Hi
On Tue, 29 Jun 1999 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> I dont't think pedal braking is my dominant response. I've been using hand
> brakes the majority of my life. That is why I was so surprised by my panic
> reaction. I've made many more total stops via hand brake: hence it should
> have higher habit strength and the arousal should have activated it. I'm
> always disappointed when cherished psychological principles are violated.
> That is what led to my state hypothesis.
I would hypothesize that you learned the pedal brake response
first, which gave it some primacy in your "STOP THE BIKE" schema.
When you learned hand-brakes, you had to inhibit the primary
response at that time; you probably did not unlearn the pedal
response in the sense of it disappearing and that connection
returning to a baseline of zero. Now, on occasion, the
inhibitory component may fail and that old response will emerge
once again. One hypothesis about aging, for example, is that
inhibition becomes weaker more rapidly than excitation. The
classic example might be an elderly person starting to speak the
language of their childhood after many years of nonuse, and not
realizing it. This lapse of inhibition may be particularly
noticeable if you are distracted or startled (i.e., no
preparation time, need for immediate response), if you've been
drinking, if you are at altitude, and so on.
If I were you, I would start to ride more slowly and cautiously!
Actually, the diminished inhibition hypothesis might explain some
other things happening on this list recently.
Best wishes
Jim
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James M. Clark (204) 786-9313
Department of Psychology (204) 774-4134 Fax
University of Winnipeg 4L02A
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2E9 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
CANADA http://www.uwinnipeg.ca/~clark
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