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. | Ko’p yillar davomida bu haqda ovoza qilmagan holda, Nyu-York hukumati shaharda piyodalar yo’ldan o’tish uchun bosishi kerak bo’lgan tugmalarni o’chirib qo’ydi. Ularning fikricha, kompyuterlashtirilgan taymerlar deyarli hamisha yahshiroq ishlagan. 2004 yilga kelib, 3250 tugmadan 750 tasidan kami ishlashda davom etgan. Ammo shahar hukumati, befoyda sanoqsiz tugmalar bosilishini oldini olishni nazarda tutgan bo’lsa-da, nogironlarning yo’ldan o’tish tugmalarini olib tashlamadi. Dastlab bu tugmalar, ularni olib tashlash uchun ketadigan xarajatni hisobga olgan holda, olib tashlanmadi. Lekin, ishlamaydigan tugamlardan ham naf kelishi aniqlandi. “Tugmani bosuvchi piyodalarning, boshqalarga nisbatan, yashil chiroq paydo bo’lmaguncha yo’ldan o’tish ehtimollari kamroq”, deydi Isroilning Negevdagi Ben-Gerion universitetidan Tal Oron-Gilad. O’tish joylaridagi odamlar xatti-harakatlarini o’rganib chiqib, odamlar, o’z ishtiroki talab e’tiladigan tizimlarga ko’proq itoat etishlarini kuzatganini aytdi. “Ishlamaydigan tugmalar insonlarga shifobaxsh malham kabi ta’sir qiladi, chunki ular odamlarga o’zlari foydalanadigan tizimlar ustidan nazorat xissini beradi”, deydi Michegan Universitetining insonlar va kompyuter o’rtasidagi munosabatni o’rganuvchi mutaxassisi, Eytan Adar. Doktor Adar, o’z talabalarini, dasturiy ta’minot tuzishda, odatga ko’ra, faqat ko’rgazma uchun, “saqlash” tugmasi bilan yaratishlarni, bu bilan ular, insonlarga ularning kiritgan ma’lumotlari avtomatik holda saqlanmasligiga ishonch hosil qilishlariga ishontirishini ta'kidlaydi. - “Bir o’ylab ko’ring”, deydi u, “bu mashinalar dunyosiga xos sovuqlikka, shirin yolg’on bilan iliqlik kiritishdek”. Bu bir fikr. -"Biroq, yo’lni kesib o’tishda, “malham tugma”ning salbiy tomoni ham bo’lishi mumkin", deydi Venaning yo’l harakati tizimida psixologik omillarni o’rganuvchi Faktum Instituti rahbari, Ralf Risser. Uning fikricha, piyodalar tugmalardan foydalanib, keyinchalik ular ishlamayotganini bilib qolib g’azablanishi, foydadan ko’ra zarardir. |