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Benevolent deception: "The placebo button effect" » English to Macedonian

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Source text in English

Over the course of many years, without making any great fuss about it, the authorities in New York disabled most of the control buttons that once operated pedestrian-crossing lights in the city. Computerised timers, they had decided, almost always worked better. By 2004, fewer than 750 of 3,250 such buttons remained functional. The city government did not, however, take the disabled buttons away—beckoning countless fingers to futile pressing.

Initially, the buttons survived because of the cost of removing them. But it turned out that even inoperative buttons serve a purpose. Pedestrians who press a button are less likely to cross before the green man appears, says Tal Oron-Gilad of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, in Israel. Having studied behaviour at crossings, she notes that people more readily obey a system which purports to heed their input.

Inoperative buttons produce placebo effects of this sort because people like an impression of control over systems they are using, says Eytan Adar, an expert on human-computer interaction at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Dr Adar notes that his students commonly design software with a clickable “save” button that has no role other than to reassure those users who are unaware that their keystrokes are saved automatically anyway. Think of it, he says, as a touch of benevolent deception to counter the inherent coldness of the machine world.

That is one view. But, at road crossings at least, placebo buttons may also have a darker side. Ralf Risser, head of FACTUM, a Viennese institute that studies psychological factors in traffic systems, reckons that pedestrians’ awareness of their existence, and consequent resentment at the deception, now outweighs the benefits.

Winning entries could not be determined in this language pair.

There were 7 entries submitted in this pair during the submission phase. Not enough votes were submitted by peers for a winning entry to be determined.

Competition in this pair is now closed.


Entries (7 total) Expand all entries

Entry #25453 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Tatjana Pop-Antoska
Tatjana Pop-Antoska
Македонія (был. югасл. рэсп.)
Voting points1st2nd3rd
123 x400
Entry tagging:
  • 4 users entered 9 "like" tags
  • 2 users agreed with "likes" (3 total agrees)
  • 1 user disagreed with "likes" (1 total disagree)
Многу години наназад
Flows well
Daskalka
-1
+1
1
Проучувајќи го однесувањето при преминување на улица
Flows well
po2tersowl
+2
Д-р Адар забележува дека студентите постојано дизајнираат софтвер со копче „зачувај“
Flows well
prontoo
разувери
Good term selection
Daskalka
тоа што го напишале секако автоматски се запамтува
Flows well
po2tersowl
студенило
Flows well
Daskalka
гледиште
Flows well
Daskalka
мрачна страна
Flows well
Daskalka
огорченост
Good term selection
Daniel Matrakoski
Entry #24931 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Voting points1st2nd3rd
71 x41 x21 x1
Entry tagging:
  • 2 users entered 2 "like" tags
  • 1 user agreed with "likes" (1 total agree)
  • 1 user disagreed with "likes" (1 total disagree)
-1
+1
1
измама
Good term selection
Tatjana Pop-Antoska
што ги фрла во сенка сите придобивки.
Good term selection
Daniel Matrakoski
Entry #25423 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Vasil Pop-Andonov
Vasil Pop-Andonov
Македонія (был. югасл. рэсп.)
Voting points1st2nd3rd
201 x20
Entry tagging:
  • 2 users entered 2 "like" tags
  • 1 user agreed with "likes" (1 total agree)
бесчуствителност
Good term selection
po2tersowl
+1
видување
Good term selection
Sofija Krncheska
Entry #25472 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Voting points1st2nd3rd
1001 x1
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 2 "like" tags
противтежа
Good term selection
po2tersowl
студенило
Other
It has bee​n liked in​ other ent​ries. It i​s fair to ​treat all ​the entrie​s equally.
po2tersowl
Entry #25511 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Voting points1st2nd3rd
0000
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 1 "like" tag
При проучување на однесувањето на пешачките премини
Flows well
po2tersowl
Entry #25585 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Voting points1st2nd3rd
0000
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 1 "like" tag
  • 1 user agreed with "likes" (1 total agree)
+1
Тоа е едно гледиште
Good term selection
po2tersowl
Entry #25156 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Voting points1st2nd3rd
0000
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 1 "like" tag
противтежа
Good term selection
po2tersowl