Instruction for the Report on How Music Affects Drivers

Will we be tuning in or tuning out?

When I first read the title of this report my mind tried to comprehend the different affects that music could have on a person's driving. After reading the instructions, I had a better understanding of the concepts that I would be looking at in this report. I will be summarizing and looking at issues about music and driving on the Internet, the past generation reports, e-mail messages, and the Rothe textbook.

E-mail exchange

The original topic that spawned this e-mail exchange (This exchange took place over a span of 2 weeks) was "Does music affect driving?" The responses to this original topic varied from person to person as everyone add their own personal thoughts and experiences with driving and listening to music. The different topics that were brought up were driving with no music, driving with different types of music and its effects on driving, how music distracts drivers, and the level that music is played in the car. I will use quotes from these e-mails as well as talk about each different topic that was discussed in this e-mail exchange.

When I'm driving, music makes me relaxed and clam. I feel that when I'm driving in traffic the music that I listen to helps me to feel less anxious and frustrated. I'm able to tolerate more unsafe drivers by letting them get a head of me.

Once in a while someone turns off the music in my car before I get in and when I realize that it is off it suprises me. I find myself almost in a meditative state when the radio is off. I am more calm and am able to control my feelings more!

It seems that more people find it relaxing to have the music turned off while driving, this would make sense because your mind doesn't have to work on processing extra sensory input because there is no continuous music or sound present. Therefore, your mind could preserve this lowering of stimulus as a calming effect.

Another topic that was brought up in this discussion was the effects that different types of music have on a person that is driving. I brought up this topic, so I don't think that I have to quote myself. I will just try to explain the point that I was trying to make about different types of music and its effects on the listener. I for one have found that classical music is very soothing and calm to listen to, this type of music helps to take the edge off Friday afternoon traffic on the H1 and H2. (Names of highways in Hawaii) I just find it have to get angry or aggressive while I am listening to Chopin, Beethoven, or Tschaikovsky. For example right now I am listening to the CD David Foster Recordings (An instrumental CD) and I feel relaxed and I am able to organize my thoughts to write this report.

On the other hand, I tend to get more aggressive and tense when I listen to rock any music with a fast tempo and a driving beat. I find that I drive faster (10-20 miles over speed limit) and I tend to not notice many other things on the road. (I will elaborate more on this later in this report) I also, seem to block out a lot of the things that are happening around me like other cars merging or braking. I think this happens because I am getting caught up in the music whether it be bouncing my head back and forth or trying to sing along with the radio. Therefore, from my own personal experience I have come to the conclusion that the type of music has a definite effect on the person that is listening to it.

I got caught speeding twice in my life and both of the times it was because I was listening to the music in my car and did not realize how fast I was going.

In the earlier section, I stated that I tend to not notice things when I listen to rock or up-tempo music, this lack of attention got me into a little trouble with a police officer once. I was listening to Jump by the House of Pain, it was my senior year in high school and I was driving to a club function. I was in a fifty mile an hour zone and I was just driving when I saw the cops lights go on behind me. I then looked at the speedometer and I was going 90 in the 50 zone. I had totally lost track of how fast I was going because I was too caught up in the song. In this respect music and the loss of attention that it brings while driving did have a serious consequence for me because I had to spend 6 hours in defensive driving classes for three Saturdays.

The last topic that was discussed was the level that music was played at in cars. Here is a part of Ms. Evert's response to the rest of the class on this topic.

If all of this is right, I should technically be a VERY aggressive, speeding maniac on the road, because when I drive I like my music loud and usually fast-paced and "singable" (meaning I can sing along). Although I am no Ms. Perfection, I am more often times getting passed than doing the passing, as I usually try to stay no more than 10 mph over the speed limit.

Well I have to say that I have had many different experiences with music and driving. As a child, my mother would always have the radio on when she drove anywhere. I don't know if it was to listen to the music or to just drown out the sound of my sister and I arguing in the car. As a teenager I had many experiences with music and driving, there was many times that changing the CD or looking for a radio station almost caused an accident. I can give these almost accidents (attribute in some way to music) a rough number and that would be15 times. Now I am a semi-responsible 24 year old and I can say that my driving have improved dramatically from when I first started to drive. I still listen to the radio when I drive, but have found that "mellow" music is the key for better driving performance in my life. I like to listen to KRTR or 96.3 because of the type of music that is played on this station, it helps to relax and improve my driving by reducing aggression and it doesn't distract me from driving.

Usenet and Web

For this section, I searched (excite and altavista) the web and usenet for places that talked about music or driving. I used many different combinations of words and came up with a few places that have discussions on music.

Generations

Rothe textbook

 There were a few sections in the book Challenging the Old Order that relates to the topic of music and driving. In chapter 8 of the book, the author talks about traffic safety and media environments and the effects of media.

Along with the growing prominence of mass-media communication in public life, there has arisen great concern about the impact of media programming on individual and social behavior. Studies have grouped the analysis of impacts into tow categories, namely intended and unintended effects. (Rothe pg. 151)

Problems in the Media Environment

Every specific message, whether it originates form advertisers, governments corporations, nonprofit agencies, or others, strikes its target audience as one of the vast and unending stream of all sorts of messages on all sorts of topics.

It could be said that the media of music has a profound effect on the lives of its listeners whether they know it or not. For example in early February someone called into a local radio station and said that they heard Mariah Carey say something negative about Hawaiians on a late night talk show. There were suddenly dozens of calls to other radio stations by people saying that they also heard this statement. These radio stations called all of the national late night talk shows and asked if Mariah Carey had been on and if she had made these comments. The talk shows replied that Ms. Carey did not make these statements on any talk show. This kind of media rumor shows how much our lives are affected by the things that we hear on the radio or see on television. Therefore, wouldn't the negative lyrics that are found in many of today's music be affecting the way that drivers act on the roads. Parents have been lobbying that music causes violent behavior in children and teenagers, but no one is making the statement that aggressive driving might be linked to the media or the types of music that people listen to while driving their cars.

List

Here is a list of articles from journals and magazines that deal with the topics of music and driving or the effects of music.

I found these articles when I searched for the words music and driving in the journal database at the University of Hawaii at Manoa library. These are the best matches for these words because they all deal with music and its effects on driving or having to do with driving.

Fost, D. Let the music play. American Demographics, July 1995, v17, n7, p24(1).

Spinney, L. Pump down the volume. (the effect of music on driving) New Scientist, July 19, 1997, v155, n2091, p22 (1).

Turner, M.L., Fernandez, J.E., and Nelson, K. The effect of music amplitude on the reaction to unexpected visual events. The Journal of General Psychology, Jan 1996, v123, n1, p51 (12).

 These articles didn't have anything to do with the actual driving of a car while listening to music, but they are linked to music and the effects that it has on people.

Ogata, S. Human EEG responses to classical music and simulated white moise: effects of musical loudness component on consciousness. Perceptual and Motor Skill, June 1995, v80, n3, p770 (12).

This article has to do with the human brain's electrical responses when classical music and white noise is introduce to the subject. I thought that this was relevant because I had stated earlier that classical music seems to have a calming and relaxing effect when I listen to it. If this is true then more people should listen to classical music while driving it might reduce anger and aggression.

The next articles deal with memory associated with music and drivers reflexes.

Youngjohn, J.R., and Others. Test-Retest Reliability of computerized, Everyday Memory Measures and Traditional Memory Tests. 1991, v90.

Congress 102nd; National Issues; Turn It Down: Effects of Noise on Hearing Loss in Children and Youth. Hearing before the Select Committee on Children Youth, and Families. House of Representatives, One Hundred Second Congress, First Session. 1991, v143, n150.

Others in my class

Conclusion

I think that future generations can use my document as a starter on their way to understanding music and its relationship with driving. I think that I have answered the questions that were posed of me for this report, but I also feel that I have posed a few question that can only be answered in the future. I don't think that my ideas are totally right and I would be glad if someone from another generation wrote to me in a few years and told me that my conclusions couldn't hold water. This would mean that this person had to have read my report and understood the point that I was trying to make. In addition to coming up with conclusions that they also, improved on the report and brought the conclusions up to date. I think that this is the whole concept of a generational curriculum, the reevaluation of prior information and its use in the present to help construct new ideas and theories.

I also, think that the class should be required to buy a book on HTML code and how to write HTML code. It will only benefit the students if they learn how to write the code manually then they can learn to use an editor.