of personality Make overs where driving is concerned would be to make
your driving personality better. I have found that through experience, through reading and
through Dr. James lectures that people's personalities change when they sit behind the wheel of
an automobile. He said it has something to do with being territorial. Kind of instinctive, when
you get into your car it's your domain and no one should even attempt to occupy that space. If
they do then it's at their own risk. The purpose of this assignment is to help people change their
driving personalities. In other words, if you are a driver that has an attitude problem, than the
personality Make over will do you some good. It can open your eyes to the negative driving
behaviors you thought you never had. It's like taking a couple of steps backwards to give you a
chance to look at yourself. A chance to see and to be aware of your bad driving behaviors that
you may possess.
Here are some examples from students who have done this assignment: The concept of driving
personality Make overs by, Claudia
Kaneshiro. She basically says that it's an overall outlook on the drivers cognitive process
and behavior approach. She says depending on what kind of day she's having will determine if
she'll be considerate or a tyrant on the road. Christy Forsyth says, "We need
personality Make overs to compensate for the road deaths in the U.S." It also helps us to learn
interpersonal skills, responsibility, respect, law and order and other positive characteristics. This
is what Christine Huisman says in her
report. She feels that she needs a change of attitude. She says she has a lot of anger built up that
leads to aggressive driving. Seems like the perfect reason for a Make over. Michelle Alonso says she has an evil
personality whenever she drives and a Make over will do her some good.
Mini Driving Personality Make over: The Two Day
Experience.
Here we are instructed to talk to a friend and ask if we could go on a trip somewhere with them
so that we could critique his/her driving behaviors. On the first day we are to basically observe
and point out the bad behaviors. We are to ask our friends to think out aloud, or to speak what
ever is on his/her mind. On the second day, we are to tell them what we want them to do on the
trip. I gathered that we were suppose to correct their bad driving behaviors and kind of give
them a second chance to redeem themselves. There was a debriefing that followed.
Day 1
First of all, I didn't have a problem with my client thinking out aloud because she loves to talk.
The following were topics of the comments made on the observed driving behaviors.
Speeding
Tailgating
Switching Lanes
Parking
Speeding
I've noticed that my client was heavy footed. I mentioned to her about the speeding issue several
times. Immediately after mentioning it to her, she would slow down. A few minutes would go
by and she would unconsciously slip back into speeding again. We were coming through the
Pali heading for Kailua and her speeding became very apparent because I noticed the constant
braking. From the top of the Pali down to the Manawili junction she alternated her brake pedal
along with the gas pedal.
Tailgating
Another observation that became very obvious was her tailgating other cars. I know it wasn't
intentional because she strongly believed that she wasn't tailgating. The space between you and
the car in front of you should be at least two car lengths. She felt that a car length was sufficient
enough distance, so that was a closed issue. I was a little uneasy because local people do not like
it when they're being tailgated. I was very uneasy coming through the Pali because it seemed at
times she was on the persons bumper. If any of the cars she tailgated decided to retaliate by
pressing their brakes, we could have gotten into a serious accident.
Switching Lanes
I observed her lane switching to be too abrupt. At times there were absolutely no signaling, just
a quick lane switch because the opportunity was there. What I mean by abrupt is usually when a
person switches lanes it's done gradually to ensure caution when doing so.
Parking
One of the most difficult parking maneuvers is the parallel parking. I observed my client trying
to park her car after the driving experience we just encountered. Instead of reversing into the
stall she decided to drive front first. Well, part of the rear of the car was sticking out onto the
roadway. It didn't bother her, but in my eyes the way the car was parked she was asking to get
hit by on coming cars.
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Day 2
Well, for the second day I decided to focus on the four driving behaviors from the day before.
Now, my task was to explain to her that I wanted her to drive the way I wanted her to drive. It
wasn't easy but it had to be done. She was cooperative, but hesitant because she knew that I'd be
concentrating on the things I commented on the day before.
Speeding
My client really tried to focus on driving the way I wanted. She knew how heavy footed she was
so she made a special effort to stay within the speed limits. We once again came through the Pali
down to Castle junction heading toward Waimanalo. This time she hardly ever braked and it was
a more comfortable ride. She said that she never realized that speeding was a problem with her
until I asked her to help with my project. She said now that she's aware of her unconscious
speeding, it's easier to eliminate this bad behavior. In my mind I was thinking easier said than
done, because when I'm not there to coach her, it'll be easy to slip back into old habits. I said to
her that sometimes old habits return if we're not careful.
Tailgating
This was another unconscious problem that needed to be resolved. As you recall, on the first day
she was quite firm on letting me know that tailgating wasn't a problem for her. She made it final
with me by not mentioning it again after letting me know where she stood with this issue. She
said to me after realizing the potential hazard with tailgating and that was because she thought
about our conversation the day before, that she'll try and make a conscious effort to minimize her
tailgating on this the second trip. When we first started our trip going through the Pali town
bound, she started to tailgate, but quickly pulled back when she was reminded of it. Her
conscious efforts paid off because she never did it again for the remainder of the trip.
Switching Lanes
You know, because my client has the tendency to speed, switching lanes is the next behavior that
inevitably will follow. My client likes to speed and along with her speeding is the lane switching
or weaving in and out of traffic. I reminded her of the lane switching problem we had and to just
be aware of it. Well, my client is now aware of her heavy foot problem which in turn has
temporarily subsided her switching lanes, at least for this trip. So far it's been good.
Parking
I had mentioned to my client that on day one her parallel parking needed some fine tuning. She
asked why and I said to her that the rear end of her car was sticking into the roadway on the first
day. The reason for that was because she went into the space front first. As we got closer to our
final destination she was reminded not to enter the space front first but to reverse into it. She was
compliant and did exactly what I asked. I must say that she did a perfect job in parallel
parking.
It's obvious that day 1 is much more different than day 2. It's like I said earlier, if people are
aware of their bad driving behaviors, than they're receptive to change. On day 1 my client was
relaxed and just being herself. So everything she did was natural and normal as far as she was
concerned. My comments seemed kind of harsh and it wasn't intended to be that way. It wasn't
well received because at times she did what she wanted to do. The tailgating experience is a
good example. I asked her how did she feel about my commenting on her driving habits. She
said that she wanted to choke my neck and hang me by my toes, but she knew this was a class
assignment and was trying to be helpful.
There's a significant change on day 2 compared to day 1. On day 2 my client became submissive
and did what I wanted her to do. When someone becomes submissive, they become teachable.
In my clients case, she was teachable. In the debriefing she said if it wasn't for my class
assignment she would probably continue to drive with her bad habits. She said at least for now
she's aware of it. I say at least she now has something to go on.
My client showed a lot of resistance on day 1. I believe the reason for that is not only what Dr.
James said in lecture that it could be due to being territorial, but also being able to accept
constructive criticism. If you've been driving a certain way for years and no one told you that
your driving behaviors needed some TLC, exactly how would you react if a friend asked you for
assistance on a school assignment, you say okay, and all he does is criticize your driving? I don't
know about you, but I would probably slap him up side of his head and tell him to take a flying
leap into the deepest part of the ocean. Personally, I think my friend was in denial. She probably
knew that her driving behaviors wasn't much to be desired and to hear it from me made her very
defensive. Her driving has road rage written all over it and when I explained the assignment to
her before and after, it probably made her wonder about things. You see, I've known her for a
long time and she probably feels guilty that I now know that she's been driving the way she
has.
a). Defensiveness:
My client was also defensive when making comments about her driving. A good example was
once again the tailgating incident from the first day. When I mentioned it to her, she felt that one
car length was sufficient enough distance. I strongly feel that because of it she was up on the
bumper of some cars especially coming down the Pali. I know I irritated her by saying she was
tailgating.
b). Hostility:
It's amazing how this sequence of questioning is falling into place. Once again, the tailgating
incident, how she got close to the cars in front of us coming down the Pali. When I look back on
the situation, I'm certain she was upset and did what she did on purpose. What's really alarming
is that act of hostility could have cost our lives. It's someone who's not in control to only think of
the moment and not what's beyond that. Someone in control of his thoughts and emotions would
be able to rationalize the situation. My friend was not in control and because of it risked my life
along with hers.
I don't think there was any lack of cooperation. I fail to see how this would fit into this situation.
If someone agrees to be a part of an assignment such as this one, wouldn't you say the person was
cooperative? She did everything I asked her to do, though I was met with some resistance and
irritation on her part. The bottom line is that she was cooperative.
d). Origin of the Resistance:
I firmly believe that the origin of her resistance stems back to when she first learned how to
drive. I'm sure like everyone else you put your best foot forward. After you get into the swing of
things you'll have the tendency to drop your guard. This is the time you're most vulnerable and
start to pick up on some bad habits. The habits stays with you for years and you'll not correct
yourself unless someone points them out to you. During this time you've convinced yourself that
this is not bad driving behaviors. I think this is rationalizing and desensitizing yourself from the
truth. Dr. James says it's called the Automatic Self. My friend I believe is in
a denial stage because if she was able to do what I asked her to do on the second day, then deep
in her subconscious mind she must know that it was the correct and good way of driving
behaviors. Here's something very interesting I found from Dr. James collection that deals with
the Private World of the Driver. It
might
better help you to understand where I'm coming from.
e). My Reaction:
I went into this with a total understanding of the difficulty of even finding someone to say yes to
this assignment. I knew what it entailed and was ready for surprises. The only thing that really
bothered me was the commenting, though I knew I had to do it whether I liked it or not. It was
truly uncomfortable for me to tell my friend that her driving basically needed some work. I mean
who am I to tell her those things, I'm not a qualified road examiner. That job is for the examiners
when someone renews their license. That was the only part about the assignment I didn't care
for.
f). Handling the Comments:
Making the comments was a difficult task for me. I cringed every time I commented, because I
feel it showed no respect for my friend. I mean, who am I to come into her car and comment on
her driving? Nobody has done that to her before, she told me I'm the first and I'm sure the last.
Like I said, I was very uncomfortable doing that. She had a hard time with it too. I don't think
she'll ever be doing anything like this again.
Believe me when I say it's uncomfortable making comments to your clients even after explaining
to them that it's part of the assignment. The only way to get around this is to ask someone you're
very close to. Wait, I'll take that back, not very close, just someone you're close to. Someone
who's understanding and someone you know that can take criticism from you. This is what I
should have done, I should have gotten a piece of paper and written down names of people.
Than I should have gone through a process of elimination that way I would have gotten someone
understanding and could take constructive criticism. I went with someone I was very close to
and ran across the problems I did. Don't make the same mistake, make a list, check it twice, and
see who's naughty and who's nice.
Epilogue
When doing this assignment folks, don't think about it because you'll only psyche yourself out,
Just Do It! That's what I did. It seemed I jumped around, but I saw the whole
picture, found the pieces and started piecing it together. Speaking about the whole picture, when
I look back on this report, I feel that it centers around the Affective Domain, because of the
events that have occurred during the course of the first day. I believe there was a lot of bottled
up feelings that came very close to boiling temperatures. There were times in the car that
feelings of anger was so thick you could cut it with a knife. If looks could kill, I wouldn't be here
writing this report. These were some of the feed back I was getting from my client. If she had
the nerve to tell me where to get off, I'd probably still be looking for another client. In that
respect I'm glad she didn't do that, I'm glad she decided to stick it out. I'm the kind of individual
that can sense when something isn't right. In this case I didn't sense it, I felt it.
She was irritated at me for coaching her the way I did. I tried to comment in a non threatening
voice, but no matter how it came out she was not accepting of it. Local people would say that
she was "Hard Headed," which simply means stubborn. Fortunately for me, on the second
day the feelings were no where near the way it was on the first day. She was cooperative and
compliant. I often ask myself what made her change her attitude toward me? Well, I figured that
because she gave me such a negative response on the first day that just maybe she wanted to
make up for it by changing her attitude toward the situation. She basically gave in, dropped her
guard, swallowed her pride whatever you want to call it and because of it, we had a positive
experience. On both occasions it involved feelings which is a direct result of the Affective Domain.
For you future generations, I'm going to give some links to Dr. James collection of personal
articles and theories in hopes that it will give some inspiration on the topic of traffic psychology.
The first deals with Road Rage and
Aggression. I use this link because people have the tendency to be aggressive when behind
the wheel of an automobile. They tend to do things that they wouldn't normally do if they
weren't behind the wheel. The next link I found to be very interesting because it help me to
judge exactly where I stood as far as aggression is concerned. It's a Self Witnessing Exercise. It also
helps you
to understand more in-depth the driving behavioral problems you need to work on. Another is Becoming a Reformed Driver. Here are
suggestions, comments, steps to help you in your quest to eliminate negative driving behaviors.
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