Psych WI/459; Fall 1997/G7; Dr. James
Note 1: You are to do Report 1 and one other report from the rest.
Note 2: Be sure to include each numbered sub-section in each report. Each sub-section must have a heading and must be tagged with <a name=>. You need to make a clickable Table of Contents from these tagged sub-sections.
Note 3: Wherever you see xxx, it is the second line of the title or subsection, and each student will make up their own for it.
Sections (be sure to have a tagged sub-title for each):
First, be sure there is a link to these instructions (this section), at the start of your report. There also needs to be a clickable Table of Contents. Be sure your <title> field is correctly filled in and you have a Nav Table at the bottom of the file.
1. Introduction:
xxx
Read, summarize, and link to earlier work by G6 students:
Kristy Kato (report 1), Kathy Subia (report 2), and Jenifer Kaneshiro (report 1).
2. Observations:
xxx
Use a tape recorder and/or a note pad to keep track of how driving is portrayed on TV. You need to identify the observation by the:
* day
* date
* time
* channel/network
* name of program
* type (e.g., car commercial, other commercial, cartoon for young kids, scene in a movie or serial, etc.).
Then give a specific description of:
* the characters
* the situation and what's happening
* how long it is relative to the whole or how prominent as a theme
Note: give a specific description of the bad driving behavior: e.g.,
driver looks at the passenger, away from the road, for 8 seconds; this is repeated twice. Or: child of 4 or 5 is shown taking over the wheel and fantasizing that he's taking controls at a car seat and driving around in a dangerous manner while the father looks on approvingly.
You need a total of 10 observations involving at least 3 types.
3. Analysis and Evaluation:
xxx
Analyze each observation in terms of how it might influence children and drivers in terms of:
* driving attitudes
* style
* morality.
For example, on 8-12-97 I (Dr. James) saw a CNN (channel 15) car commercial for a Ford Taurus car. It shows a car taking a bend around the road, accelerating fast enough to give a visual impression of g-force acting on the driver. Also shows some extra dust around the tires to heighten the impression. The voice called it "a family car -- but that can be your secret."
This commercial accomplishes several effects:
a) Encourages the desire for g-force sensations, hence driving fast around bends and curves.
b) Turns the idea of driving fast into a normal, legitimate attitude, even for families and children.
c) Weakens our inhibitors of speeding that may already be in place; thus, may encourage its practice and acceptability.
d) Dubbing the car and its activities as "your secret" encourages the Go ahead, indulge yourself mentality. That is, craving for g-force speed is allowed, do it. I give it a -3 rating.
Here is another car commercial I saw on CNN Headline News (8-12-97) for a Subaru car which was titled "The Ultimate Driving Machine."
Description: It showed a cowboy driving a car and three stuntmen dressed in strange clothes and faces (an allusion to ...?) assaulting the car as it sped by, jumping on the roof and looking inside and asking questions like "Oh, is that a leather seat?" etc.
Evaluation:
a) People jumping on the roof of a speeding car on the highway: this stretches the bounds of possibility yet, at the same time, it's made to look so real that it creates some doubt (e.g., maybe some stuntmen could do it, etc.). Insinuating doubt of bad driving behavior -- that's my interpretation.
b) Could contribute even more strongly to the confusion and doubt of children about what kind of driving behavior is possible or not, bad or not, very bad or n ot so bad, etc. Thus, they are less sure about what's risky and dangerous.
c) Facilitates fantasies of bad or risky driving behaviors. It could affect frequency of such fantasies, and these fantasies could have more general effects on driving itself, or on how one sees other drivers and how one relates to them. Could be a combination of fantasy and emotion that make this effect more dangerous.
Rating: -5
4. Rating: xxx
Develop a rating system that could be followed by future generations to accumulate a Web database cataloguing bad driving behaviors in the media. Some suggestions:
Prominent or explicit (is it a central theme of the driving/car episode described or just a passing quick detail, etc.)
Riskyness (if imitated, would the behavior be taking a mild risk or a potentially catastrophic one)
Realism (is it something people might imitate in real life)
Etc. Develop your own rating system, but it should be applicable to all bad driving episodes described. Perhaps one day there might be ratings for movies showing BD (bad driving behavior) along with Adult Language, Nudity, and Violence.
Discuss this possibility and some of its consequences.
5. Writing this Report: How has it Influenced me:
xxx
a) How do you think they've influenced your driving?
b) How can future generations promote this activity for the benefit of the online public?
c) Recapitulate for them your learning steps throughout this report writing, specifying changes in your feelings amd goals (affective domain), thoughts and knowledge (cognitive domain), and actions or activities (sensorimotor domain).
Sections (be sure to have a tagged sub-title for each):
1. First, be sure there is a link to these instructions (this section), at the start of your report. There also needs to be a clickable Table of Contents. Be sure your <title> field is correctly filled in and you have a Nav Table at the bottom of the file.
2. Summarize the experience of 3 students in G5 who have conducted a QDC and link to them (remember: only rleative links allowed: ../../ etc.). Try these from G6 Traffic Psychology: Raeder Kinney's report 1, Jennifer Kaneshiro's report 2, and Lisa among's report 2.
3. Then, for each, evaluate their method and success.
4. Now run your own QDC and describe your method and success.
5. What future do you see for QDCs? Consult the Congressional Testimony on Dr. Driving's Page.
6. According to you, how would one promote this activity?
What other activity like it is now going on among citizen groups?
What are the implications for driver's ed, for licensing, and for insurance discounts?
7. How can future generations promote this activity?
8. End your paper with a section called Epilogue. Speak to future generations and recapitulate for them your learning steps throughout this report writing, specifying changes in your feelings amd goals (affective domain), thoughts and knowledge (cognitive domain), and actions or activities (sensorimotor domain).
Note:Follow the same procedures and rules for this as you did for report 1.
Sections (be sure to have a tagged sub-title for each):
1. First, be sure there is a link to these instructions (this section), at the start of your report. There also needs to be a clickable Table of Contents. Be sure your <title> field is correctly filled in and you have a Nav Table at the bottom of the file.
2. Describe and explain the self-witnessing method for drivers. Use two sources: first, go to "Dr. Driving's Site" reachable from Dr. James' Home Page. Then, go to the Traffic Psychology Generations and look around for more on the self-witnessing technique. Be sure to link to all the documents you take information from.
3. Now do some brief self-witnessing behind the wheel, keeping track of your feelings, thoughts, and actions. Use a tape recorder or a note pad before you leave the car. Describe what it was like to collect data in this manner.
4. What did you discover about your driving personality? Be sure to be specific in terms of Affective, Cognitive, and Sensorimotor driving behaviors.
5. Go to Cara Lucey's report 1 in G6 Traffic Psychology and read her experience and suggestions about working with children and driving issues. Summarize and link to her. Now train a child or teenager to do self-witnessing while being a passenger, pedestrian, or cyclist. Keep detailed notes. What was it like doing this part? What problems did you run into? What advice do you have about it?
6. What results did you obtain?
7. What are your recommendations for further developing this method? In what way is it important? How can it be made available to more kids?
8. What should future generations do about pursuing this activity?
9. End your paper with a section called Epilogue. Speak to future generations and recapitulate for them your learning steps throughout this report writing, specifying changes in your feelings amd goals (affective domain), thoughts and knowledge (cognitive domain), and actions or activities (sensorimotor domain).
Note:Follow the same procedures and rules for this as you did for report 1.
Sections (be sure to have a tagged sub-title for each):
1. First, be sure there is a link to these instructions (this section), at the start of your report. There also needs to be a clickable Table of Contents. Be sure your <title> field is correctly filled in and you have a Nav Table at the bottom of the file.
2. Go to the Site Index for Dr. James Home Page. Use one or several of the search methods described there to find student reports on two concepts: "driving buddy" (or "driving-buddy"). Also search for "make-over" or "makeover" (which will lead you to driving personality makeovers by students).
3. First describe what it was like to do the searching. Second, describe what you found, and link to them. How do you react to all this new information and work by the generations?
4. Now coach a person to do a mini-driving personality make-over, using these standard steps:
Day 1: your client drives the usual way and you make comments as a passenger on whatever you observe.
Keep encouraging the driver to think aloud.
Take notes during the trip as well as after the trip when you discuss the experience with your client.
Day 2: for the duration of this trip, your client agrees to drive the way you want.
Keep encouraging the driver to think aloud.
Take notes during the trip and after, following the de-briefing session.
5. Write up a description of the two days and discuss the differences. Rely on your notes.
6. What principles of traffic psychology can you draw from this attempt?
Focus especially on resistance. Consult Dr. Driving's Page and the information there about resistance to good driving behavior. Link to palces you found useful.
Discuss how your client show resistance. Defensiveness? Hostility? Lack of cooperation? What's the origin of this resistance? How did you react? How did you try to handle it? How did you feel about it?
(Note: be sure to answer each question in an adequate manner.)
7. Now give recommendations about how this activity should be continued by future generations.
8. End your paper with a section called Epilogue. Speak to future generations and recapitulate for them your learning steps throughout this report writing, specifying changes in your feelings amd goals (affective domain), thoughts and knowledge (cognitive domain), and actions or activities (sensorimotor domain).
Note:Follow the same procedures and rules for this as you did for report 1.
Sections (be sure to have a tagged sub-title for each):
1. First, be sure there is a link to these instructions (this section), at the start of your report. There also needs to be a clickable Table of Contents. Be sure your <title> field is correctly filled in and you have a Nav Table at the bottom of the file.
2. Consult two reports. First, Kristin Subia's G6 report 1 in traffic psychology. Summarize her work and link to parts you use. Second, Andrew Shapiro's report available from Dr. Driving's Site. Summarize his work and link to it.
3. Plan your study and describe it, including method and predictions or expectations. Your task is to collect observations as a driver witness while driving. You observe and capture the driver exchanges you can witness while driving.
4. Keep track of your observations using a tape recorder -- you can't rely on memory for details and you can't write while driving. However, it's possible to do it with a buddy who could then take notes and help you make the observations. Identify when and how drivers communicate with each other. Describe each type of situation and what methods are used for interaction.
Examples of driving situations are:
changing lanes, merging lanes at entrances, making turns, yielding the way, making room in one's lane for someone, overtaking, racing with, etc.
Examples of methods of interaction are:
waving hand, nodding head, flipping the bird, staring, revving the engine at someone, tailgating to indicate "go faster," braking suddenly as a sign of protest, honking, yelling, approaching fast to threaten, etc.
Note that all methods have to do with communicating a message to the other driver.
5. Evaluate each type of interaction and method you discover:
How widespread is it?
Who uses it?
How effective is it?
What is its function for the doer?
For the receiver?
6. What recommendations do you have for developing official methods of interaction and communication among drivers (e.g., specific signs or gestures, flip cards with messages, CB radio, telephone, etc.)?
How should they be taught?
What would be their usefulness?
How would you research their effectiveness (be specific).
7. Now search the Web for anything relevant on this. Describe:
the search terms you used
the search engine
what the results were.
8. Now search a library catalog (online on the Web--see UH library link off Instructor's Home Page).
Describe what terms you used and what you found.
9. What are your recommendations for the continuation of this activity by future students?
10. End your paper with a section called Epilogue. Speak to future generations and recapitulate for them your learning steps throughout this report writing, specifying changes in your feelings amd goals (affective domain), thoughts and knowledge (cognitive domain), and actions or activities (sensorimotor domain).