- Student Records
Programme & Unit Catalogues


PS30102: Traffic and transport psychology

Follow this link for further information on academic years Academic Year: 2012/3
Follow this link for further information on owning departmentsOwning Department/School: Department of Psychology
Follow this link for further information on credits Credits: 6
Follow this link for further information on unit levels Level: Honours (FHEQ level 6)
Follow this link for further information on period slots Period: Semester 1
Follow this link for further information on unit assessment Assessment: ES 100%
Follow this link for further information on supplementary assessment Supplementary Assessment: Like-for-like reassessment (where allowed by programme regulations)
Follow this link for further information on unit rules Requisites: Before taking this unit you must take PS20092 and take PS20093 and take PS20106 and take PS20107 and take PS20108 and take PS20109
Follow this link for further information on unit content Description: Aims:
This unit introduces the applied areas of traffic and transport psychology. It covers issues such as how cognitive psychological factors like attention and perception contribute to accidents/safety; it also looks at issues of driver behaviour (e.g., influences of personality, experience, etc.) and research on transport choice and environmental behaviour.

Learning Outcomes:
By the end of this unit students should be able to demonstrate a critical understanding of several major topics with the fields of traffic and transport psychology. They should also be able to demonstrate a more general understanding of how cognitive and social psychology can be applied to real-world issues.

Skills:

1. Has detailed knowledge of several specialised areas, some of which are at the cutting edge of research in the discipline. (T/F/A)
2. Understands the role of psychology in tackling real-world issues and the relationship between laboratory studies and in vivo studies, appreciating the strengths and weaknesses of each approach (T/F/A)
3. Can reason scientifically, understand the role of evidence and make critical judgements about arguments in psychology. (F)
4. Can adopt multiple perspectives and systematically analyse the relationships between them. (F)
5. Can pose, operationalise and critically evaluate research questions. (F)
6. Can demonstrate the ability to think critically about research evidence, the methodologies used to obtain it and the techniques used to analyse the data (T/F/A).

Content:
The application of cognitive and social psychology to traffic and transport psychology; the role of driver factors in safety and behaviour: experience, personality, risk-taking; etc.; the role of cognitive factors in safety and behaviour: attention (particularly attentional biases and capacity limits), sensory capacities, etc; risks specific to vulnerable road users; social psychology of transport choice.
Follow this link for further information on programme availabilityProgramme availability:

PS30102 is Optional on the following programmes:

Department of Psychology
  • UHPS-AKB03 : BSc (hons) Psychology (Full-time with Thick Sandwich Placement) - Year 4
  • THXX-AFM13 : MRes Psychology (Full-time) - Year 1

Notes:
* This unit catalogue is applicable for the 2012/13 academic year only. Students continuing their studies into 2013/14 and beyond should not assume that this unit will be available in future years in the format displayed here for 2012/13.
* Programmes and units are subject to change at any time, in accordance with normal University procedures.
* Availability of units will be subject to constraints such as staff availability, minimum and maximum group sizes, and timetabling factors as well as a student's ability to meet any pre-requisite rules.