7) FreeMind Map

7) Where did 6 go? Mind mapping/graphing

Animation while blogging

5) Texting Truckers

 

 

1.     According to Prompt 5, texting while driving reduces driving ability by 23x. In order to explain this using Baddeley’s model of working memory, I will attempt to explain the underlying components. Working memory consists of the Central Executive, which has two modes of control.

The first mode  is automatic, or semi-autoamatic,  and based on existing habits. An example would be driving a car. Once you have mastered the skill, you don’t have to exert a lot of thinking to accomplish it.  You just do it. 

The second mode in Executive Control is the supervisory attentional system (SAS). This mode of control is crucial to activate alternate strategies for unforseen events; i.e., the road is closed and you must decide what to do, or,  a car is stopped in the middle of the highway and you must make a quick decision about proper action to take. Slips of action can occur causing the SAS to fail to operate when it should. Cell phone usage while driving  would certainly contribute to the SAS not functioning at the level it should.

There is a phonological loop which temporaily stores speech/sound. It is implicated that the the role of speech/sound is connected to action and the ability to switch attention between two tasks, but further studies are required to prove this.

The visuo-spatial sketchpad allows us to form  mental imagery. The visuo-spatial sketchpad and the phonological loop can and do work together. This can  increase performance in some tasks; it can decrease performance in others. Imagery can interfere with  spatial processing. Baddeley’s model of working memory illustrates this with an example of driving while listening to a football game. The author stated his mind formed such a clear image of the game that his car began weaving lane to lane. In order to rectify this, he switched the radio to music and resumed driving in his own lane. Brain activity for driving safely would definately be decreased by texting, talking on a cell phone, or using a computer.

Lastly, the episodic buffer is the 4th component in Baddeley’s model of working memory. It is still a concept in the early ages of development. The episodic buffer is a proposed storage system, an active binding process of information. It is linked to long-term memory (LTM) and allows chunking of information from all the other components described. It also allows for the influence of emotion on working memory.

2.     I am not convinced by the truckers’ argument to keep their computers on board and activated. The only objection offered by the trucking companies is that to make the computer set-ups illegal would lose time– that is, money. No economic advantage can ever license an increase of risk to human life.  

The trucking companies say that the devices can be used safely, but as one sees from the following quote, this is a view at odds with fact:
“After videotaping truckers behind the wheel, the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that those who used on-board computers faced a 10 times greater risk of crashing, nearly crashing or wandering from their lane than truckers who did not use those devices.”

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3.     Assuming texting while driving is dangerous–and I believe we can safely assume this–, computer usage while driving should be made illegal and the equipment removed.

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*The picture in the NYT below shows a trucker with his dog on his lap, his keyboard in hand, his eyes on the pc screen, his mattress in the back and a bag of food by his side, with traffic out his window! 

Truckers Insist on Keeping Computers in the Cab

Mark Schiefelbein for The New York Times

 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/28/technology/28truckers.html

 How safe does this look???????????????????????????????