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Traffic and Transportation Psychology
at the Dresden University of Technology
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Traffic and transportation psychology is
a young expanding field in psychology with a nonetheless long scientific
tradition. Some of the first empirical studies of psychology dealt
with traffic-related questions, especially with the aptitude of human
beings for driving motor vehicles (e.g. Münsterberg, 1913; Moede,
1926). In the German-speaking area the main emphasis of traffic-psychological
practice has since then been put on diagnostics, counselling, rehabilitation
and extra driving education of conspicuous drivers. Since the introduction
of the new road traffic law in 1999 even more fields of occupational
activity in this domain of traffic and transportation psychology have
developed. But traffic psychologists in practice and research also
deal with questions of mobility in general and of behaviour in road
traffic in particular, often in co-operation with engineers, economists
or medics. Six areas of traffic and transportation psychology can
be distinguished as follows (see also Groeger & Rothengatter,
1998; Schlag, 1997):
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Traffic-psychological diagnostics: aptitude-diagnostics
for driving, especially after conspicuousness in driving behaviour;
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Counselling, rehabilitation and extra driving
education for drivers who have become conspicuous;
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Accident research and improvement of traffic
safety, particularly in relation to groups of road users (age groups,
modes of transport), but also in relation to the design of traffic
routes and motor vehicles; perception, cognition and attentiveness
when driving, risk-preparedness and motives for driving, interactions
and the social psychology of the driver;
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Education and information: influencing
of behaviour with legal, pedagogical, vehicle- and road-specific measures;
curricular and extra-curricular traffic-education; driving education,
driving-instructor-education, information on traffic issues, campaign-design
and marketing;
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Research and counselling regarding questions
of mobility and traffic engineering: mobility psychology, choice of
means of transport, psychological aspects in designing routes and
traffic environment, quality of supplies and quality-management;
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Vehicle-design: questions of ergonomics,
but also of dealing with offers by the vehicle (e.g. risk compensation),
analysis of essential driving tasks and of preconditions which drivers
will need for coping with the tasks, designing vehicles, acceptance
of technical and organisational innovations; also: rail- and flight-psychology
as further development areas.
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| Empirical research in traffic and transportation
psychology looks above all into the optimisation of current practice
and into innovative areas from which relevant traffic-psychological
occupations may develop. Traffic and transportation psychology not
only uses theoretical and methodological principles of psychology;
it is especially because of its interdisciplinary integration an innovative
research area partly with its own methodology and original theoretical
approaches. Still, knowledge and procedures from other scientific
areas play an important role. The common subject of research always
is the mobility-behaviour and experience of the human being. |
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| Taken from: B. Schlag (ed.):
Empirische Verkehrspsychologie. Lengerich, Berlin: Pabst Science Publishers,
1999, translated by Juliane Paul. |
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| See also: Schlag, B., Schade,
J. (in press). Traffic and Transportation
Psychology. In K. Button & P. Nijkamp (Eds.) Transport Dictionary.
Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishers |
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