- Ricardo D. Blasco
- Faculty of Psychology,
- University of Barcelona
- Faculty of Psychology,
ONTENTS1. THE EARLY BEGINNING2. PROFESSIONAL APPLICATION DURING THE 80's3. PRESENT-DAY LINES OF RESEARCH AND ACTION: THE FUTURE4. REFERENCES
ONTENTS1. THE EARLY BEGINNING2. PROFESSIONAL APPLICATION DURING THE 80's3. PRESENT-DAY LINES OF RESEARCH AND ACTION: THE FUTURE4. REFERENCES
Traffic accidents are a social and health problem of our time and psychology has been concerned with the study of their causes and their prevention since the early beginning of this century. Spain has had noteworthy activity in the field of Traffic Psychology. In consecutive periods -- marked by important social and political events -- the expertise and methods of psychologists in this field have become consolidated. Initially it was strictly psycho-technics and it still is to a large extent. However, during the 8O's professional meetings and conventions with keynote addresses from leading researchers in other countries have produced a diversification of new applications and research: road safety education for children, ergonomic analysis of vehicles, driving behaviour, the role of human factors in traffic accidents, social aspects involved in urban and rural traffic-safety programs, and so on.
The earliest and longest-lasting relationship between psychology and Traffic-Safety in Spain has taken place in the area of Psycho-technics. Only in recent times new fields are being opened up such as the study of accidents, ergonomics, road education, social aspects of traffic, etc., in which Spanish psychologists have been able to contribute their expert-knowledge. This has been even more necessary inasmuch as the frequency of traffic has increased at an alarming rate.
Psycho-technics became a new discipline under the influence of Münsterberg (1912), "Psychologie Wirtschaftsleben". The Spanish and the English version of this book were published almost simultaneously.
The history of the application of psychology to traffic and road safety in our country has therefore had a noteworthy tradition and a remarkable continuity since its beginning. It has been studied by authors such as Blasco and Casas, (1985); Caparrós (1985); Germain (1954 and 1968); Kirchner (1975 and 1985); Soler (1982); Soler and Tortosa (1983); Soler, Tortosa and Reig (1986); Tortosa, Montoro and Carbonell (1989); Montoro (1990); and Montoro et al ., (1990).
In Barcelona and Madrid two psychotechnic laboratories were established to take care of the selection of tramways and truck drivers and the organizational of programs of vocational guidance. The Institute in Barcelona, created in 1914, was the third one in the world to initiate these kind of activities.
From the beginning, the selection of professional drivers focused the attention of researchers on the evaluation of psychomotor and sensorial aptitudes and skills based on a careful task-analysis of driving behaviour, such as discrimination of distances, visual and auditive perception, fast kinetic reactions and the ability to concentrate and maintain attention, among others ( Mira, 1920).
Important leaders in Applied Psychology such as Mira, Madariaga and Germain created and consolidated the bases of Spanish psychology. They designed tests and apparatus that obtained a widespread acceptance into the psychological community in Europe. They founded and kept active institutions such as the National Institute of Applied Psychology. In several cities these Institutes remained associated for decades to Traffic and Road Safety Programs.
The second International Conferences on Psychotechnics was held in Barcelona in 1921. A direct consequence was that the Mayor of Barcelona decided that every tramway and taxi driver should pass a psychological aptitude test. Barcelona was the first city in which this condition became obligatory. (Proceedings of the Second Conference, 1921; Granada, 1929).
In 1934 the First National Congress on Traffic-Safety was held and, soon afterwards new traffic-safety legislation was enacted. Psychotechnic examinations became mandatory to obtain driving licenses for tramways, buses and trucks in Spain.
The Civil War (1936-1939) closed a period of research and applications which looked promising. As a result, well-known researchers went to exile, workgroups and teams were paralized and the policies that had favoured the development of psychology were modified. Although Spain did not actively participate in the Second World War, its indirect effects and consequences could not be avoided.
D. Mira continued his research on psychotecnics in South America. He designed psychological instruments like the "Perception-tachometer" and the "Percept-Mio-Kinetic Test", (Mira, 1957).
After the parenthesis of the civil war period, the Institute Applied Psychology recovered their function in Traffic Safety Programs and the journal "Psychotechnics" was published in Spanish. Articles regarding traffic and transport issues were published, such as the one by Villar (1943) on methods of selecting railway engineers or the one by Mallart (1943) on psychological prevention of traffic accidents and home accidents.
In 1946 another vehicle of communication appeared: the "Revista de Psicología General y Aplicada, RPGA" ("Journal of General and Applied Psychology"). Traffic-Safety papers were bound to predominate in such a journal.
From that point on, a phase of opening-up subjects which were broader than the strictly psychotechnic ones began. Thus in the RPGA, from 1955 to 1980, 50 articles appeared regarding the selection of drivers and issues related to traffic-safety (Soler and Tortosa (1983).
Three articles were particularly important and significant. One refers to the selection of pilots in the Air Force (Germain, Pinillos, Ramo and Pascual, 1958). The second one reviews the validity of the different tests applied to the selection of drivers, with reference to a collection of criteria (Germain, Pinillos and Pascual, 1959). The third (Germain, 1961), analyzes the concept of "accident proneness", widely debated internationally, as much from a statistical point of view as from a psychological one.
In 1952 the creation of the Spanish Society of Psychology (SEP) and the foundation of the School of Psychology and Psychotechnics in Madrid in 1953, contributed to the consolidation of this field of research and expertise.
Repeated international contacts took shape in events such as the visit of M. Roche in 1963 and the publication of two important articles (Roche, 1963; Hákkinen, 1963) in the RPGA.
The activities of applied psychology and traffic-safety in the 70's were centered on Germain and his staff of collaborators and the Institute of Applied Psychology. In 1966 Germain organized the first course on accidents and associated issues in traffic safety, with the collaboration of other experts like physicians, lawyers, engineers and so on. All of this took shape in issue number 21 of the RPGA, devoted to Road Safety.
The prestige which was obtained by psychology and the demands of industrial development suggested the advisability of reviewing the aptitudes that necessarily had to be assesed in professional drivers in 1969 such as: attention, perception of speed, motor coordination and reaction times.
Doctoral dissertations on traffic-safety were produced: Fernández Seara (1978) and Kirchner (1975), although they constituted isolated instances.
The transition from a dictatorship to a democracy in 1975 produced significant social and institutional changes. To a great extent, the 80's have been distinguished by this activity of modernization which still remains.
This was a period of great activity. Political, social and technical phenomena contributed to this, which also coincided with an unusual interest in studying psychology. The massive growth of university students and the employment to full and part time jobs in traffic safety centres of large numbers of young graduates (about 2000), has given our discipline a dizzy rhythm.
The constitution of the Colegio Oficial de Psicologos, C.O.P. and a parallel institution in Catalonia has had noteworthy results in the development of psychology and specifically its applications to Road Safety.
In 1982, due to new legislation, the mandatory evaluations of drivers (initially professional drivers and later every licensed driver) by physicians, ophthalmologists and psychologists under the same status began to be carried out in private centres, supervised by the Traffic Authority.
For the first time, psychologists were accepted in managerial positions in a interdisciplinary workgroups for driver assessment. The Traffic Department created several stable positions for psychologists to research preventive actions and field studies in Road Safety. It was viewed as an official recognition of the expert-knowledge of psychology in this field. Engineers accepted them immediately but physicians were very reluctant to accept that a psychologist might have access to the role of manager or supervisor in the above mentioned private centre, as was indicated in the law. They were given equal status in the hierarchy of experts and technical consultants.
The new legal dispositions establish new psychological aspects to be assessed, among which intelligence, different psychomotor aptitudes and some aspects relative to mental health and personality disorders.
The C.O.P. created a task-force on Psychology and Road Safety issues to supervise the activity carried out by practitioners and researchers. Professional standards and methods to evaluate individual drivers and to evaluate research activities in this field were described in a significant paper (Prieto, 1984).
The 80's have been characterized by the organization of a large number of national and international meetings in which Traffic Psychology and Road Safety programs from a psychological view, were the core subject. The consequence was an increase in contributions produced for these conferences and the Revista de Psicologia General y Aplicada (Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology). Each local office of the C.O.P. created an "ad hoc" task forces to deal with Traffic Psychology issues in each territory. (Proceedings of the Eighth National Congress of Psychology, 1990; Proceedings of the Second C.O.P.'s Congress of Psychology,1990). The available articles and papers show a noteworthy diversity of applications of Traffic Psychology. Delegates were sent to International meetings in Psychology in the European Community context (Blasco and Casas, 1987; Blasco, 1989; Sánchez Pardo, 1987, among others).
In 1984 the Traffic Department sponsored an International Convention on Traffic Psychology and Road Safety. Governmental authorities and Faculties of Psychology joined forces to approach the problems involved from a behavioral perspective. Experts from the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, France, Canada and the United States were invited.
In 1986 the University of Valencia and the Federal University of Uberlandia (in Brazil) organized another International Convention on Traffic-Safety.
The training of psychologists who become specialists in traffic-safety issues is a present-day concern that has prompted the start of two Seminars of Road Training and several specific workshops. The Universities of Valencia and Barcelona are designing Masters Degrees programs in Traffic Psychology. Regularly the C.O.P. organizes training workshops for new graduates in each local office.
Psychological papers have been published on the proceedings of each congress, in the Journal of General and Applied Psychology (RPGA), in "Papeles del Psicólogo", and in the "Revista de Psicologia del Trabajo y de las Organizaciones" (RPTO). Soler and Tortosa (1987) have also published a valuable handbook. At present several monographic books are in press.
In this decade master theses have been developped on this subject (Soler, 1982; Blasco and Casas, 1985) and also new doctoral dissertations (Soler, 1984; Blasco, 1988b; Monterde, 1989). At present there are several research projects and seminars in the University of Barcelona, Valencia and Madrid. In the Faculty of Psychology of the University of Valencia a permanent research team and a chair on Traffic-Safety have been created under the supervision of L. Montoro and J. Soler.
1986 was declared the European Year of Road Safety and several activities were organized under the auspices of State agencies such as the Traffic Department, the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO).
It is significant that throughout these years, that at least than ten legal norms have appeared concerning the re-examination of drivers. Traffic Psychology is always involved.
There are several factors that show areas of applied psychology which are of great social interest and which have a large number of professionals and researchers. Some of these are as follows: the increasing number of psychologists with permanent jobs in the Traffic Department, the creation of a Centre of Higher Education for Research and Training in Road Safety Education in Salamanca.
The subjects on which psychologists do their everyday work is quite diverse: road user education, epidemiology of traffic accidents, driving styles and risks, behavioral models in driving, regular assessment of every licensed driver an so on. All aspects of driving behaviour are important for reducing accidents. In our country we have about 7000 deaths and 200000 injured each year. These developments have been presented and discussed in several congresses and conventions during the last decade.
The social relevance of the work done is quite evident. In fact, about 2000 psychologists have a contract for the assessment of drivers when they obtain or renew their drivers' licenses. Those who are in charge of research projects are fewer, but the social demand for solutions from psychology generates an expansion of the professional practice of many new graduates in psychology.
In the area of present-day research, the papers on Road Education -- as much theoretical (Valentín, 1990) as applied (García Barrachina, 1990; Berlanga and García Barrachina, 1990) -- stand out. Also outstanding is the interesting research on the perception of distances in children by Sánchez Pardo (1990a), among others.
The research on accident proneness and the psychological profile of drivers which were based on mathematical models, and related to driving efficiency, have a long tradition in Spain. The work done by Fernández Seara (1978) on the role of personality traits in accidents and the work of Blasco (1988b) on the psychomotor bases of accidents of urban bus drivers and the evidence of accident proneness in very specific groups of drivers is quite important. From 8 years of observational research he found strong relationships with a number of perceptual, cognitive and motor skills. Risk exposition was the same for all drivers. Also in this area, the application of computers to the assessment of drivers, along with very concrete psychotechnic traditions has been defined in the work done by Blasco and Casas (1985) and by Monterde (1987 and 1989).
The theoretical studies of the behaviourial models of drivers are present in research activities. In this sense the cognitive approach stands out. This approach sustains a behaviourial model of driving based on the homeostasis of information processing due to Blasco (1988a). The reflections on the already classical models such as the ones concerning "risk" in driving by Egea and García Sevilla (1990); Mayor et alii. (1990); or Tortosa et alii (1990), are also worth noting -- just to cite the most recent ones.
Attitudes regarding fines, decision-making, individual differences and sex differences (Sánchez Pardo, 1990b) in driving, have generated studies in the universities, although they have been somewhat unconnected and covering very specific items. These are subjects that, associated with the abuse of alcohol and other drugs, are areas of concern for society and the authorities, especially in that areas that affect younger people. High risk factors for accidents in juvenile surroundings and their indicators have been the object of a recent study (Martínez et alii, 1990a) as well as the attitudes of teenagers towards rules and traffic accidents (Martínez et alii, 1990b), or the risks of driving motorcycles (Carbonell, 1990).
The practical outcomes of these efforts are scarce as far as they are reflected in the number of accidents in our country, but it would seem necessary to research and work in order to obtain answers to the unknowns that separate us from real solutions.
The Catalonian Government have recently created the Institute for Road Safety. Efforts to coordinate and promote applied and basic research are ongoing. Universities and authorities are working for accident reduction.
In the other hand, we have new traffic rules: helmets are obligatory for motorcyclists, seatbelts for car drivers are obligatory, and so on. The target is to attain the level set by Maastricht guide-lines in road-safety matters.
Thus after a period of intense growth in the number of psychologists devoted to aptitude assessment of all types of drivers which is now entering a less relevant phase, the future already seems to be showing an increase in research -- both theoretical research and field studies. This includes the intervention of very specialized psychologists in teams made up of professionals from many disciplines to design vehicles and infrastructures (ergonomics), in the training of drivers and of driving instructors (driving schools), as well as policies to modify the behaviour of road users, in the study of accidents and in the modification of behaviour in the streets and roads, in the planning and assessment of publicity campaigns for road safety and so on.
But rather than being optimists regarding today's reality and the future of psychology applied to Road Safety, it would appear that we need to be cautious and reflective in order to integrate correctly a decade which is quite vertiginous. There is a need for research, and training for psychologists, in a wide variety of road safety interventions. Also, we need multi-disciplinary teams to review safety methods and their preventive effectiveness. Lastly, rigorous and continuous work in all these areas will determine our immediate future.
JOSÉ RAMÓN CORREAS GONZALEZ
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LAST UPDATED Sunday 6 de August de 1995 - -