TOWARD ACCIDENT REDUCTION INNOVATIONS IN DRIVER EDUCATION

EMOTIONAL ROLE-PLANING, DEMONSTRATION, MODELING AND RECIPROCAL INHIBITION WERE THREE BEHAVIORAL MODIFICATION TECHNIQUES USED TO TRY TO DEVELOP A CURRICULA UNIT WHICH WOULD INTRODUCE THE ELEMENT OF EMOTIONAL CONTROL WHILE DRIVING INTO DRIVER EDUCATION COURSES WITH THE ULTIMATE AIM OF REDUCING THE ACCIDENT RATES OF YOUNG PEOPLE. PRELIMINARY TRIALS WERE MADE USING EMOTIONAL ROLE-PLAYING AND DEMONSTRATION TECHNIQUES, AND TWO QUASI-EXPERIMENTS COMBINED THESE TECHNIQUES AND MODELING AND RECIPROCAL INHIBITION INTO ONE CURRICULA ELEMENT. IN ADDITION, AN ATTITUDE TEST WAS DEVELOPED AS A CRITERION MEASURE AND PROVED ADEQUATE TO TEST THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THESE TREATMENTS. STUDENT PERFORMANCES ON DRIVING SIMULATORS WERE FOUND TO BE UNRELIABLE, AND IT WAS THUS AN INADEQUATE CRITERION MEASURE. IT HAS BEEN SHOWN THAT YOUNG DRIVERS FROM LOWER SOCIOECONOMIC FAMILIES TEND TO HAVE MORE ACCIDENTS. THUS, RURAL AND INNER-CITY HIGH SCHOOL AND UNIVERSITY SUBJECTS FROM LOW AND LOWER MIDDLE SOCIO- ECONOMIC FAMILIES WERE UTILIZED AS SUBJECTS IN THE PRELIMINARY TRIALS AND IN THE QUASI-EXPERIMENTS. IT WAS FOUND THAT EMOTIONAL ROLE-PLAYING HAD NO EFFECT ON CHANGING THE DRIVING ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIORS OF THESE YOUNG PEOPLE. THIS TECHNIQUE APPARENTLY FUNCTIONED AS A "SCARE" TECHNIQUE, AND SUBJECTS TENDED TO REPRESS THEIR UNPLEASANT EMOTIONAL ROLE-PLAYING EXPERIENCES. HOWEVER, MODELING AND RECIPROCAL INHIBITION AND DEMONSTRATION WERE EFFECTIVE TECHNIQUES IN CHANGING YOUNG PEOPLE'S DRIVING ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIORS, ALTHOUGH THE FULL BENEFIT OF THESE TECHNIQUES MAY BE ELICITED AFTER THE STUDENT HAS AN ACCIDENT OR ALMOST HAS AN ACCIDENT. FURTHER, IT WAS SUGGESTED THAT MODELS BE NEITHER EXTREMELY SIMILAR OR DISSIMILAR TO THE OBSERVERS, BUT THAT DEMONSTRATORS SHOULD BE SIMILAR TO THEIR AUDIENCE.

• Corporate Authors:

  Purdue University/Indiana Department of Transportation JHRP

  Purdue University, School of Civil Engineering
  West Lafayette, IN  United States  47907-1284
• Authors:
  • Shapiro, M K
• Publication Date: 1972-9

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 272 p.
• Serial:
  • Issue Number: 30

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Behavior; Crash rates; Driver training; Drivers; Socioeconomic factors
• Uncontrolled Terms: Change
• Subject Areas: Economics; Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00222059
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Apr 2 1973 12:00AM