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Traffic Psychology is the study of our thoughts and behaviors involving traffic - this includes the different behaviors we have, the different attitudes and personalities that we have, and the different ways we cope with our daily stress as road users. The principle domains include the affective domain, which are the feelings and motives, the cognitive domain, which are the thoughts and judgements, and the sensorimotor domain, the sensory input and motor output. Traffic Psycholgy also attempts at identifying dangerous driving persoanlities, behaviors, and patterns and seeks mehods to help modify such behaviors. Such methods include Self-witnessing techniques, Self-Modification, Driving Buddies, and Quality Driving Circles.
Traffic psychology examines the fundamental origins of
our actions in a subjective manner and this allows for precise evaluation
of complex behavior. Such behaviors deals with affective, cognative, and
sensory-motor aspects of people, in the context of driving. In which traffic
psychology allows us to identify the affective feeling that cause cognitive
thoughts which modiofy our behavior. Traffic Psychology can then be defined
as tool, through which subjective analysis functions to increase the quality
of life through consise and subjective behavior observance, identification
, and modification.
Through reading I had a feeling of what is this person writting then when I tried to reword it in my head it made a little sense. I think that the language being used in the definition tends to be a little jargoned. Other than that thought the definition I got out of it is that Traffic psychology can help people to realize what they do while driving and modify this behavior to make it acceptable.
The definition used by Ryan
"traffic psychology is all about learning to control our anger so that
we can learn to control ourselves better behind the wheel rather than controlling
a metal chariot across asphalt." "The rest of the reading talks about what
had happened to him and what he tried to do to modify the behavior.By driving
fast I think that we are trying to regain control of the situation, or
at least trying to make ourselves feel that we are capable of controlling
something. Because if we are not in control, it implies that we are helpless
or weak."
Through reading Ryan Mitsui's definition on traffic psychology I feel a sense of why does a person do what they do even when they know the consequences. Also his statement of trying to regain control of the situation was quite interesting, what I got out of it is that people use their vehicles as an extention of themselves.
My reaction to this report was similar to Shane's definition with an added twist. This twist was due to the negative and positive view of things which needed to be done first. To some extent I can see this being used for other activities in which we share space with others. More and more we are going to need this because more people are using the roads and more people are gathering in suburbs.
Traffic psychology is used to describe the process in which various methods are implemented in order to modify driving behavior. Self Witnessing and Quality Driving Circles is used to identify driving disabilities necessary to begin the modification process. Driving behavior is influenced by the affective (feelings), cognitive (thoughts), and sensorimotor (actions) domains, these three are in effect during times on the road. Also Dina Takahashi wrote " A good driver is one that understands the needs of other drivers. He/she drives defensively and is prepared for any situation that might occur. This is exhibited through use of the turn signals(sensorimotor), appropriate distancing, and awareness of their surroundings. They are also gracious and respond thankfully. This in turn makes the other drivers feel appreciated (affective). "
In Dina's definition of Traffic Psychology she decribes
affective, cognitive, and sensorimotor. This so far was the best description
of traffic psychology with examples to help illustrate it. I had an easier
time understanding what it is and could actually imagine what each part
means and what it relates to.
In Phuong
Wataoka's definition of Traffic Psychology Phuong
states that it is similar to all branches of psychology such as cognitive,
social, affective, and or personality psychology. Phuong
basically states traffic psychology as "Traffic psychology, a title that
speaks for itself, is about how people's behaviors are affected and influenced
when driving or sharing the road." Phuong
also viewed traffic psychology as not just a psychology of cars but also
for walking, biking, running, flying, swimming.
I liked the fact that Phuong
thought of traffic psychology as being parts of all branches of psychology.
Esspecially where Phuong views this type of psychology as not just dealing
with cars but with all types of movements. This definition did not use
to much technical or jargon terms so it was a little easier to read.
Experiencing a persons driving can be very diffucult until
a person trains themselves to look at everything that they are thinking
and what they are doing. For my self I feel that I have started to change
as a driver from the beginning of the class to now. This is only the beginning,
the information and all of the experiences of others help to want to improve
on my driving skills. I think that I am a good driver yet when I sit behind
the wheel I tend to get nervous when driving next to the wall on the freeway.
I also tend to not drive next to a big truck because of the noise. With
these two and many more things I do not like while driving I tend to think
to myself some bad things, which slip my mind as fast as they came. The
only thing though, with the course now I find myself seeing all of these
faults in my driving and I am trying to improve.
Being a pedestrian on the road you see much more of everything.
I remember this one situation where a middle aged woman was crossing a
four lane, one way street and a motorcyclist hit her with his mirror. I
tried rushing to the scene to see if I could help but she was fine just
some bruises. I learned for this ladies mistake of crossing the road and
stopping in the middle of her tracks because she was scared. This is one
of my most memorable insidences, personally though I am always watching
out for reckless drivers and take a defensive position as a pedestrian.
I never criticized a persons driving while being a pedestrian though.
Not being in the drivers seat takes away from a persons
ability to choose and make decisions so being a passenger sometimes takes
more guts than riding a rollercoaster with no safty harnesses. I had an
experience being a passenger while the driver was not paying much attention
to the road and tended to cross the lines. This made me very nervous and
always watching out for the other persons driving. The only thing though
which I really notice the difference is that as a passenger you get to
look at everything going on around you where as the driver has to always
look at the road.
I think that for future generations should try to start
early just in case something last minute comes up. Also it may be beneficial
for the future generation to focus on the one they like the best and from
there relate them to each other. This would be quite interesting to see
the results. I feel that it would allow a person to understand a little
better than trying to read five and summerize a summary of the definition.
In psychology there are many fields in which to study and do research in. Many of them though rely on the patients going through a therapy session where the person may end up paying a lot of money. Traffic psychology takes a different approach to a problem that is becoming more and more prevalent in our society today. This approach uses Self Witnessing and Quality Driving Circles which does not require a therapy session and can reach more people in a shorter amount of time.