Study on Psychological Assessment Model for High-speed Train Driver

Study on Psychological Assessment Model for High-speed Train
Driver
LIU Yingqi YE Long
The Center for Infrastructure Research, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, China, 100044
Abstract
The paper describes High-speed Locomotive driver Psychological Evaluation Model, and introduces
the design of index system of this model, based on the relative research on psychological diathesis
measure both home and abroad. Through the practical measure to selected high speed locomotive
driver, this model and its index system are tested.
Keywords: high speed railway ,locomotive drive, psychological evaluation
1. Introduction
In west, Francis Galton was the founder of psychological test research. During his research, he found it
was necessary to test attributes of individuals with descendiblity or not. James Mckeen Cattell, the
famous American psychologist, introduced ‘psychological test’ for the first time by linking
experimental psychology with test, and then applied it into test. In 20th century, A.Binet and T.Simon
in France suggested a test to distinguish and find out the children who are amentia, and they did the
first formal psychological test in the world. Later, A.Binet published the emended Binet-Simon
Intelligence Inventory, which gained results according to different intelligence ages for the first time.
Binet also founded common model.
The development of western psychological test covers the following areas: 1. Development of operation
test: the workout of Binet-Simon Inventory and Standford-Terman Inventory (L.M.Terman). 2.
Development of group test. 3. Development of aptitude test: special aptitude test, mainly applied to
career counseling and selection and classification of military department members. New development
in the late 1980s and the early 1990s, embodied traditional intelligence test and multiple aptitude
battery test, which were two different psychological test methods (Anastasi, 1994). Different levels are
followed by different test purposes. 4. Development of standardized achievement test: sustaining
improvements of traditional school examinations (O.W.Caldwell&Couris,1923; Ebel & Damrin, 1960).
5. Development of personality test: with the development of psychological test research, more and more
professions applied its results to different fields Wickens C D, John L, Yili L, et al., 2004[1]; Sandal
G M, Endresen I M, Vaernes R, et al. 1999[2]; Sandal G M, 1999[3]; Slaven G M, Windle C M,
1999[4] .
Our scholars apply it to many fields, such as, psychological test of submarine commander (Zhou
Yonglei, Zhang Kai, 2006 [5]; Zhu Guofeng, He Cundao, 2001 [6]), psychological test of airline pilots
(Luo Xiaoli, Tan Xin, Chen Jun, Deng Juan, 2005 [7]; Hoermann Hans-Juergen, 1999 [8]), and they
gained certain achievements.
From current literature, research on psychological test in the process of selection of high speed
locomotive driver is less. With the development of high speed railway, high speed locomotive driver
play more and more important role in the process of train running. The level of attendants’ diathesis
directly determines the rate of accident, and whether train runs normally, safely or not. Railway is
developing by leaps and bounds, and the professional requirements of attendants are improving. In
order to match this development and requirements, it becomes urgent problem that how to
comprehensively test and standardize the psychological diathesis of locomotive driver. With the help of
comprehensive and systemic psychological test, it can provide qualified protection to locomotive
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（
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driver’s psychological diathesis, the rate of accident, the reliability of work and safety of running with
the help of comprehensive and systemic psychological test.
2. Text
2.1 Psychological Diathesis
Psychological diathesis refers to the comprehensive performance of one’s character, psychological
ability, psychological power, psychological health and the level, or degree, to which one’s behavior is
influenced by his or her psychologies. It includes feelings, consciousness, memory, imagination,
thoughts, as well as motivation, interests, emotions, will, personality, etc. Being formed on the basis of
the inherited innate qualities and under the influence of the acquired social factors, it serves as the
internal principle of one’s physical and psychological development.
The main elements of psychological diathesis include: (1) the system of needs, which is developed
according to the potentials of rationalized and systematic needs such as ambition, belief, etc; (2) the
cognitive ability, the ability developed on people’s potentials to assimilate information and to arrange
the order of behaviors, including observation, memory, thinking, imagination and the overall
performance of them, with thinking ability as its core; (3) the mass psychology, or the PR competence,
which is built upon the potential interdependence of human psychology, including the awareness of
identity, interpersonal cooperation, emotional coordination, etc; (4) the subjectivity quality, a
comprehensive psychological sub-structure taking shape during the final stage of an individual’s
growth, including self-consciousness, awareness of survival, initiative of adaptation, willingness of
enterprise, sense of responsibility, pioneering and innovative spirits, sense of acuteness and time, the
mechanism of coordinated reaction, etc.
The relations between the above-mentioned elements are neither parallel, nor hiberarchy, but an
interlinked integration with the cognitive ability as its essence, the system of needs as its drive and the
subjectivity quality as its inner control system.
2.2 The Professional Characteristics of the High-Speed Locomotive driver
2.2.1 Due to the substantial improvement in the speed of high-speed railway, its importance in the
national transportation system will be enhanced correspondingly. Therefore, the locomotive driver on
the high-speed trains should take more sense of responsibility in their daily work.
2.2.2 The railway transportation system of China is featured by overload, high intensity and the pointto-point nonstop lines which altogether impose great pressure on the railway drivers. Plus the
complicated distribution of the railway crossings and the unfavorable qualities of the passengers, the
high-speed locomotive driver suffer from more fatigue, more nervousness, more working hours and
less rest.
2.2.3 From the driving point of view, the trains are always operated by executive and duty drives in
turn, and generally, executive drivers think that duty drivers can share the job of drive. If there is only
executive driver, he will become tense, helpless, lack of self-confidence and psychologically lonely.
Meanwhile, foreign materials show that after drivers adapt to the work, they will become too easy for
their work, and if they can’t adapt to their work, then they will be depressed. So the work of attendants
in high-speed trains operated by single driver will obviously increase.
Compared with ordinary attendants, those in high-speed trains are given more of work pressure.
Therefore, to assure drive safety, attendants in high-speed trains should be given more professional
skills training and they should be selected in accord with professional adaptability from mind and body.
As a result, it is necessary to establish a scientific system and professional adaptability test which is
suitable to mind and body of attendants in high-speed trains.
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2.3 High-speed Railway Locomotive driver Psychological Evaluation Model
Attendants’ nice psychological diathesis plays an important role in assuring drive safety. There are
many factors affecting drive safety, and person is the most important factor of them, and also person
acts on safe drive. The locomotive drivers who are eligible to the drive of high-speed railway should be
qualified with basic psychological diathesis. Learning from the methods and models for psychological
evaluation, we build High-speed Railway Locomotive driver Psychological Evaluation Model, shown in
Figure 1. This model completes psychological evaluation of high-speed railway locomotive driver
through Personality, Complex Reaction Judgment Capability, Learning Capability, Instantaneous
Memory Capability, Operating Stability and Attention Distribution Capability.
Personality
Operating
Stability
High-speed
Railway drivers
Learning
Capability
Attention
Distribution
Capability
Complex
Reaction
Judgment
Capability
Instantaneous Memory
Capability
Figure.1 High-speed Railway locomotive driver Psychological Evaluation Model
2.4 High-speed Railway Locomotive driver Psychological Evaluation Model Index System
According to established High-speed locomotive driver psychological evaluation model, we collect
datas and scientifically analyze them for years, and we consult some guide drivers and current
attendants with rich experiences. With the help of these efforts, combining domestic and abroad
research results and suggestions from famous experts in home, we establish index system for Highspeed locomotive driver psychological evaluation model. This model includes 9 grades indexes:
(1) Personality: Locomotive driver’s personality can make great effect on the drive, so they should have
strong responsibility, smooth emotions, and capability of handling accidents and better adaptability to
inanimate and long-time work.
(2)Complex reaction judgment capability: during the practical trip, it is required that attendants are
able to quickly and exactly operate and drive on the occasion of complicated external disturb. Because
of too high speed, the requirement for attendants’ physical fitness and driving skills is far stricter.
There are many important factors affecting the safety of running, one of which is the time to make
reaction for transportation environment. Statistics from abroad shows that the longer the time to react
needs, the higher the rate of accident is. That is why attendants are required to adapt to the changes,
and then rapidly, accurately, exactly and tirelessly perceive-judge-handle various transportation
messages. In this way, the safety of driving can be assured.
(3)Learning capability: In practical work, locomotive driver will be challenged by lots of new
knowledge and skills, as a result, they are required to handle all kinds of new skills and draw new
knowledge as soon as they can. Also they need to apply these skills and knowledge to practice.
(4) Instantaneous Memory Capability: High-speed locomotive driver are required to master various
operating rules and programs, and to remember the relative knowledge, so they have to own better
memory.
(5) Attention Distribution and Diversion Capability: In practical work, locomotive driver not only have
to pay attention to operate apparatus and also have to pay distributed attention to around conditions,
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such as, the running of engines and external conditions. Therefore, locomotive driver are required of
good attention distribution capability, which is called attention diversion capability.
(6)Vision Scope: In the process of trip, it is not enough that attendants have nice attention focus and
diversion capability, and they need to have attention distribution capability, so that they can pay
enough attention to other objects around at the same time.
(7) Operating Stability: During the drive, High-speed drivers engage in work similar to drive for a long
time in complex environment. They should have excellent operating stability if assuring the safety.
(8)Movement Judgment Capability: High-speed drivers are operating the engines with high speed, so
they should exactly judge the moving trains and objects around.
(9) Depth Perception Judgment Capability: In running train with high speed, it is necessary for
attendants to have nice and exact depth judgment capability so that they can exactly start and stop
trains.
2.5 Empirical research
In the selection of high-speed locomotive driver, about 1000 High-speed Locomotive drivers were
tested according to Psychological Evaluation Model and Index System and the qualified high-speed
locomotive drivers who will operate the high-speed train in China were successfully selected. The table
1 lists the index system. Meanwhile, through test, common model of High-speed Locomotive driver
Psychological Evaluation is established, which provides theory and positive support for railway system
and locomotive driver psychological evaluation.
Tab.1 The structure of the competitiveness evaluation model
1st level
index
2nd level index
Personality
X1
（ ）
（ ）
Personality X11
Complex reaction judgment
capability X21
Movement Judgment
Capability X22
Depth Perception Judgment
Capability X23
（ ）
（ ）
（ ）
（ ）
Learning
Learning capability（X ）
Capability（X ）
Complex
Reaction
Judgment
Capability
X2
High-speed
locomotive
drivers
psychological
diathesis
3rd level index
31
3
Instantaneous
Memory
Capability
X4
Attention
Distribution
Capability X5
Operating
Stability X6
Instantaneous Memory
Capability X41
（ ）
Vision Scope（X ）
Distribution and Diversion
（ ）
Capability（X ）
（ ） Operating Stability（X ）
（ ）
51
51
61
3. Conclusion
With the rapid development of high-speed railway in our country, we must put forward higher request
to select excellent locomotive driver. Only the locomotive driver who drive high-speed train with good
psychological diathesis can promise the high speed and safety of railways in our country basically. The
work of high-speed locomotive driver has some different characteristics with the ordinary locomotive
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driver. Based on their occupation characteristics, and combining foreign psychology evaluation
theories and results, we can build psychology evaluation model and index system of high-speed
locomotive driver in our country. At the same time, we can apply these findings to the selection of
high-speed locomotive driver. It will make the important effect to develop our high-speed railways.
Compared with other researches, this study has some special characteristics.1. From the perspective of
method, this research makes lots of investigations on metal diathesis of high-speed locomotive driver.
Different from the election evaluation on psychological healthy and physical diathesis, this research
builds a psychology evaluation model and index system which includes lots of important diatheses,
models and index system coming from railway trade and lots of other trades. It is very significant for
theory study. 2. For practical test, test the reliability and validity of practical exams by fitting degrees
so that the research results are more reliable.
We must point out that building the psychological evaluation of high-speed locomotive driver is an
innovative field in our country. There is lots of following work to do. Through psychological evaluation,
we can find whether high-speed locomotive driver fit for the development of high-speed railways, and
illustrate the application value of psychological evaluation. At the same time, we can increase the
quantity of sample in the future studies. Improving accuracy and efficiency of psychological evaluation
of high-speed locomotive driver is a problem to be solved.
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The author can be contacted from e-mail: [email protected]
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