Crosswalk signal buttons are some sort of social experiment.
Hadrian said 03/06, 03:01 PM
A pedestrian notes: "My observation and research says they do nothing to speed up or invoke the walk signal, except maybe at night when they are not needed," he says. "Is it just an experiment (as on "Lost," the ABC thriller) to get us to press a button?"
In Seattle, the Department of Transportation confirms that during the daytime, when there are lots of pedestrians, the buttons don't need to be pushed, and pushing them won't really do anything.
IamFry said 03/06, 03:35 PM
If they are a sociological experiment, it's pretty crumby that they don't dispense a 'treat' when we press the button... hmm... yeah, I got nothing. I don't know why I took this.
If the government were to conduct such a sociological experiment on the American people, I'd be all for it (for the sake of science). In fact, I believe they're doing research as we speak. Yes, they're working hard on the conundrum of how a family reacts to losing a loved one in a war overseas. Ah, science!
Hadrian said 03/06, 08:21 PM
The treat supposedly dispensed is the light changing. The fact is that during the day "the buttons don't need to be pushed, and pushing them won't really do anything". Yet, do you see people pressing them? Do you yourself press them?
Pressing crosswalk signal buttons is an example of what behavioral sciences call "variable-interval schedule Intermittent reinforcement": one in which the interval between the dispensing of the treat will vary and be unpredictable.
People press the button and eventually, at a variable-interval, the light changes. People learn to associate button pressing with the light change even when it does nothing. It only seems to.
One of behavioral sciences most important discoveries was that behavior that is reinforced intermittently is much more difficult to stop than behavior that is reinforced continuously.
So, test it. Try not pressing the button. Feel moderately anxious -- like you ought to be doing something? Feel impatient and powerless? Whack away at the button and you will feel better. See? You have been thoroughly trained to engage in meaningless behavior with the illusion that you have some small measure of control over your world.
IamFry said 03/07, 07:20 AM
Ok, even if they ARE deliberately installed in spite of being useless, it's NOT as a sociological experiment; the button IS the treat. It gives pedestrians the Illusion of Control.
See- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illusion_of_control
The article states, "Taylor & Brown (1988), have argued that positive illusions are adaptive as they increase motivation and persistence. This position is supported by Albert Bandura's claim that ???optimistic self-appraisals of capability, that are not unduly disparate from what is possible, can be advantageous, whereas veridical judgements can be self-limiting???..."
In short, the buttons are installed to make you life sweeter, buddy. And you scoff at them and call them an 'experiment'... hmmph!
Change your votes guys, I'm winning now.
Hadrian said 03/07, 08:34 AM
You are both right and wrong. The buttons are indeed part of the experiment in which, as you correctly observe, there is the illusion of control. This illusion of control coupled with the "variable-interval schedule of intermittent reinforcement" is a potent combination to "increase motivation and persistence" of a behavior. Your claim that the button is the treat is merely you making a fetish of the means of gaining the illusion of control. Without the light changing, of what use is the button? Now, having more completely described the nature of this experiment (albeit in some ways incorrectly), you perversely claim that this is not an experiment after all. Lets go back to your original argument. "If they are a sociological experiment, it's pretty crumby that they don't dispense a 'treat' when we press the button" Well, not you claim the button is the treat. So this IS an experiment, after all.
IamFry said 03/07, 09:39 AM
Yeah, I said the button was a treat - a treat INDEPENDENT of any experimentation. The illusion of control is simply a gratuity granted to pedestrians to alleviate their commute; it's not a system set up for the purposes of learning, as with an experiment.
Placebos are given to control subjects in medical trials to test the effectiveness and possible side effects of a drug. Also, placebos are prescribed to hypochondriacs, without knowledge that they're getting a placebo, so that they'll feel better psychologically. The first is a case of experimentation, the latter is a case of 'treatment'.
The button/light scenario parallels the latter, and is CLEARLY an example of TREATMENT rather than EXPERIMENTATION!
Let's go people (claps hands). Change those votes.
Comments
Add Your Comment
Why stop at signal buttons, haven't you ever wondered about push and pull signs on double hinged doors?
base89 | 03/06/08
Report Offensive Comment
By the way, despite what the others say, I totally agree with you on the Bush Legacy debate, I was the one who voted for you, keep up the good work.
base89 | 03/06/08
Report Offensive Comment
This arguement is one of the strangest I've seen. No matter which way I vote it seems I vote for the same thing. So, my vote goes to Hadrian, for starting this arguement!
shrek | 03/06/08
Report Offensive Comment
See? You have been thoroughly trained to engage in meaningless behavior with the illusion that you have some small measure of control over your world. No wait, thats VOTING! Silly me.
Hadrian | 03/06/08
Report Offensive Comment
base89: You anticipate another, related debate: "Elevator hold open/close door buttons are some sort of social experiment". That's all I got on doors.
Hadrian | 03/06/08
Report Offensive Comment
Don't the elevator open/close buttons actually work though? Or am I still being fooled?
base89 | 03/06/08
Report Offensive Comment
How is this possible?! My position is, "Crosswalk buttons aren't a sociological experiment," and I'm losing to a guy who's only won two debates out of the forty he's participated in. This is absolutely, totally, and in all other ways inconceivable!
IamFry | 03/07/08
Report Offensive Comment
Apparently iambligh "claps hands" to give him the illusion of control. Say! I told my doctor that if he was going to give me a placebo, to give me the best. My record, by the way is 4-7-1, NOT 2-40. how did I win even 4 with such arguments? Let me quote someone anonymously...we can "pretend" his name is iambligh: "Hadrian, I admit, I thought your debates were a little crony at first, but your style has totally grown on me. Keep finding opponents, and I'll keep voting for you!" http://www.elephant-donkey.com/elephantdonkey/show/3881 Well I found an opponent iambligh and you have a prior commitment to vote for me. Why should not everyone else follow suit?
Hadrian | 03/07/08
Report Offensive Comment
Why shouldn't everyone else follow suit? Because, as long as we're obeying my every whim, we might as well obey my current whim, and I'm currently calling for everyone to vote for me. So let's go, chop chop (clapping).
IamFry | 03/07/08
Report Offensive Comment
I swear, most of these people are just following the crowd at this point...
IamFry | 03/07/08
Report Offensive Comment
You misjudged the depth of disappointment that results when the deception is reveled and we discover that crosswalk signal buttons are some sort of social experiment offering us only the illusion of control. People can deny the truth and deny their disappointment -- nay, even anger -- and vote for you iambligh. Or they can make the brave choice and vote against the ongoing training to engage in such meaningless behavior like pressing that button.
Hadrian | 03/07/08
Report Offensive CommentPost A Comment
Please keep it clean. Bad words will get filtered, and offensive comments will be removed.
CNN TOP POLITICAL STORIES
TOP STORIES on TIME.COM
TIME PHOTO ESSAYS
Israeli Soldiers Sweep Into Gaza
IDF tanks and infantry launch a ground offensive in the Palestinian enclave
(Uriel Sinai / Getty)
The Science of Snowflakes
Caltech physics professor Kenneth G. Libbrecht has turned his passion for the study of ice crystals into an art form. In his books and website, Snowcrystals.com, he breaks down some of the basics behind these miniature miracles of nature
(Kenneth G. Libbrecht)
Oh no! Not iambligh!
Hadrian | 03/06/08
Report Offensive Comment