psychology 101

**siffy545** · 02-09-2009, 06:46 PM

Well my professor assigned a partner project, and due to my love of radar/lidar i persuaded my partner to doing something related. I called my local substation to ask about ride along with traffic enforcement officers, well i needed 80 hours of community service in the past 6 months,no problem, but WITH the local police department,problem. But the receptionist suggested if i personally knew an officer, he could probably work something out, again a problem, I'm not familiar with any officers...yet

. That's all i could come up with, so does anyone have any good ideas my partner and i could execute with a Bushnell gun. oh yeah it HAS to be based upon psychological aspect (Speeders based on car color, attentions grabbers, etc etc). Thanks!

**rickr** · 02-09-2009, 07:14 PM

You could try sitting above/next to a highway with light traffic and hitting every x car that went by to tell if it was speeding (or at a certain speed, since everyone speeds) or not, and if it was, note the color, body type, and any obvious modifications. You could then discuss how everyone who buys a black coupe with a wing speeds, whereas most people buying a green SUV don't. Perhaps look into how car choice relates to risk-taking choices (speeding, even though it's usually not risk taking, this is school, not real life), or something like that.

Good luck!

**MEM-TEK** · 02-09-2009, 07:21 PM

Well, a more people with type A personalities buy red cars -- or so they say.

**AirMoore** · 02-09-2009, 09:32 PM

Originally Posted by MEM-TEK

Well, a more people with type A personalities buy red cars -- or so they say.

We just call people here with red cars: Cool!

AS FOR THE PROJECT...

I would take the easy route out. Clock speeders with your gun, and note the gender of the person.

Generally (everyone knows) the biggest speeders are going to be males... so explain why that might be... ie: their brain development & the relationship to hormones.

**MEM-TEK** · 02-09-2009, 11:39 PM

I dunno. I have seen plenty of females flying down the road. Females tend to follow too closely too.

**Lucky225** · 02-09-2009, 11:41 PM

also for the project, clock rd users and note gender car type and their reaction to radar being detected (i.e. slamming on the breaks).

**cell21633** · 02-10-2009, 10:39 AM

change the construction signs to "ZOMBIES AHEAD RUN!" and note the resulting chaos.

**AirMoore** · 02-10-2009, 12:47 PM

Originally Posted by MEM-TEK

I dunno. I have seen plenty of females flying down the road. Females tend to follow too closely too.

Males speed more then females... and to a much greater extent. Not only that but also males speeding with intent (aggressive driving) females often speed incidentally (oblivious driving).

That is not to say girls don't speed, and some females (especially those with increased testosterone levels at any given point) speed rather often and with intent, but the ratio is clearly in way of the males.

**carter840** · 02-10-2009, 12:59 PM

I would have a few friends come out to help; ask them to estimate the speed of the passing cars and then take a speed measurement. Don't let them know what the real speed was. After a lot of cars you will have data on which cars they thought were going fastest. It would be interesting to see how color/style of the car effected peoples perception of it's speed.

**ahmadr** · 02-10-2009, 02:53 PM

Originally Posted by carter840

I would have a few friends come out to help; ask them to estimate the speed of the passing cars and then take a speed measurement. Don't let them know what the real speed was. After a lot of cars you will have data on which cars they thought were going fastest. It would be interesting to see how color/style of the car effected peoples perception of it's speed.

Very good idea