The Transport Research Group at Nottingham Trent University conducts studies into driver safety. This page details one of our current studies. What’s it about?
The Department of Psychology is currently looking for volunteers to participate in new and innovative research at NTU. The research is looking into the understanding of the car versus the understanding of the person and the impact that these can have on drivers’ knowledge and behaviour. What do I have to do? As a willing volunteer you will first be asked to complete a number of questionnaires that
will be made available on-line. Following this you will then be invited into the laboratory at NTU (City Campus) for an hour, where you will take part in a number of fun driving tasks, e.g., a drive on the driving simulator and a number of video-based driving tests. You will then be randomly allocated to one of two training interventions, which you will attend for 3 hours a week, for 4 weeks (in September). The first is a comprehensive car maintenance course run by Nottingham College. By the end of this course you will have the skills to make all the pre-checks necessary for your car’s MOT (saving you money on MOT repairs!). The second is an in-depth mindfulness course. Mindfulness is a Buddhist practice that will make you more aware of the present moment and has numerous proven benefits for mental health and well-being. Normally, both of these courses would cost you in the region of £200 each, however, here you will be given them for free – in fact we will even pay you £50 in vouchers for your time! Sounds great.. What’s the catch? The only catch is that you won’t get to choose which course you go on and we will want you to come back into the laboratory at NTU after you have completed your course for another hour of fun tests. Any requirements and how do I sign up? We are looking for both inexperienced drivers and experienced drivers. Inexperienced drivers should be have passed their theory test at least (but not necessarily their on-road test), but if you have passed your on-road test, it should have been no more than 6 months ago. Experienced drivers should have passed their test at least 5 years ago, and should be regular drivers. The other requirement is that you need to be available to attend two laboratory sessions and 4 training sessions. The lab sessions can be arranged around your availability, but the training courses will run on four Tuesdays in September, either in the afternoon or early evening. If you are interested in signing up or would like more information, please email Vikki at [email protected] or call on 07870406529. We have limited spaces so please get in touch soon!
