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You got it. Reforming your personality while driving on the road. It's a plan to eliminate negative behaviors while driving that may be illegal, harmful, or disrespectful of fellow drivers. Some of these behaviors such as: tailgating, speeding, aggressive driving, convoys, and not signaling to change lanes are discussed by Joleen Lai (generation 1), Michelle Ota (generation 1), Todd Crawford (generation 1), and Nancee Aki (generation 2). The goal of a driving personality makeover is to make one a "good" driver. According to Aaron Reisner (generation 1) a "good" driver is one who is always aware of all situations, has quick reactions, has good knowledge of traffic laws and obeys them at all times, and is courteous and sensitive to other drivers. It is also interesting to note that a driving personality makeover can also apply to pedestrians. Pedestrians are also a very big part of the traffic community and should be addressed as well. Carol Ohta from generation 3 relates her experience in a pedestrian personality makeover.
The driving personality makeover should not only be thought of as an individual effort to improve one's driving habits and attitudes, but it should be seen as a reform program aimed at all drivers and pedestrians. In other words, it should be a team effort among the entire traffic community. You ask, "why should everybody do it? I'm a good driver already." Yeah, sure pal, and you were born on the planet of Krypton. Nobody is perfect. We all have our faults and weaknesses in driving, whether it be inattentiveness, speeding habits, or bad attitudes, we all could use some changing.
Imagine how the highway would be like if everyone did a driving personality makeover and succeeded in reforming their faults. I imagine the driving experience would be much more enjoyable, practically stress-free, and much safer for all. Such behaviors as speeding, tailgating, changing lanes without signaling, and aggressive driving are very hazardous to the well-being of the driver and other drivers also. If such behaviors could be eliminated or at least minimized, there would be a drastic decline in the amount of accidents on the highway. Increasing awareness of one's situation while driving and respecting fellow drivers would also make the highway a much safer place to be. Because car accidents are a major cause of deaths and injuries in the United States, it is essential that this problem be addressed. I feel that if everyone worked to improve their faults in driving by implementing a personality makeover plan, the result would be an astronomical decline in car accidents.
Another reason a driving personality makeover should be done is that it reduces unnecessary stress. Everyone suffers enough stress from their families, spouses, jobs, etc. Why add more stress by getting angry at other drivers? It won't solve anything, except possibly put you in a bad mood or add more tension in your physiological system. As Jason Nakasato (generation 2) notes, we should be receiving and giving out good vibes while driving so that our day starts off good. I'm sure that if we start off in a good mood after driving, the rest of the day has a great chance of being a good day. Would I do a driving personality makeover? Definitely. It would reduce stress and decrease my chances of getting into an accident. Any reason why I shouldn't?
The first thing you must do in order to attempt a driving personality makeover is to do a self-assessment of bad driving behaviors. These assessments can be aided by checking out the definitions and experiences provided by previous generations in traffic psychology. Nancee Aki's report on initial self-assessment can be used as a guideline. This will help you to have a better perspective on your own bad habits. Once this is done, you should target specific behaviors or cognitions to modify. Next, you should devise a plan that will best work for you to modify these behaviors or cognitions. There are many ways to skin a cat, as there are many ways to implement a driving personality makeover plan. As long as the plan works effectively for you, it's a good plan. However, the technique of recording one's behavior or cognitions throughout the makeover seems to be a universal aspect of the plan. You should have a note pad or a tape recorder in your car to record your experience while driving. Recording your behaviors or cognitions allows you to measure improvement or regression in these areas. With a measuring stick like this, you are surely going to improve steadily with a honest effort.
There are different ways to approach the modification of your driving persona. To give you some ideas, I will relate some of the techniques implemented by previous generations in their makeover plans. Most of them used cognitive techniques in order to change their behavior. They changed their perspective by attempting to view their behaviors through someone else's eyes, and realizing that it doesn't look very good. They also attempted to change their appraisals of situations by questioning the other drivers' motives and accepting them as valid. Rochelle Tactacan (generation 2) adopted the view of others thinking she was a bad person, and factored in her influence on others also. She modified her behavior by substituting such phrases as "my goodness" or "oh! my God" for swear words. Sharla Supnet (generation 2) tried to incorporate positive thinking. She slowly attempted to replace negative thoughts with positive thoughts, especially when a negative situation occurred. Michelle Alonzo (generation 3) modified her swearing behavior in other situations, therefore, allowing her to generalize that behavior in the car. Alan Furukawa (generation 2) tried to change his attitude by becoming mentally aware of his own actions and not interpreting anything into the driving experience. Jason Nakasato (generation 2) implemented constant self-awareness of the affective, cognitive, and psychomotor aspects of his conscious. Berna Collado (generation 2) used a clever technique of putting a post-it note on her dash board, which read "why?" This note stimulated her to question why she was speeding, swearing, etc. This allowed her to see that her reasons were stupid and she modified her behavior.
Other techniques of modifying behavior could be applied through using behavioral techniques such as instrumental conditioning or aversion techniques. You could use a token economy system to reward favorable behaviors and punish the bad behaviors. Aversion techniques such as classically conditioning an aversive stimulus (pinching oneself) with the target behavior could be used to reduce the incidence of these behaviors. Time management is also an excellent technique to avoid speeding.
I feel that I have learned enough about the driving personality makeover plan that I could implement it. I have also learned enough about it that I know a driving personality makeover must be done. I am not a perfect driver, and I must reform my bad habits in order to be a "good" driver.
Man's greatest fear is the fear of change. Everyone likes to feel comfortable about what they do and where they are at. They like their routine and get upset when this routine is disrupted. Although the driving personality makeover plan has good intentions and goals, it calls for the person to change. The fear of changing or recognizing one's faults would probably be the major factor for people to resist the makeover plan. These people should look at change as a challenge, and should not be afraid of failure. Failure builds character, avoiding challenges and fears builds weakness. Have no fear! Change!
The online generational curriculum in traffic psychology is an awesome network of information. The easy access to information produced by other students in previous semesters allowed me to grasp the concept of traffic psychology. The challenge of learning how to access their information and incorporating it into my own report was very exciting. The exploration of the students' pages at my discretion allowed freedom in the learning process. I chose the course and point of view of the knowledge I acquired through the generational curriculum.
The generational curriculum is a great source of information that provides an invaluable source of learning. The different points of view and opinions presented by previous students allows one to develop their own perception of the topic. On the other hand, textbooks and lectures provide only one point of view. The generational curriculum also allows access to information in one second by clicking a mouse. At the library, one must look up sources in a directory, then walk around the library searching for those sources. The time saved through the generational curriculum is a huge advantage over researching in the library. It also emulates a class discussion because students are presenting their own points of view. Plus, every student's point of view is heard (read) in the generational curriculum, while in a class discussion this would not be the case. The disadvantage is that there is no live debate or questions that can be answered spontaneously.
The biggest disadvantage to the generational curriculum may be its means of information, the computer. Many people are intimidated by computers (I sure was, still am) and are not willing to learn something new. The situation might get ugly if the person working on the computer gets too frustrated on the computer and doesn't know what to do. This may be a reason for people to avoid learning through the generational curriculum. The generational curriculum also does not provide a professional perspective on the topic, rather it presents many different views provided by students.
The generational curriculum is a new and exciting source of education. I was very surprised to find out that there was such a thing as a generational curriculum. In fact, I didn't even know this was a computer-based course (didn't read the course description). However, I think that the curriculum is a great concept for learning because of its accessibility, ability to be updated any second, and many points of view. The curriculum is easy to use once one knows how to operate the computer online. Each generation seems to be improving in the structure and organization of the information presented. Hopefully, we and future generations will continue to learn from previous generations and improve on their work.
The generational curriculum provides a means of interactive learning. We are not only learning from one instructor, but we are learning through other students by communicating online. Interactive learning was usually setup in a classroom setting where discussions and debates could occur. Through the curriculum one can interact with students in previous semesters, and not only the students in their class. We are also a part of the learning process because we contribute our own views for others to see. It is the wide range of views, information, and interactivity with previous students that makes the generational curriculum so unique. I strongly favor the continuation of the generational curriculum, because from my experience, it has allowed me to learn a lot. It provides a change from the usual lecture classes, thereby, making the learning process a lot more fun. When learning is fun, one sure learns a whole lot more.
I also feel great to be a part of the generational curriculum. It makes me feel like I have done something important and noteworthy. Essentially, what I am doing is publishing my work online, making it available for anyone to read. I am a part of the learning process, and future generations will learn from my point of view and my mistakes.
In a few years, the generational curriculum will look like a huge directory of information provided by students. Each generation will uphold its own view on the topics covered, and each student will have their own view too. The curriculum will be so large that almost every view would have been covered, but at the same time, new students will still provide their own unique view. The curriculum will show improvement from each generation to the next. It would be a history book that shows the evolution of the curriculum. The amount of information would be overwhelming (especially if Dr. James expects them to view it all). However, more information is always better than less information.
This approach to learning will eventually enter the high school setting. I believe that it would work very well with high school students. It would be a huge advantage for them because they could readily access information from sources of higher education. They will be more prepared to tackle this learning approach in college and they would learn more effectively because it's fun learning.
Although, I think you may have been vague in what is expected of us and what exactly how to do things, I felt that it forced me to learn on my own. Learning on my own has allowed me to learn better than if you had told me exactly what to do. The only suggestion I have, is letting the students know before they register that they need to acquire a UNIX account. That way, their CSS accounts could be set up before class begins. Other than that, great job!!