Posted: 11 Mar 2010 12:49 PM PST

NEW YORK — Reports of sudden acceleration in the Toyota Prius have spiked across the country. But that doesn't mean there's an epidemic of bad gas pedals in the popular hybrid.

Experts on consumer psychology say the relentless negative media attention Toyota has received since the fall makes it much more likely that drivers will mistake anything unexpected — or even a misplaced foot — for actual danger.

"When people expect problems, they're more likely to find them," said Lars Perner, a professor of clinical marketing at Marshall School of Business at University of Southern California.

In just the first 10 weeks of this year, 272 complaints have been filed nationwide for speed control problems with the Prius, according to an Associated Press analysis of unverified complaints received by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

By comparison, only 74 complaints were filed in all of last year, and just eight the year before that.

For problems with the brakes, rather than the gas pedals, the figures are even more stark: 1,816 filed this year versus just 90 in all of 2009 and fewer than 20 in every other year of the last decade. Toyota recalled 440,000 Priuses on Feb. 8 because its antilock brakes seemed to fail momentarily on bumpy roads.

It's doubtful the Priuses of the past two years suddenly became more dangerous than those made in years past. After all, Toyota's own recall for Prius floor mats that can trap gas pedals covers model years 2004 to 2009.

In the latest case, in suburban New York, the owner of a 2005 Prius said his housekeeper was driving it forward down the driveway when the car lurched forward, crossed the street and hit a stone wall.

"She appears to have all her faculties," Capt. Anthony Marraccini of the Harrison, N.Y., police said of the housekeeper Wednesday. "She didn't appear to be disoriented in any way. There's nothing at this particular time that would indicate driver error."

Toyota has said it has found nothing wrong with its electronic throttle controls and it is confident they work properly.

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Psychology: Civility starts with each of us (The Capital)

Posted: 11 Mar 2010 12:10 PM PST

Of course, Bullock was kidding, but her reply is representative of our current society, where it sometimes seems that we have lost our ability to be civil toward others.

It appears that people from all walks of life have lost their desire or even their ability to interact civilly with others. This is often the case among our political and business leaders, as well as our perceived "role models" in the sports and entertainment fields.

It is now commonplace for leaders and celebrities in our society to generate new scandals while displaying emotional tantrums that include name-calling, obscene gestures and a philosophy that degrades others who do not see things the same way.

This has led social scientists to wonder where "civility" has gone and whether or not it is important. Besides the coarsening of our society where incivility leads to the expression of potentially hurtful, raw, unfiltered emotional expression, there may also be a much larger cost.

When we consider what civility actually is, we realize that it is more than just protecting people's feelings and being nice - not that there is anything wrong with that. Civility is far more than being polite and well-mannered.

Civility means respecting other people as unique, thoughtful, intelligent, capable human beings in their own right. It is an essential ingredient for meaningful discourse and the complete understanding of complex situations where different points of views are held. It is impossible to compromise on anything or to come up with creative and unique solutions unless civility and an open tolerance of ideas is encouraged.

Alternatively, incivility breeds harshness, intolerance and ultimately a suppression of meaningful dialogue. It is literally impossible to have a meaningful exchange of differing ideas without patience and interest in other points of view. This seems to be apparent in our own national dialogue, or attempts at dialogue, regarding the possibility of nationalized government-run health care.

Clearly, many people feel that their ideas are not being heard or fully considered. The purpose of debate over this or any important public policy should be to increase our understanding of the situation, not to "win" the argument.

Many have wondered how we have come so far from civility in such a short period of time. One prevailing explanation is that we now live in a society of instant or rapid gratification, and that people are simply accustomed to "getting their way."

In modern society there is a subtle narcissism that may develop from our ability to move through life gratifying many of our wishes almost instantly - as if the world should constantly conform to our desires and expectations. Fast food, music and entertainment at the touch of a button, remote controls, cell phones, garage door openers, etc. may be having more of an effect on the primitive part of our brain than we realize.

The theory goes that when we are denied what we want - such as total agreement on our perspective - then we feel entitled to have the equivalent of an adult temper tantrum.

Another contributor to incivility may be the general emotional imbalance that the human condition now involves. This theory suggests that human beings in the modern world are badly out of sync with their natural needs. Being unbalanced due to our modern work schedules, poor diet and nutrition, exposure to various toxins and other life stresses leave us grasping for a sense of personal validation and control over our lives.

A modern life of stress and fear can leave us intolerant of viewpoints other than our own because we view them as threatening rather than enriching. Inversely, the more physically and emotionally balanced we are, the better we are able to deal with things not to our immediate liking.

Sadly, intolerance can be found in our homes as well. With divorce rates approaching 50 percent and family conflict common, it is apparent that tolerance in close interpersonal relationships may also be hard to find. In relationship problems it is often the case that people are finding it harder and harder to compromise or to "agree to disagree" on life perspectives.

There is always hope that we can return civility to our society and public discourse. To restore civility the change must begin with each one of us, because the most effective way to restore civility is to behave civilly.

Starting with our own relationships, we need to reach down inside and find our sense of tolerance, wisdom and compassion in order to overcome our tendency to be critical and judgmental of others.

We need to model the type of civility we seek in others as well as hold our public officials and even our entertainment figures to the same standard. By speaking with our votes, how we spend our money and engaging in civil discourse ourselves, we can slowly shift the momentum back to a more civil society.

After all, civility is rooted in respect for other human beings, and that's a principle we can all agree on.

Dr. Scott E. Smith is a licensed clinical psychologist with Spectrum Behavioral Health in Annapolis and Arnold. For services or ideas regarding this column, call 410-757-2077 or write to 1509 Ritchie Highway, Suite F, Arnold, MD 21012.

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Complaints of runaway Priuses spike, but it could have something to do with psychology (The Canadian Press via Yahoo! Canada News)

Posted: 10 Mar 2010 04:15 PM PST

Module body

Wed Mar 10, 7:15 PM

By Erin Mcclam,Tom Krisher, The Associated Press

NEW YORK - Reports of sudden acceleration in the Toyota Prius have spiked across the United States. But that doesn't mean there's an epidemic of bad gas pedals in the popular hybrid.

"When people expect problems, they're more likely to find them," said Lars Perner, a professor of clinical marketing at Marshall School of Business at University of Southern California.

By comparison, only 74 complaints were filed in all of last year, and just eight the year before that.

For problems with the brakes, rather than the gas, the figures are even more stark: 1,816 filed so far this year versus just 90 in all of 2009 and fewer than 20 in every other year of the last decade. Toyota recalled 440,000 Priuses on Feb. 8 because its antilock brakes seemed to fail momentarily on bumpy roads.

Earlier this week came one of the most high-profile case of any Toyota problem so far: A man driving on a Southern California freeway said his 2008 Prius sped out of control, reaching 94 mph, before a patrol officer helped him bring it to a stop.

Then, in suburban New York, the owner of a 2005 Prius said his housekeeper was driving it forward down the driveway when the car lurched forward, crossed the street and hit a stone wall.

Investigators from the federal government and Toyota are looking at both cases, and authorities have not suggested either case is anything but legitimate.

Toyota has continually said it has found nothing wrong with its electronic throttle controls and that it is confident they work properly.

The automaker has recalled 8.5 million vehicles worldwide - more than 6 million in the United States - because of acceleration problems in multiple models and braking issues in the Prius. Regulators have linked 52 deaths to crashes allegedly caused by accelerator problems.

Electronics experts say the computers, sensors and wires that control the throttle can be compromised by electronic interference. Toyota insists the problems with its cars have been mechanical.

Toyota has a "quite lengthy" procedure for its specialists when they evaluate cars, including a diagnostic check, an oscilloscope to test electronics and a checklist of potential problems, spokesman Brian Lyons said.

The 2008 Prius, the model involved in the California freeway runaway, would have been equipped with a backup mechanism designed to cut power to the wheels if the gas and brake pedals are depressed at the same time, Toyota says.

The driver, James Sikes, said he jammed the brake repeatedly, even stood on it, before he was able to bring the car under control.

A Toyota spokesman, John Hanson, said Toyota engineers talked with Sikes on Tuesday, but he did not know what was said in the interview.

Toyota's engineers, as well as investigators from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, will check physical evidence from the Prius and compare that with what Sikes said in the interviews, Hanson said.

The government does not give statistics on how many of the reported car problems are actually confirmed. Toyota keeps its own stats - and, perhaps not surprisingly, does not release them.

So there's no way to know how many runaway cases are for real - even as the figures pile ever higher.

The phenomenon has plenty of parallels.

In 2003, thanks to a media blitz by the police union, New Yorkers were convinced the cops were on a ticket-writing spree, for everything from sitting on a milk crate to resting on the steps of subway station. It turned out tickets were actually on the decline.

Think of medical students who learn about all sorts of disorders and then suspect they may be stricken by them. Or muckraking journalist Lincoln Steffens, who competed for police scoops with his fellow newspapermen and once wrote: "I enjoy crime waves. I made one once."

Even the heightened number of complaints is relatively small compared with how many Priuses are on the road. Toyota sold about 750,000 of them from 2004 to 2009.

But as long as reports of Prius profile keep rolling in - just look at the extensive coverage given to a single crash in that New York suburb, something that would have gone utterly unnoticed a year ago - expect complaints to keep rising.

"We are basically anticipating them happening, and we may be prone to jump to conclusions," said L.J. Shrum, a marketing professor who specializes in consumer psychology at University of Texas at San Antonio.

AP Auto Writer Tom Krisher reported from Detroit. AP Auto Writer Dan Strumpf in New York and Associated Press writers Jim Fitzgerald in Harrison, N.Y., Emily Fredrix in New York and Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed to this report.

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Psychology

Thursday, March 11, 2010

“Increased Prius acceleration complaints may be product of psychology (The Tennessean)” plus 2 more

“Increased Prius acceleration complaints may be product of psychology (The Tennessean)” plus 2 more

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