REPORT #1
MY TRAVELS THROUGH G1 AND G2
bnakada@uhunix.uhcc.hawaii.edu
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The Beginning
On the first day of class, I did not know what to really expect. All that was listed in the course catalog was "Psy459: Social Psychology: Advanced Topics." As I sat through the first day of lecture and Dr. James said, "Welcome to Traffic Psychology," I was thinking to myself, "This has got to be a joke." I stuck with it though, and after the first day, I really got interested this subject. I never really realized how big a role psychology plays in such simple everyday things like driving.
I was really excited when I learned that all of our work would be published through netscape. Being that I had just taken ICS 101 the prior semester, I felt confident that I would breeze through this class. I felt I would be getting an easy "A." Then, reality hit. Once I entered the lab and tried to apply my knowledge, I found that I actually knew nothing. The way things are done in Psy 459 were totally different than what I was used to in my ICS class. I was suddenly totally lost. A whole new language was introduced to me. Terms like "mkdir," "rmdir,""chmod," made me feel like I was learning a foreign language. "There goes my "A" for sure," I thought. But as I kept hacking away, I found that it was possible to adjust and all it took was trying things with a little different approach. In ICS, we went over netscape and home pages in just over two weeks. Not a lot of time, but I felt I gained enough knowledge to at least get by the first few weeks.
For our first assignment, we were instructed to look through the papers of the prior classes, G1 and G2, and give our reactions to what we saw and how we felt about it. One thing that I did notice while looking through all the files was that the more appealing someone's homepage was, the more interested I was in looking into this person's files. As I looked through both G1 and G2's files, I could see a huge difference in the way their pages were set up. In G2, the pages seemed more polished and professional, thus luring me to investigate even more. I must say, G2 did have the option of looking back into G1's prior work, which I feel was a big advantage in the building of their own web pages.
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report #2: My Adapting to the Internet.Instructor's HomepageQuestions or Comments?Shane Akagi
To begin my quest into Generation One, I typed in the URL address for Dr.James' Homepage. From there, using his links to the different generations, I clicked on G1. Prior to looking in G1, I had done a little searching in G2. Immediately, I could see the difference one semester makes in the "look" of a Homepage. The G1 Homepages were not as fancy and polished as the G2 Homepages. Also, I found the structure of their reports were different from G2 and my G3. They had reports, but it was broken down into different parts. It seemed that instead of having one big project due, they had short papers due every few weeks. I don't know which way I would have preferred it.
Well, on with my search. The first person I decided to visit was Shane Akagi. While reading his first report, he made me analyze the different things he wrote about. The content of his report one included many stereotypical quotes that I personally do not believe are true. One subject he touched on is his thinking that "men are more aggressive than women." I, personally do not believe that to be true. It may be only my personal experience, but I find the women I know to be just as aggressive, if not more, than myself. Take for example, my girlfriend. When I ride in a car with her, I notice she can drive aggressively with the best of them when she wants to. I think the way she drives is a direct reflection on her personality. I see it in her nature to be aggressive. She will not back down from anybody, and this attitude carries over when she gets behind the wheel.
Another statement Shane made was male children are encouraged to show emotions, while girls are taught to hold their feelings in. I feel it is the exact opposite that is true. From articles I have read and by my personal experiences, I know that men are the ones that have a hard time self-disclosing and showing their true feelings. Men feel as though it is necessary to maintain a "macho" image, which literally means that a man should not show any emotion.
I did like the statement he made regarding the distance he maintains between the car in front of him and his car. He says he tries to keep at least one car length between the car in front and himself. It reminded me of something my father kept emphasizing while I was learning how to drive. My father had a more preventive outlook, however. He insisted I keep about a two-second space in between myself and the other car. Today, I try to follow that rule as best I can, but only after having a few too many "close calls" in my teenage driving years when I used to be a tailgater.
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report #2: My Adapting to the Internet.Instructor's HomepageQuestions or Comments?Jae Isa
After reviewing Shane's paper, I peered into Jae Isa's files. While reading the report one in Jae's file, I really enjoyed the research study he found on the correlation between the color of a car and how prone it is in recieving tickets. In the research, it stated that cars that were red, gray, or brown were more likely to be pulled over. I do not know how accurate this study is, but I can vouche that it is true on the Big Island of Hawaii. You see, I drive a red car on the Big Island, and have been pulled over many times. Even when I was not the only car speeding, I seem to have been the one singled out. I know there are many different variables that may have affected my situations, but the coincidence is a bit ironic.
Michelle Ota
The last student from G1 I visited was Michelle Ota. Her report one was very good. I especially liked her observation of how a person's personality changes so drastically once they get behind the wheel of a car. I can not agree with her more. It is so true. Take for instance a male friend of mine. Normally, he is very low key and takes everything that happens in stride. He is a very passive person who would not dare get into a fight face to face, but let him drive a car, and watch out! He does not take s--t from anybody. It is so interesting to see what driving can do to a person. If someone cuts him off on the freeway, he is extremely quick to give that person "the bird" and tailgate him. I would like to do more research on this phenomenon later on.
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report #2: My Adapting to the Internet.Instructor's HomepageQuestions or Comments?Now that my journey through G1 has ended, I was very eager to venture deeply into the minds of the next generation. While I glanced at the student's files earlier, I now wanted to probe deeper into their work. Upon clicking on the Generation Two link on Dr.James' Homepage, I began my travels.
Curtis Nakao
The first person I decided to visit was Curtis Nakao. I clicked on the Generation 2 files, on Dr. James' Homepage, where I found his homepage. The word "basic" would best describe his homepage. There were no fancy graphics, no eye-catching colors, just your basic page. Always following the old addage, "Never judge a book by its cover," I decided to probe a little further. I was pleasantly surprised. I opened his report 1 and found lots of interesting facts. For his first report, Curtis decided to address five topics concerning people's driving patterns. In the order he presented them, they were: 1) Tailgating, 2) Speeding, 3) Agressive Driving, 4) The Accordian Effect, and 5) Cellular Phones.
The issue of tailgating was one that really interested me. He said that tailgating was used in not just one type of situation, but many different ones. His conclusion was that the main reason people tailgate others was when a driver cut you off and you wanted to gain some form of revenge. He went on to say that, "It shows the other driver that you were very displeased by their actions and that you did notice what they did to you." Curtis also said that there are people who do it just for fun. I agree with him when he said these people are just too stupid to know better, because I, personally have seen many accidents occur because of such actions.
Speeding was the next topic he discussed. He tryed to define what "speeding" really is. His definition was driving ten miles over the posted speed limit. Once again, he came up with three different types of people who speed. There are the ones who are late, those who have a different definition of what speeding is, and those that feel it is necessary to go as fast as possible. I, unfortunately, fall into the last category. Being from the Big Island, where the open stretches of road are numerous, I find it exhilerating to see how fast I can go. This, I know, is terrible driving behavior. Since enrolling in Traffic Psychology, I have calmed my driving ways.
The strongest stance Curtis took in his report had to be on his hatred for agressive drivers, especially those "rich people who drive expensive European cars." He defined an agressive driver as "...a person who feels like they own the road. They always speed, tailgate, weave in and out of traffic, and will force their way into the smallest of spaces..." By reading his opinion on these agressive drivers, I could feel the hostility he extends towards these people. Again, I must confess to being an agressive driver. I could blame it on being young, but I think the real reason is my hatred for going slow. However, I am changing my ways. Call it maturity, or realization, but I definitely am changing my driving habits.
The advances in technology have added another hazard to the driving population. It is called celluar phones. Mr. Nakao himself confesses to using a celluar phone in his car. From his experience, he sees the cellular phone as a distraction, particularly when the conversation is very interesting, or heated. When a person is that involved in a conversation when driving, the possibility of an accident occuring doubles. In this modern day, seeing people talk on a phone while driving is becoming commonplace. My feeling is that people should avoid placing and recieving calls on cellular phones unless necessary. I am not against "cell" phones, because I do see a use for them. They should not be used while operating a vehicle because the risks greatly outweigh the benefits.
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Denise Tanaka
After finishing my travel at Curtis Nakao's page, I ventured into Denise Tanaka's homepage. This was another run-of-the-mill homepage, with just the basic information in it. Her page did function well, as all of her links worked and everything was easily accessible. I really enjoyed reading her report because in it, she included many personal experiences. The most interesting issues she tackled were: tailgating, convoys, and agressive driving.
Like Curtis Nakao, Denise Tanaka decided to give her point of view on tailgating. She made a good point in saying that this is a very important matter because it not only affects the person doing the tailgating, but also all the other drivers in the immediate vicinity. I could tell by her writing that she was, as Dr. James puts it, a "traffic psychologist in-training." She admits to being a tailgater. "I usually do it to punish other drivers for offenses I believe they have committed against me...When I have a bad day, I find myself more prone to tailgate people, sometimes for no reason at all." But in her defense, she is trying to correct her behavior. She says that she knows she is wrong in tailgating and that she is violating the rights of others when she does do it. Let's hope she is successful in her quest.
The involvement in convoys was another interesting topic. Upon reading this section of Denise's report, I was a little puzzled. I did not know what a convoy really was. After reading it though, I fully understood what they were. According to her, people usually enter convoys for safety reasons or to avoid being pulled over by the police. I see how convoys are relevant to traffic psychology because when a person is involved in one, it usually means they are rationalizing their environment. The most common type of convoy is when there is a line of cars driving above the posted speed limit. It seems that people do not think they are breaking the law when they are a member of a convoy. The saying, "There is security in numbers" definitely applies here. It is also significant because people are not usually aware when they are involved in a convoy. They see it as moving with the flow of traffic.
In my self observations, I found that I do get involved with convoys. I was one of the ignorant souls that did not realize it. When I looked back, I got involved in them for security reasons. My thinking was that there was no way a cop would pull over a whole line of cars for speeding. I think the only driver who would be at risk in a convoy would be the last one. That is why I made it a point to never be the last member of a convoy.
I enjoyed reading Denise's viewpoints on aggressive driving. In her journeys into the first generation, she came to the conclusion that the root of aggression in driving is frustration. I would have to agree with her on that. I know that when I get frustrated on the road, I tend to get a little more agressive in my driving. I usually engage in aggressive driving as a form of retaliation, when another driver gets me frustrated.
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Berna Collado
For my last seach in Generation 2, I visited Berna Collado's homepage. Wow!!!! Talk about beautiful. I really liked this page. The background had petroglyphs on it, this page had a very polished look to it. Her use of upper and lower case letters really caught my attention. I got really excited as I wondered what her report would be like. I quickly clicked on her link to report one. Like Curtis, Berna tackled the subjects of speeding and tailgating. And similar to Denise, Berna commented on agressive driving. Two topics that I found very interesting were here views on how a person's emotions dictate the way they drive, and rubber-necking.
While reading Berna's opinions on speeding, I felt like she was describing the exact way I used to drive. She laughed at drivers who weave in and out of traffic, especially during peak hours. Her quote, "The faster I get to the front of traffic, the earlier I will get to work, etc." was exactly how I drove a few months ago. She does, however, admit to speeding at times, and I can totally relate to her reasoning. She does not feel the sole reason people speed is because they feel pressured to by the cars in back of them. I, like her, often speed for the pure joy of going fast. I feel an overwhelming "high" when my car is going fast.
I really enjoyed her view on the effect emotional influence plays on the way a person drives. I totally agree when she talked about the effect music has when she drives. I could be driving along at a leisurely pace, and when a really upbeat song begins playing, my foot somehow depresses the accelerator. I get this really hyper feeling, "leaning" into each turn I take, feeling like I am driving the most powerful car in the world. It really is a rush! Or, I could play some reggae or hawaiian music, and I begin to drift into this tranquil little world of my own. I could care less what the other drivers do on the road--I guess you could say I become "at one" with myself.
Rubber-Necking is a very irritating behavior both Berna and myself often witness on the roads in Hawaii. Not only is it irritating, but also a very dangerous activity to do. It takes your attention away from driving, which in itself is very dangerous, and also holds up traffic unecessarily.
Conclusion
I have now reached the end of my travels into the first two generations. I have learned lots of valuable information from my "ancestors" and will try to incorporate different aspects of both generations into my future work. Hopefully, I will be able to surpass them and make my future work more "polished" than theirs. It will be hard for me to do, but I have the confidence to do so.
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topical index An in-depth guide into my world.Visit my
database: I like to encourage the
driver to take risks.My
report #2: My Adapting to the Internet.Instructor's HomepageQuestions or Comments?