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

Competition in this pair is now closed, and the winning entry has been announced.

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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.

The winning entry has been announced in this pair.

There were 21 entries submitted in this pair during the submission phase, 3 of which were selected by peers to advance to the finals round. The winning entry was determined based on finals round voting by peers.

Competition in this pair is now closed.


Entries (21 total; 3 finalists) Expand all entries

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Entry #25162 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Standard-Spain
Winner
Voting points1st2nd3rd
12327 x46 x23 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry4.104.00 (11 ratings)4.20 (10 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 3 users entered 3 "like" tags
  • 3 users agreed with "likes" (3 total agrees)
  • 1 user disagreed with "likes" (1 total disagree)
-1
+1
1
sin levantar mucho revuelo
Flows well
Núria Garriga
+2
1
lo cual hizo que innumerables dedos pulsaran en vano
Good term selection
Sarahi Abarca
«
Other
Ha seguido​ la recome​ndación de​ la RAE de​ utilizar ​las comill​as angular​es o latin​as.
Link: http://lem​a.rae.es/d​pd/srv/sea​rch?id=SST​AZ5sDyD6h5​9vijX
Catalina von Wichmann
Entry #25328 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Mexican
Finalist
Voting points1st2nd3rd
647 x415 x26 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.923.83 (6 ratings)4.00 (5 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 2 users entered 2 "like" tags
  • 1 user agreed with "likes" (2 total agrees)
+1
sin hacer grandes aspavientos
Flows well
Gloria Samperio
+1
cuya única finalidad es la de tranquilizar a aquellos usuarios que no se percatan de que, de cualquier modo, cada tecla que oprimen queda automáticamente registrada
Flows well
Sarahi Abarca
Entry #24955 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Paula Sepúlveda (X)
Paula Sepúlveda (X)
Spain
Finalist
Voting points1st2nd3rd
567 x46 x216 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry4.003.75 (8 ratings)4.25 (8 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 2 users entered 2 "like" tags
  • 3 users agreed with "likes" (3 total agrees)
+1
antaño accionaban los semáforos para viandantes en esa ciudad. Habían decidido que los temporizadores controlados por ordenador casi siempre funcionaban mejor
Good term selection
MarcelaOtero
+2
Los pulsadores no operativos producen un efecto placebo de este tipo porque a las personas les complace tener una sensación de control sobre los sistemas que utilizan
Flows well
Sarahi Abarca


Non-finalist entries

The following entries were not selected by peers to advance to finals-round voting.

Entry #24950 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Standard-Spain
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.763.62 (13 ratings)3.90 (10 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 1 "like" tag
Al principio, los botones sobrevivieron debido al elevado coste de su retirada, pero resulta que incluso los interruptores no operativos cumplen una función.
Flows well
Romina Mendoza
Entry #24962 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.763.89 (9 ratings)3.63 (8 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 1 "like" tag
  • 2 users agreed with "likes" (2 total agrees)
+2
a continuar apretándolos infructuosamente
Flows well
Juan Gil
Entry #24782 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
MarinaM
MarinaM
Argentina
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.753.50 (6 ratings)4.00 (5 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 1 "like" tag
el hecho de que los peatones sean conscientes de la existencia de tales botones y la consecuente indignación que produce ser engañado sobrepasa los beneficios.
Flows well
Romina Mendoza
Entry #24835 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.753.75 (8 ratings)3.75 (8 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 2 users entered 2 "like" tags
  • 1 user agreed with "likes" (1 total agree)
+1
advierte que las personas están más dispuestas a obedecer a un sistema que supuestamente atiende sus indicaciones.
Good term selection
frase idea​l
Alejandro Gonzalez
esta suerte de efecto placebo
Flows well
Romina Mendoza
Entry #25333 — Discuss 0 — Variant: US
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.753.50 (6 ratings)4.00 (5 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 1 "like" tag
Considérelo, dice, como una pequeña dosis de engaño benévolo para contrarrestar la frialdad inherente al mundo de las máquinas.
Flows well
Romina Mendoza
Entry #24914 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Puerto Rican
Rodamir
Rodamir
United States
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.723.57 (7 ratings)3.86 (7 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • No "like" tags
Entry #24841 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Mexican
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.583.33 (6 ratings)3.83 (6 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • No "like" tags
Entry #25151 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.563.56 (9 ratings)3.56 (9 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 4 "like" tags
  • 2 users disagreed with "likes" (2 total disagrees)
-1
1
invitando a que infinidad de dedos pulsaran inútilmente.
Flows well
Romina Mendoza
en interacción entre personas y ordenadores
Flows well
Romina Mendoza
-1
1
Piensen en ello, dice, como en una pequeña mentira piadosa que contrarresta la frialdad propia del mundo de las máquinas.
Flows well
Romina Mendoza
y la consecuente indignación debida a la decepción
Flows well
Romina Mendoza
Entry #24757 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.513.63 (8 ratings)3.38 (8 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • No "like" tags
Entry #24929 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Latin American
Leda Roche
Leda Roche
Uruguay
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.453.20 (10 ratings)3.70 (10 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • No "like" tags
Entry #24943 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Latin American
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.403.20 (5 ratings)3.60 (5 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 1 "like" tag
  • 1 user agreed with "likes" (1 total agree)
+1
y sin armar mucho revuelo al respecto
Good term selection
MarcelaOtero
Entry #25364 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Carolina Quesada
Carolina Quesada
United States
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.323.25 (8 ratings)3.38 (8 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • No "like" tags
Entry #25018 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Standard-Spain
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.293.00 (12 ratings)3.58 (12 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • No "like" tags
Entry #24902 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Standard-Spain
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.223.00 (8 ratings)3.43 (7 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • No "like" tags
Entry #25280 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Mexican
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.082.86 (7 ratings)3.29 (7 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • No "like" tags
Entry #25286 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Standard-Spain
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.072.70 (10 ratings)3.44 (9 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 2 "like" tags
  • 1 user agreed with "likes" (1 total agree)
sin la mayor transcendencia
Flows well
Romina Mendoza
+1
las personas están más dispuestas a obedecer un sistema que aparenta tener en cuenta su intención.
Flows well
Romina Mendoza
Entry #25372 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.002.78 (9 ratings)3.22 (9 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • No "like" tags
Entry #25276 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.252.25 (8 ratings)2.25 (8 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • No "like" tags