March 2, 2001

Professor Lappin

Psychology 115W

Driving and Our Automatic Responses

Imagine that you are driving a car, listening to the radio and singing along to one of your favorite songs. As you approach an intersection, the light turns yellow. There is no car in your lane in front of you, and so you now have three seconds to make a decision. Without thinking twice, you immediately step on the gas and accelerate, trying to get though the intersection while it is still "legal." You easily and safely pass through, while cars just feet behind you stop for the coming red light. With only seconds, how does one make decisions such as these? Decisions involving driving are often made without a great deal of consideration, even though they involve safety and also breaking the law. What determines our ability to make these "snap" decisions?

In Descartes’ Error, Antonio Damasio shows evidence that even minor snap decisions are a result of many complex processes occurring in our brains. Our body’s reaction, in the previous case to step on the gas pedal, is very much in sync with our brain. Every response and decision we make is based on the functioning of our brain, even if it may seem to be basic instinct or simple reaction.

These occurrences are evident when the above case is examined from another point of view. If, for example, you had just been in a severe car accident while "squeezing in" before a red light, or perhaps you had just received a ticket because you didn’t quite make it through the intersection before the light turned to red, you would be more likely to apply the brakes and come to a stop when you saw the yellow light. With such limited time, one cannot possibly consider every consequence. To check every angle for approaching cars in order to ensure one’s safety and also to scan each intersecting street for nearby police cars is impossible in only a few seconds. But, although you have just an instant to consider these consequences, they are still factors involved in your reaction. Without consciously considering every possible problem, our instincts immediately weigh the consequences based on our previous emotions, and emit a certain feeling, pleasant or unpleasant. Damasio suggests that each and every one of our experiences plays a role in our decision-making process.

These experiences bring about a certain reaction or emotion within us. If we have successfully gone through a red light, we will have few negative feelings when the situation arises again. But when we have a bad outcome, the thought of the consequences occurring again is not pleasant. Damasio calls these feelings that are aroused upon certain situations somatic markers. The somatic marker "forces attention on the negative outcome to which a given action may lead, and functions as an automated alarm signal which says: Beware of danger ahead if you choose the option which leads to this outcome" (Damasio, Descartes, p. 173). Because of these somatic markers, we can quickly make decisions, based on these "gut" feelings.

But, if our somatic markers are based on our previous emotions, can we have a gut feeling if we have not been through the same situation before? Does a young, inexperienced driver lack these basic reactions that are necessary for driving? Insurance rates for teenage drivers are much higher than for older, more experienced drivers. This fact supports the view that our experience, or trial-and-error, plays a huge role in our decision-making abilities. Although the experienced drivers may not have been directly involved in a consequence, perhaps a car accident, they may have seen someone who has been, or they have had a close call themselves. Personally, until I had received a speeding ticket, I had very few negative feelings when I was speeding. The consequence had never been experienced, and so it did not affect me, and I was not concerned. However, after the first ticket, I felt a gut reaction when I would realize that I was exceeding the speed limit. The unpleasant warning feelings were a reminder of the emotions that the first ticket entailed, and they told me to slow down. Even though driving does not involve many decisions where we have time to deliberate and consider the pros and cons, our past experiences still play a vital role.

Although this decision-making ability is innate and biological, one can alter his somatic markers. One way of doing this is the consumption of alcohol. The presence of alcohol in one’s bloodstream directly affects the brain, including the frontal lobe regions. When under the influence of alcohol, our decision-making abilities are impaired. The large number of fatalities due to the combination of drinking and driving shows this effect. Reaching excessive speeds as well as disobeying traffic signals is common for intoxicated people. The somatic markers that would normally prevent this behavior are dimmed, slowed, or possibly absent completely. Someone that has been drinking is less likely to feel a gut instinct telling them to slow down, even if they have had consequential experiences with speeding in the past. Their failure to react based on these instincts is often disastrous. Clearly, our somatic markers are necessary even for our survival.

Damasio also argues that we cannot, regardless of our intent, separate our mind from our body. While driving, one may experience a rise in blood pressure while in heavy traffic. Our heart rates may increase rapidly when we barely avoid a collision. And an increase in the amount of sweat, if only minor, may be detected when accelerating through a yellow light. Damasio suggests that all of our organs are influenced by our brain’s activities: "Even an organ such as the spleen, which is concerned largely with immunity, is innervated by the autonomic nervous system" (Descartes, 205). As independent as we may think our bodies are from our brain, they are very much connected.

Damasio closely examines our reasoning and decision-making abilities, and shows that they are clearly related to regions within the brain, primarily the frontal lobes. Somatic markers are a specific function of the brain that "do not deliberate for us…but assist the deliberation by highlighting some options (either dangerous or favorable), and eliminating them rapidly from subsequent consideration" (Damasio, Descartes, p. 174). He further explains, "The external set of circumstances encompasses the entities, physical environment, and events relative to which individuals must act; possible options for action; possible future outcomes for those actions; and the punishment or reward that accompanies a certain option, both immediately and in deferred time, as outcomes of the opted action unfold" (Descartes, p. 179). Clearly, the presence of somatic markers is directly responsible for our decisions.