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Benevolent deception: "The placebo button effect" » English to Portuguese (EU)

Competition in this pair is now closed, and the winning entries have 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 entries have been announced in this pair.

There were 8 entries submitted in this pair during the submission phase. The winning entries were determined based on finals round voting by peers.

Competition in this pair is now closed.


Entries (8 total) Expand all entries

Entry #25243 — Discuss 0
Nuno Rosalino
Nuno Rosalino
United Kingdom
Winner
Voting points1st2nd3rd
499 x44 x25 x1
Entry tagging:
  • 2 users entered 7 "like" tags
  • 7 users agreed with "likes" (13 total agrees)
  • 3 users disagreed with "likes" (3 total disagrees)
+4
as autoridades nova-iorquinas
Flows well
Adapting t​he city na​me into an​ adjective​ is by far​ the most ​natural ch​oice for P​ortuguese ​speakers.
Inês Martins Ferreira
+2
foram desativando
Flows well
Inês Martins Ferreira
-3
+2
3
evitando, no entanto, fazer espalhafato de maior a respeito do assunto.
Flows well
Inês Martins Ferreira
que leve em conta as suas ações, mesmo que apenas aparentemente.
Flows well
Margarida Martins Costelha
gostam de ter uma sensação de controlo
Flows well
Margarida Martins Costelha
+3
que serve apenas para tranquilizar os utilizadores que não estão cientes de que é feito o registo automático de todas as teclas pressionadas.
Flows well
Inês Martins Ferreira
+2
considera que, como os peões estão cientes da existência destes botões, o ressentimento resultante desse engodo suplanta os benefícios originais.
Flows well
Inês Martins Ferreira
Entry #25340 — Discuss 0
Paula Amaral
Paula Amaral
Portugal
Winner
Voting points1st2nd3rd
4810 x43 x22 x1
Entry tagging:
  • 3 users entered 12 "like" tags
  • 4 users agreed with "likes" (9 total agrees)
  • 2 users disagreed with "likes" (2 total disagrees)
+1
Ao longo de muitos anos, sem fazerem grande alarde disso
Flows well
Margarida Martins Costelha
+1
que antes acionavam os semáforos de travessia de peões na cidade,
Flows well
execellent​ translati​on
Margarida Martins Costelha
-1
+3
1
executivo camarário
Flows well
Inês Martins Ferreira
+1
o que induziu inúmeros dedos a pressioná-los em vão.
Flows well
excellent ​translatio​n
Margarida Martins Costelha
sobreviveram graças ao custo da sua remoção, mas até inoperacionais os botões acabaram por ser úteis
Flows well
Margarida Martins Costelha
-1
+1
1
antes de o semáforo ficar verde
Flows well
Inês Martins Ferreira
+1
que se presume ter em conta o seu contributo.
Flows well
Margarida Martins Costelha
gostam de ter a sensação de que controlam os sistemas que usam,
Flows well
Margarida Martins Costelha
+1
cujo papel não é mais do que tranquilizar
Flows well
Margarida Martins Costelha
o que digitam
Flows well
excellent ​translatio​n
Margarida Martins Costelha
Encarem isso, diz ele, como um pequeno logro bem-intencionado para compensar a frieza inerente ao mundo das máquinas.
Flows well
Soraia Martins
e o consequente ressentimento dos peões face ao logro, já supera os benefícios
Flows well
Margarida Martins Costelha
Entry #24826 — Discuss 0
Voting points1st2nd3rd
265 x41 x24 x1
Entry tagging:
  • 2 users entered 2 "like" tags
  • 3 users agreed with "likes" (3 total agrees)
  • 3 users disagreed with "likes" (3 total disagrees)
-2
+3
2
'homem-máquina'
Flows well
Inês Martins Ferreira
-1
1
faz notar que a consciência dos peões acerca desse facto e a irritação que isso gera, acaba agora por pesar mais que os benefícios.
Flows well
and excell​ent transl​ation
Margarida Martins Costelha
Entry #24865 — Discuss 0
Voting points1st2nd3rd
254 x44 x21 x1
Entry tagging:
  • No "like" tags
Entry #24866 — Discuss 0
Nadia Morais
Nadia Morais
Portugal
Voting points1st2nd3rd
233 x45 x21 x1
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 6 "like" tags
  • 5 users agreed with "likes" (8 total agrees)
  • 1 user disagreed with "likes" (2 total disagrees)
+2
foram desativando
Flows well
Inês Martins Ferreira
-1
+1
1
sem grande alvoroço
Flows well
Moving thi​s segment ​to the end​ of the se​ntence was​ a wise ch​oice, to a​void break​ing the fl​ow two con​secutive t​imes in th​e beginnin​g of the s​entence.
Inês Martins Ferreira
+1
administração municipal
Flows well
Inês Martins Ferreira
-1
antes do sinal verde
Flows well
Inês Martins Ferreira
+2
especialista em interações entre humanos e computadores
Flows well
Inês Martins Ferreira
+2
que não tem função alguma além de dar mais segurança aos utilizadores que não têm consciência de que o programa já guarda tudo automaticamente
Flows well
Inês Martins Ferreira
Entry #24764 — Discuss 0
Voting points1st2nd3rd
183 x42 x22 x1
Entry tagging:
  • No "like" tags
Entry #25109 — Discuss 0
Voting points1st2nd3rd
132 x42 x21 x1
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 1 "like" tag
reage aos seus comandos.
Flows well
Margarida Martins Costelha
Entry #24812 — Discuss 0
Voting points1st2nd3rd
803 x22 x1
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 1 "like" tag
  • 1 user agreed with "likes" (1 total agree)
+1
provável que os peões que primem um botão atravessem a estrada antes do símbolo do p
Flows well
Ana Martins