Researchers in Los Angeles, CA, Were Interested in the Predictors

Essay

Researchers in Los Angeles, CA, were interested in the predictors of aggressive driving. To investigate the potential antecedents of aggressive driving, these researchers developed a full-emersion driving simulator (i.e., in a real car adapted for a simulator, and with screens in all of the windows to resemble the available visual field one has in a car) where participants were subjected to several driving scenarios that reflected everyday driving situations in Los Angeles, including morning rush-hour, moderate traffic on a weekend, and busy nighttime driving. In other words, the driving simulator was designed to be as close to the real experience of driving as possible. Furthermore, the researchers were painstakingly thorough in making sure they recruited a sample of drivers that was representative of Los Angeles. The dependent variables were various observational and unobtrusive measures throughout the simulation (e.g., distance between the front of the participant's car to the rear of the car ahead of the participant; number and severity of fluctuations in speed; the amount of pressure applied to the gas and brake pedal). Is this study high in all three major aspects of external validity? Why or why not? Specifically, (a) identify and describe the major aspects of external validity, and (b) explain how and why the present study would be high or low on these three dimensions of external validity.