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Really minor annoyances


20 minute wait times on bank helplines when they're closing all the branches.

Making as much money as they've always done and cutting back on customer services.
 
chunkyshanhawk53 said:
The library button on the Spotify app moving from bottom right to one across.

Muscle memory is annoying
Click to expand...
As part of mandatory training and unconscious bias, I had to do this test. It flashed up 20 words and I had two buttons to click on with the meaning of the buttons changing, e.g. male right, female left. Then for the final test they merged all the different answers together and swapped which was left and right. So if it said 'man' I had to click left not right, which had been the case in the build up. Because I was far slower at the final test it showed unconscious bias creeping in.

No! It showed that the training give me the muscle memory to answer without even looking at the buttons and then changed it at the last minute so I had to think and check.
 
DaveH said:
As part of mandatory training and unconscious bias, I had to do this test. It flashed up 20 words and I had two buttons to click on with the meaning of the buttons changing, e.g. male right, female left. Then for the final test they merged all the different answers together and swapped which was left and right. So if it said 'man' I had to click left not right, which had been the case in the build up. Because I was far slower at the final test it showed unconscious bias creeping in.

No! It showed that the training give me the muscle memory to answer without even looking at the buttons and then changed it at the last minute so I had to think and check.
Click to expand...
No it didn’t. You’re making the mistake of believing that nobody you’re talking to is familiar with theses tests. And yes they aren’t necessarily ‘scientific’ - in that they don’t give you a definitive answer about anything. They simply compare your results against the ‘norm’ of every bugger else who took the test and give you some feedback as the basis for contemplation and/or discussion. There’s no ‘pass’ or ‘fail’.

There are people who are quite comfortable with the concept that upbringing, societal norms, group affiliation.. all that normal human stuff, might, just possibly, render them susceptible to favour one group or individual over another*. And the tests (like the one you probably took - if it’s one of Harvard tests; I forget the name, it was a while ago) simply present you with the possibility. What you do about it, whether you choose to ‘manage’ it, dismiss it or ignore it, is entirely up to you. Unless it’s been incorrectly presented, described, explained or misused - which is entirely possible and quite another can of worms.

The tests I remember swapped the options multiple times during the same session - to ensure that it was a very rapid response to a choice and not just repetitive muscle memory.

* to illustrate my point in a broader perspective. I was internally interviewing and there were two candidates left to choose from. I favoured one over the other. But when the objective (as far as it could be) scoring system was applied, the other candidate was the better option for the post and the consensus was to offer the other to the other one. But I still had this ‘feeling’.

As it turned out I worked in the same team the candidate I favoured later on in our careers. After a while I realised that he reminded me strongly of my brother - mannerisms, voice etc. The scoring system helped me manage my totally unconscious bias, but I hadn’t a scooby why there was just something about the guy that I felt comfortable and familiar with.

It works like that across groups. We have human bias.

Being aware of shit like that is helpful isn’t it?
 
BiG said:
No it didn’t. You’re making the mistake of believing that nobody you’re talking to is familiar with theses tests. And yes they aren’t necessarily ‘scientific’ - in that they don’t give you a definitive answer about anything. They simply compare your results against the ‘norm’ of every bugger else who took the test and give you some feedback as the basis for contemplation and/or discussion. There’s no ‘pass’ or ‘fail’.

There are people who are quite comfortable with the concept that upbringing, societal norms, group affiliation.. all that normal human stuff, might, just possibly, render them susceptible to favour one group or individual over another*. And the tests (like the one you probably took - if it’s one of Harvard tests; I forget the name, it was a while ago) simply present you with the possibility. What you do about it, whether you choose to ‘manage’ it, dismiss it or ignore it, is entirely up to you. Unless it’s been incorrectly presented, described, explained or misused - which is entirely possible and quite another can of worms.

The tests I remember swapped the options multiple times during the same session - to ensure that it was a very rapid response to a choice and not just repetitive muscle memory.

* to illustrate my point in a broader perspective. I was internally interviewing and there were two candidates left to choose from. I favoured one over the other. But when the objective (as far as it could be) scoring system was applied, the other candidate was the better option for the post and the consensus was to offer the other to the other one. But I still had this ‘feeling’.

As it turned out I worked in the same team the candidate I favoured later on in our careers. After a while I realised that he reminded me strongly of my brother - mannerisms, voice etc. The scoring system helped me manage my totally unconscious bias, but I hadn’t a scooby why there was just something about the guy that I felt comfortable and familiar with.

It works like that across groups. We have human bias.

Being aware of shit like that is helpful isn’t it?
Click to expand...
The unconscious bias is helpful and important, I am not dismissing that.

It was the nature of the test and muscle memory I didn't like. Spend 10 minutes doing practice runs where the left button is male and science, so you think male, click left. Then the test changes it so you think male, go to click left, pause, think that is not correct, mail is now in the right paired with art. It is not a little pause to really think about if the question is male orientated it is a little pause to remember where to click. Then you are judged on being slower because you took longer to click because of disorientation not natural bias.

A bit like driving abroad when you know to change gear but pause to remember right hand gear stick not left, then have someone say "but you don't know how to drive properly because you are not changing gear as quickly as in England". You know how to drive, you know when to change gear, you know how to change gear, but you are a second slower because you need to overcome muscle memory.
 
DaveH said:
The unconscious bias is helpful and important, I am not dismissing that.

It was the nature of the test and muscle memory I didn't like. Spend 10 minutes doing practice runs where the left button is male and science, so you think male, click left. Then the test changes it so you think male, go to click left, pause, think that is not correct, mail is now in the right paired with art. It is not a little pause to really think about if the question is male orientated it is a little pause to remember where to click. Then you are judged on being slower because you took longer to click because of disorientation not natural bias.

A bit like driving abroad when you know to change gear but pause to remember right hand gear stick not left, then have someone say "but you don't know how to drive properly because you are not changing gear as quickly as in England". You know how to drive, you know when to change gear, you know how to change gear, but you are a second slower because you need to overcome muscle memory.
Click to expand...
I say again. Your ‘scores’ are determined by a comparison with the norm group of all other people who took the test. They all had the same practice runs. Maybe the idea was to REMOVE to ‘muscle memory’ aspect and to focus your response purely on intellect rather than knee-jerk. It’s kind of inviting you to think quickly after first removing any opportunity for you to rely on anything else. Then, perhaps, the bias annd aromantic thinking creeps into our decision making process faster than our intellect and conscious thinking. The old amygdala wins again.

I’m not criticising. I had exactly the same initial response. As do a lot of people. Including a D&I consultant of my acquaintance who doesn’t think the tests are useful.

I used them in workshops and training sessions to spark debate and argument - well I didnt - my colleague did, who was much more adept and handling potentially confrontational debate and facilitation difficult conversations.

But just given as a ‘test’ as an element of an online course is, I think, counterproductive and the questions raised have a tendency to render what would otherwise be an interesting topic into something that can be dismissed out of hand.

It’s always the case with stuff like this; shoot yourself in the foot by well intentioned but ultimately poorly explained of misrepresented/misinterpreted approach.

Any road up… I’ve forgotten what I was gonna say.


Edit: I’ve remembered. Sorry for hijacking the thread. I’ll shut up.
 
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