Lecture Notes Driving Psychology 409a, G20, S2004 Dr. Leon James Instructor

These sensorimotor norms are inadequate and immature. Lifelong driver self-improvement exercises are necessary to reach more competent habits of driving.

7. Driving norms and behavior can be changed by socio-cultural management techniques that create in the driver a desire for change, by weakening negative norms and strengthening positive norms of driving. Since driving is a habit in three domains of behavior, driving self-improvement is possible and effective in improving this habit. Specific elements in each domain must be addressed in recognition of the fact that driving consists of thousands of individual habits or sub-skills, each of which can be identified, measured, and improved, on a long term basis.

8. Drivers maintain strong resistance to externally imposed restrictions and regulations so that these methods alone are not sufficient to create real changes in driver behavior. Socio-cultural methods of influence need to be used, such as QDCs (Quality Driving Circles). Driving Psychology uses socio-cultural methods that act as change agents. Group dynamic forces are powerful influencing agents that can overcome drivers’ resistance to change. This is achieved by group activities that focus on this resistance in an explicit way, and afterwards, are put into conscious practice through follow up self-witnessing activities behind the wheel. These informal groups are called QDCs (Quality Driving Circles) and their function is to exert a long term or permanent socio-moral influence on the driving quality of its members. This positive influence is exerted by members on each other when they adhere to a Standard QDC Curriculum, as approved by designated safety officials or agencies on a regional or national basis. The QDC Curriculum is created through the principles of driving psychology.

9. Driving is a semi-conscious activity since much of it depends on automatized habits acquired through culture and experience over several years. Thus, the driver’s self-assessment is not objective or accurate, until trained in objective self-assessment procedures.

10. Driving inherently involves taking risks, making errors, and losing emotional self-control. Thus, drivers need to be trained in risk taking, error recovery, and emotional control under emergency or provocation conditions.

11. Obtaining a driver’s license cannot be considered the end of driver training. Continued driver training in the form of guided lifelong self-improvement activities is essential for acquiring new skills. These new skills are needed as driving gets more complex with technology such as managing car audio devices , reading maps on screens , using computers , note taking , talking on phone or radio , keeping to a schedule , eating, etc. The Standard QDC Curriculum (Quality Driving Circles) needs to be kept up-dated continuously and the latest additions are to be made available to all functioning QDCs in a region. These up-dates are to focus on new developments that technology brings to vehicles and roads, all of which require the acquisition of new skills by drivers.

The above comes from: www.drdriving.org/articles/taxonomy.htm

Emotionally Intelligent Driver Personality Skills

Driver Competence Skills	Aggressive NEGATIVE DRIVING	Supportive POSITIVE DRIVING	YOUR DRIVING
Driver Competence Skills	Not Emotionally Intelligent (REPTILIAN DRIVING)	Emotionally Intelligent (CORTICAL DRIVING)	What would be your words here?
1. Focusing on self vs. blaming others or the situation	"This traffic is impossibly slow. What’s wrong with these jerks. They’re driving like idiots."	"I’m feeling very impatient today. Everything seems to tick me off."
2. Understanding how feelings and thoughts act together	"I’m angry, scared, outraged. How can they do this to me."	"I feel angry, scared, outraged when I think about what could have happened."
3. Realizing that anger is something we choose vs. thinking it is provoked	"They make me so mad when they do that."	"I make myself so mad when they do that."
4. Being concerned about consequences vs. giving in to impulse	"I just want to give this driver a piece of my mind. I just want him to know how I feel."	"If I respond to this provocation I lose control over the situation. It’s not worth it."
5. Showing respect for others and their rights vs. thinking only of oneself	"They better stay out of my way. I’m in no mood for putting up with them. Out of my way folks."	"I wish there was no traffic but it’s not up to me. These people have to get to their destination too."
6. Accepting traffic as collective team work vs. seeing it as individual competition	"Driving is about getting ahead. I get a jolt out of beating a red light or finding the fastest lane. It’s me vs. everybody else."	"I try to keep pace with the traffic realizing that my movements can slow others down—like switching lanes to try to get ahead."
7. Recognizing the diversity of drivers and their needs and styles vs. blaming them for what they choose to do	"How can they be so stupid? They’re talking on the phone instead of paying attention to the road."	"I need to be extra careful around drivers using a hand held cellular phone since they may be distracted."
8. Practicing positive role models vs. negative	"Come on, buddy, speed up or I’ll be on your tail. Go, go. What’s wrong with you. There’s no one ahead."	"This driver is going slower than my desires. Now I can practice the art of patience and respect for the next few minutes."
9. Learning to inhibit the impulse to criticize by developing a sense of driving humor	"I can’t stand all these idiots on the road. They slow down when they should speed up. They gawk, they crawl, anything but drive."	"I’m angry, I’m mad Therefore I’ll act calm, I’ll smile and not compete. Already I feel better. Be my guest, enter ahead."
10. Taking driving seriously by becoming aware of one’s mistakes and correcting them	"I’m an excellent driver, assertive and competent, with a clean accident record—just a few tickets here and there."	"I monitor myself as a driver and keep a driving log of my mistakes. I think it’s important to include thoughts and feelings, not just the overt acts."

The above comes from: www.drdriving.org/articles/driving_psy.htm

THE COST TO SOCIETY OF REPTILIAN DRIVING PROBLEM
DIRECT COSTS	INDIRECT COSTS
fatalities (500,000 per decade) injuries (25 million per decade) dollars (250 billion per year) long-term loss of health increased stress levels in daily life (hassles and concerns) fear and threat on streets and highways weakening of our moral IQ (condoning cynicism and aggressiveness) lowering of our emotional IQ (reptilian driving)	promotion of learned negativity in public places leading to automotive vigilantism and widely deployed electronic surveillance systems lowered productivity when arriving at work mad and exhausted learned cynicism (aggressive driving norms and disrespect for regulations) leading to alienation and disunion among highway citizens greater air pollution caused by the emotional use of the gas pedal ( getting less gas per mileage) breeding the next generation of aggressive drivers, continuing the cultural cycle (our children in the car imbibing our cynicism and aggressiveness

The above comes from: www.drdriving.org/articles/qdc.htm

Exercise: Scenario Analysis to Develop Critical Thinking

Dear DrDriving,

I'm a 16 year old boy and I was driving in tandem with a friend who is unfamiliar with driving in that area and on the freeway. It was almost midnight and we were driving to our homes. I had a friend from work who invited us to a party but we couldn't find his place so we drove back. I lost the address and all we did was drive around then started to go home. We did not have anything to drink and nobody had taken any drugs.

We got onto the freeway and while we were driving, a black SUV pulled up really fast and close behind my friend's car-who was in the center lane. I was in the left lane and wanted to stay close to my friend so he would not get lost. The SUV swerved around my friend's car to the slow lane and went past really fast. He started to swerve around all the other cars ahead of us and we thought he was gone.

A little bit later he was held up in the traffic and my friend and I were both in the left lane and passed him. My friend and I had to change to another freeway that had only two lanes for a while. The SUV took the same exit and my friend and I thought it was funny that he was behind us and we slowed down in both of the lanes (stupid plan). He pulled up behind me and then behind my friend and began pointing a gun. We got really scared and did everything we could to get away. He followed us really fast but never tried to pass us. This went on for miles. We were all swerving through traffic. I think I was driving about 90 miles an hour. Sometimes we thought he was gone and then we would see that he was just kind of hiding behind other cars. We got close to our exit and I started to flash my lights and honk at my friend so that he knew to take the exit. When we took the exit we saw the SUV follow us then pull over on the off-ramp.

When we got onto the road we were met by lots of police cars. We ended up with tickets for reckless driving and we are going to plead not guilty. We think that this driver did something illegal and could have caused an accident. We know that we were stupid and added to the problem but we think that he's an adult and he was the one who was making it into a battle. What do you think? Do you have any suggestions how to handle this? Thanks.

The Chart below identifies the specific chain of steps that together make up this road rage incident. There are 13 bad driving behaviors these two teenagers performed in sequence, as evidenced by their own description of the events (middle column). Your comments should answer two questions: (a) how does each step contribute to their trouble (focus on the bold words in column 2), and (b) how could they have backed out of it at each step by doing something else. Have your friends or family members also complete the exercise, then get together to compare and discuss everybody's solutions. Doing this exercise will strengthen your emotional intelligence as a driver by making you more aware of how your behavior influences other people's behavior on highways.

Scenario Analysis of Teen Drivers' Unrecognized Road Rage Behavior
Emotionally challenged behavior	Segment from the letter	State how each step contributes to trouble.	Suggest smarter behavior.
1. Playing games on the highway.	"I'm a 16 year old boy and I was driving in tandem with a friend."
2. Driving after curfew	"It was almost midnight"
3. Losing the address and going anyway	"I lost the address and all we did was drive around then started to go home"
4. Driving abreast occupying center lane and fast (left) lane	"I was in the left lane and wanted to stay close to my friend--who was in the center lane"
5. Blocking the way so the SUV had to pass in the right (slow) lane	"SUV pulled up really fast and close behind my friend's car-who was in the center lane"
6. Discounting the seriousness of the incident	"we thought he was gone"
7. Not realizing they were doing something provocative	"My friend and I were both in the left lane and passed him"
8. Not realizing that the incident has now escalated into a potential duel	"The SUV took the same exit and my friend and I thought it was funny that he was behind us"
9. Finally realizing this is trouble but still acting like they're in a duel, escalating the fight instead of backing down	"we slowed down in both of the lanes (stupid plan). He pulled up…and began pointing a gun."
10. Engaging in reckless driving--weaving through traffic at high speeds getting away from a chase	"We got really scared and did everything we could to get away. He followed us really fast but never tried to pass us. This went on for miles. We were all swerving through traffic. I think I was driving about 90 miles an hour"
11. Engaging in further provocative behavior by ignoring its potential effect on the pursuer	"I started to flash my lights and honk at my friend so that he knew to take the exit"
12. Trying to diffuse their own responsibility in the sequence of events, as a sort of denial	"We think that this driver did something illegal and could have caused an accident"
13. Hiding behind inadmissible excuses, avoiding to admit what they did wrong, and refusing to think objectively about it	"We know that we were stupid and added to the problem but we think that he's an adult and he was the one who was making it into a battle"

The above is from our textbook: Road Rage and Aggressive Driving (Chapter 9) by Leon James and Diane Nahl:

www.drdriving.org/articles/book_toc.htm

Reading List and References

Textbook:

Road Rage and Aggressive Driving (2000) by Leon James and Diane Nahl

Articles on Driving Psychology by Leon James
and Reports by Students

Traffic Psychology at the University of Hawaii (2003)
www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy/traffic/tpintro.html

Driving Psychology Principles: Part 1
www.drdriving.org/articles/driving_psy.htm

Driving Psychology Principles: Part 2
www.drdriving.org/articles/principles.htm

Dealing With Stress and Pressure in the Vehicle: Taxonomy of Driving Behavior: Affective, Cognitive, Sensorimotor by Leon James and Diane Nahl (2002)
www.drdriving.org/articles/taxonomy.htm

Loosening the Grip of Anger Behind the Wheel (1999)
www.drdriving.org/articles/workshop.htm

Drivers Behaving Badly on TV, Movies, Cartoons, Music Videos, Car Commercials: DBB Ratings from the Generational Curriculum (1997)
www.drdriving.org/articles/dbb.htm

Aggressive Driving is Emotionally Impaired Driving (2000)
www.drdriving.org/courses/conference_paper.htm

Driving Distracted: Theory and Facts (2002)
www.drdriving.org/articles/distracted.htm

Gender Differences in Driving Norms
www.drdriving.org/articles/gender.htm

Student Reports on Driving Personality Makeovers
www.drdriving.org/articles/makeover.htm

Student Reports on Being a Driving Buddy
www.drdriving.org/articles/makeover.htm

Musings of a Traffic Psychologist in Traffic (1985)
www.drdriving.org/articles/musings.htm

Driver Personality Test and Results (1998)
www.drdriving.org/surveys/driver_personality.htm

Christian Driving Psychology (1996)
www.drdriving.org/articles/christ.htm

Form to Keep Track
of the Class's Driving Psychology Model

Anonymous (no name).

G20/409a Anonymous Survey on Driving

1. How serious is the problem of driving behavior in our society?. Circle the number on the scale that is closest to your view today.

1 = It is a minor problem in relation to unemployment or the war in Iraq.

5 = It is a serious problem equivalent to crime and poverty in society.

10 = It is a major problem endangering the survival of our society as we know it.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Please explain why you selected that number. Use back or additional sheet if needed.

2. To what extent should your driving philosophy and style be taken as a moral issue in your life? Circle the number on the scale that is closest to your view today.

1 = My driving philosophy and style should count as a safety and legal issue, not moral or religious.

5 = My driving philosophy and style should count as a moral or religious issue in my life.

10 = My driving philosophy and style should count as my inner spiritual character, whether I am a good or evil person.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Please explain why you selected that number. Use back or additional sheet if needed.

Instructions for Your Report 1

0. Title of the report:

Driving Psychology: Theory and Application
by (your name)

Give a link to these instructions at the top of your report under the title. The address of this document is:
www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy20/g20lecturenotes409a.htm

1. Preface

First you need to navigate or explore the Generational Curriculum. All prior generation reports of students can be accessed from the G20 Class Home Page at: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy20/g20classhome.html

Or you can access reports through the Generations Directory:
www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy/gc/generations.html
Start with Generation 1 in the Psychology "459" column, which was traffic psychology then. Click on the student home pages and then on each of their reports. Look for the reports on driving and the generational curriculum. Look at the work of several students. Then go back to the directory of generations and click on Generation 2. Continue exploring for a total of about 10 hours in several sessions.

Note 1: Email Dr. James at leon@hawaii.edu if you find links that don't work. In your message copy-paste (1) the address of the file and (2) the link that doesn't work. Thanks.

Note 2: If you come across a dead link you can backspace over the file name in the Address Window of the Browser, so that you have the directory showing: e.g.
www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/409af96/morifuji/499/report5.html
change to:
www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/409af96/morifuji/499/
This now works, It is a directory so you can click on the files shown.

Make sure you take notes, so have your word processor open at the same time. Copy and paste the addresses of the reports of interest to you. Include paragraphs or diagrams that will help you later write your own report better. Add notes and comments of your own to keep track of your original reactions and thoughts. You'll be very glad to have these notes later, when you are writing up your Report 1.

Now begin the Preface by telling the reader about the context of the this course and what it means to you to be Generation 20. What aspect of the course did students generally like and appreciate? How do you feel about continuing the generational reports with your own work? What is the range of topics students wrote about?

Then, refer to three specific student reports, each from a different generation, that are relevant to the topic of driving psychology. Make links to their reports. Summarize briefly and comment.

2. Introduction

What is the topic of this course? What is the purpose of this course as you understand it? Use the information in this document but do not quote--use your own words. Also, use the information you gathered in our class presentations and lecture-discussions. How are you involved in this topic? Is this a meaningful topic for you right now? What is the likely consequence of your having taken this course?

3. Definitions

Define the terms below by reading the prior generational curriculum reports. Link to the reports you are referencing. Then find definitions given by Dr. James in the articles listed in the Reading List (above). Link to the appropriate references when you use them (do not quote--use your own sentences). You can also use your class discussion notes. Indicate who reported or discussed those definitions. So you end up defining these terms with references from all three sources, as you are able.

Make each definition sufficient to explain to readers who have not seen the reports or read the articles. You can also use diagrams of your own making, whenever that will help your definition. Include illustrations or specific examples for each definition.

(i) The driver's threefold Self
(ii) Self-witnessing methodology
(iii) Road rage
(iv) Aggressive driving legislation
(v) The driver's emotional intelligence
(vi) The driver's emotional spin cycle
(vii) Newsgroups for drivers
(viii) Lifelong driver education
(ix) Choose your own from anywhere (1)
(x) Choose your own from anywhere (2)

4. Autobiographical

Describe yourself as a driver. Include: (a) the role of your parents; (b) the role of the media; (c) the role of your friends; (d) your current driving style and philosophy.. Give examples or details whenever appropriate. Try to trace the influences on your style and behavior (e.g., parents, friends, TV, driver ed course, etc.).

6. Conclusion

How did this assignment help you identify your driving personality? How is this useful in your view? Can this approach have a significant impact on the future of driving in our society?

7. Future Generations

Give them advice and encouragement as they will try to go deeper with this topic by reading the G20 reports. Tell them what you are getting out of this course.

How to format of your report

(A) Use the Sub-titles given above for your Section Headings and number them as above.

(B) No paragraph must exceed 150 words (about 12 lines maximum).

(C) Use a blank line between paragraphs. That requires making two Returns at the end of each paragraph, as I have done in this document. Points will be deducted if you do not do this.

(C) Put links at the bottom of the report to your Home Page and to the G20 Class Home Page. These two links are required.

(D) Save your file as a Web Page (HTML) (File Menu "Save As..." command and dialogue box).

(E) View your file as a Web Page by opening it in your Web browser (File Menu "Open" command then Browse to find the folder and file on your computer).

Important Note: Look at your report in your Web browser. Does it have a colored background? This is not allowed. The Page's background for all three reports must be white. Discrete designs are allowed if they don't interfere or overlap with the text.

(F) Upload your Web file and inspect it with your Web browser. For uploading see the instructions for uploading on

SKILLS (+)
AFFECTIVE (+A)	COGNITIVE (+C)	SENSORIMOTOR (+S)
I've got to be careful here. Don't want to cut anybody off.	This person looks like he's in a hurry to get in. I better let him in.	(Gesticulating and smiling:) Go ahead. You go first.
ERRORS (-)
AFFECTIVE (-A)	COGNITIVE (-C)	SENSORIMOTOR (S)
I wish I could give that guy a piece of my mind.	I don't think people like that should be allowed on the road	(Yelling:) "You stupid idiot, why don't you watch where you're going!"

Stage 1--Avoiding Being an Aggressive Driver
Affective Level Overcoming my resistance to change	Cognitive Level Learning to do rational analyses of traffic incidents	Sensorimotor Level Acting out civil behavior
committing myself to inhibit or mitigate states of anger and retaliation making it acceptable for passenger to complain or make suggestions making it unacceptable for myself to ridicule or demean other drivers activating higher motives within myself such as love of order and fair play, public spiritedness, charity, kindness to strangers	reasoning against my attribution errors (It's always their fault. It's never my fault) counteracting my self-serving bias in how I view incidents acquiring more socialized self-regulatory sentences I can say to myself	waving, smiling, signaling not crowding, not rushing in, not swearing not aggressing against passengers pretending that I'm in a good mood even when not
Stage 2--Becoming a Supportive Driver
Affective Level Maintaining a supportive orientation towards other drivers	Cognitive Level Analyzing driving situations objectively	Sensorimotor Level Behaving in a cooperative style
· feeling responsible for errors and seeking opportunities to make reparations · feeling regret at my unfriendly behaviors and impulses · feeling good about behaving with civility or kindness · feeling appreciation when being given advice by passenger · being forgiving of others' mistakes and weaknesses	· acknowledging and knowing my driving errors · planning and rehearsing the modification of those habits · analyzing other drivers' behaviors objectively or impartially	· anticipating the needs of other drivers and being helpful to them · verbalizing nice sentiments · enjoying the ride and relaxing