If their picks matched either of those, you could argue there wasnt a gender bias. He told them that if they answer a riddle, they could go free. Want the solution? He's my son." Yet the doctor was not the boy's father. >A mother and daughter are in a horrible car crash that kills the mother. I wonder if they do the following control. Really? Discrimination = The act of treating others unfairly based on prejudice and stereotypes about their identity (age.race, religion, sex, disability, or any other status). The father is killed and the child is taken to hospital gravely injured. Descriptions: A father and his son were in a car accident. All the language is male dominated I wonder if it was a daughter instead of a son if that would change anyones answers? If you didn't guess that the surgeon could have . True the woman is connected with reproduction, but that is logical not biased. And yeah the bible belt remark is embarrassing. Answer: To boil the egg in exactly 15 minutes, follow these four steps. Ideally, they should have groups where they pair father and son with nurse, and mother and daughter with surgeon so that the gender schemas are not violatedand then groups where they use father and daugher or mother and son being in the accident, to avoid priming participants one way or the other. I thought it was about the surgeons mental state at the time, that is, maybe HE OR SHE had ethical objections or was so distraught that she couldnt do her job effectively because of her vested personal and emotional interest in the outcome. Statistics or facts must include a citation or a link to the citation. I was just wondering if at any point in the study anyone decided to reverse that narrative by doing the doctor one but by replacing only the word nurse in the scenario, and the same for the nurse example. I had no problem thinking the surgeon was his mother, but equally thought it could have been a second father. Mostly because of the wording of the riddle. Make it a father dying and a daughter on the operating table and Id be the number of those who say the surgeon is a woman magically improves. Some of these can be very creative. Easy Riddles for Kids. I live in the Bible belt, answered the question correctly, and (surprise!) I did go to the assumption was 2 fathers. This is ridiculous! The guy was in space. A doctor wants to operate for three different persons who were wounded. (The results were no different for an alternate version of the riddle: a mother is killed, her daughter sent to the hospital, and a nurse declines to attend to the patient because that girl is my daughter; few people guessed that the nurse might be the childs father. A lot of people jump to conclusions before realizing! Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, https://www.bu.edu/articles/2014/bu-research-riddle-reveals-the-depth-of-gender-bias/#comment-7240559, https://www.bu.edu/articles/2014/bu-research-riddle-reveals-the-depth-of-gender-bias/#comment-7240542, Free Gender-Affirming Products for Students Now Available from the Center for Gender, Sexuality & Activism, COMs 2021 Power of Narrative Conference: In-Depth Storytelling at a Safe Distance, Using Data Science to Address the Gender and Racial Wage Gap, Heightened Risk of Eating Disorders for Transgender, Gender-Diverse College Students, POV: Massachusetts Can Finally Measure the Health of Primary Care, Award-Winning Author Tracy Kidders Rough Sleepers Focuses on BUs Jim OConnell, Astronomy Class Ponders Life Beyond Earth, 2023 Academic Advising Awards Go to Christopher Schmitt and Matt Bae, Mens Lacrosse Looks to Defend Patriot League Title, Alternative Service Break Trips Return to Normal after Three Years, Getting to Know Your Neighborhood: Jamaica Plain, LGBTQIA+ BU Student Task Force Report Makes Recommendations for Achieving a More Inclusive BU, Staying in Boston for Spring Break? If they still dont guess that the doctor was a woman, thats sexism. This certainly opened my eyes and brings awareness to the fact that stereotypes might not be easily recognized. But the surgeon takes one look at him and says, "I can't operate on this boy - he's my son.". Theyre not twins, but triplets I presume? The man is killed instantly. Each mind is a universe; So, there is an imperative need to respect one another, and our individual boundaries. Q: What occurs once in a minute, twice in a moment and never in one thousand years? . That is bias and an assumption. Or any riddle reallyto get the listeners mind *away* from the true answer. Use "I . The Backlot. For example, the boy and his parents are at home, as they leave the Father says to the Mother Have a wonderful day at work. Ask them to spell 'silk'. I guess I speak for a majority when I say that only a psychopath would assume the woman doctor would still be operating even though her own husband just died moments ago. The man was killed, but the son lived and was rushed to a hospital. Its like when you touch you chin and tell someone something is on their cheek, yet they touch their chin because you are touching your chin. The son was still alive but his condition was very serious, and he needed immediate surgery. :D. It didnt cross my mind that it could be the childs mother. The setup: A father and his son are in a car accident. False Assumption: The surgeon was a man. . Our outlooks may be changing. This riddle has nothing to do with bias and everything to do with framing a desired outcome to prove a point. I was thinking same about Slavic languages and probably more languages has words for men and woman. Here's an old riddle. For me the fact that the word Bias was part of this test, made me put more thought to this riddle( I picked woman). /. I wonder if they do the following control. It is very interesting that everyone thinks differently. - question and answer in the Random club The researchers addressed this; its covered in the fourth paragraph: (The results were no different for an alternate version of the riddle: a mother is killed, her daughter sent to the hospital, and a nurse declines to attend to the patient because that girl is my daughter; few people guessed that the nurse might be the childs father.). Youre making a biased assumption there assuming that biological parents are never involved in their childrens lives whatsoever after adoption. She thinks for a moment and then says, "I don't know what my number is.". Gender schemasgeneralizations that help us explain our complex world and dont reflect personal values or life experience, says Wapman. Answer: Carrot. How stupid and trivial to indulge in characterizations like this. I think the study should be done not using male pronouns & see if they get a better correct response. Upon seeing the young boy, the surgeon said, "I can't operate - this is my son. New television shows are showing us the way things will be. The riddle assumes most people would assume the doctor is a man. At least television is getting it, finally. How can he operate for the three people with two pair of surgical gloves? There is this family: An elder Cupple, with their daughter (lets say aged 30), their daughters child (around 8) and a young man all living in the same appartment block. . Sometime down the road of the English language evolution (or even sooner than that), the decision was made for no words to have gender and for objects to be referred to as it and not he or she. Maybe even quadruplets? 5. The validity of assuming peoples responses are due to schemas instead of other possibilities is a bit questionable. Then you have both a horrible mother AND doctor, wholl obviously deny accountability in the end anyway. When the boy is taken in for an operation, the surgeon (doctor) says 'I can not do the surgery because this is my son'. Ask a subgroup of people the following question and see if they are more likely to solve the riddle: A mother and daughter are in a horrible car crash that kills the mother. It would be interesting for them to add a control group or correct the language and redo the study so we could have a more accurate picture of what is happening here. I have good long time friends who are black but I dont look at them like that. When they arrived, an old gray surgeon was called in to operate. A son and father are driving in a car. 4. How could this be? Activity 1: Riddles. Ask a subgroup of people the following question and see if they are more likely to solve the riddle: A mother and daughter are in a horrible car crash that kills the mother. Answer (1 of 73): Thanks for A2A At first instance, this question hits our subconsciousness where we link specific roles to specific genders. I tried to convince myself that the words father and he were occupying my brain space. Because children and adults both scored the same, there is no acquired bias. I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Upon seeing the young boy, the surgeon said, "I can't operate - this is my son.". The solution? I made the assumption that the surgeon was male. The man died on the way, but the son was still barely alive. I thought it could be the boys birth parent, thinking that with the accident and the death of the mother that he could have been adopted and now the parent discovered this was her child, perhaps she knew the adopted parent all the time. 14 September 2010. by Dennis Ayers. And yeah, schemas do exist, they sometimes change, and they interfere in our thoughts and actions lets all study psychology ;), Excludent isnt a real word (except in mathematics), The same issue arises in the Spanish version, which is that a son and his father get into a car accident and are taken to the nearest clinic. Upon seeing the young boy, the surgeon said, "I can't operate - this is my son.". I agree that this study would need a control group, or at the very least change the wording to a girl and her father or a boy and his mother to avoid priming the group. This is an article that I am supposed to read to make me less biased if I happen to be biased. -. The surgeon on duty walks into the room and says "Oh my god! Why this is a hard riddle for adults: Each hint compounds with the next to give the solver a better chance, but this difficult riddle is still as tricky as a trick candle. (Again) We are all equally different, but with a common factor as a goal: RESPECT; Not to demand it from others and bend this world to our individual shape, but to grow as individuals in a well seasoned harmonized society. A father and his son are in a car accident. If one of you can guess the color of the hat on your head, I will let you free. Abusive, profane, self-promotional, misleading, incoherent or off-topic comments will be rejected. They are all rushed to the hospital and the doctor says, "I can't operate on him, he's my son." Give me a clue! Question: What does this riddle illustrate about the one mentioned in the article? I think that as a species we are collectively ignorant and consistently ignorant when it comes to this as we are learning and shaping our language to accommodate all of us. I have given the answer of each riddle in the last. Confunde decir cirujano y no cirujana. The father dies instantly, and the son is taken to the nearest hospital. That would suggest that the underlying effect exposed by this riddle is not schema induced gender bias, but rather cognitive limitations imposed by linguistic formulation. see the operator is the sons mother. The riddle is like a game, and is also built to show the reader that there is a sore spot in society (like an old fracture), and one way to illustrate it is to make the reader put its finger on it, and press hard without a warning. They go to the hospital and they wait for the surgeon for an hour. Assumptions are tough to ignore but so frequent in occasion. She went through the gamut of daft hypothesese and then when told the answer protested that BUT, as a matter of fact there are no woman trauma surgeons in the UK. If you are aware of the father being gay then you are enlightened. These schemas do change over timeshe points to other countries with greater gender equitybut the pace is glacial., BU Research: A Riddle Reveals Depth of Gender Bias, Rich Barlow It doesnt seem very enlightened to me to suggest that where youre from dictates the level of compassion or intelligence you can have. I am sure a probably would not have thought they were gay and therefore not considered the surgeon as the second father, The riddle probably confuses people even more because what mother doctor would refuse to operate on their child to save their life? But when the child arrived at the hospital and was rushed into the operating theatre, the surgeon pulled away and said: "I can't operate on this boy, he's my son". It would not be a riddle if it did not make think and take educated assumption, good riddle. Imagine if the remark were you get a point for enlightenment, at least outside of Roxbury! The riddle made no stipulation that they were related. He is rushed to hospital, and will need immediate surgery. Comments / Answers (0) 2k views. However, it was fun to read. If it was neutral by using words like parent and child or they then people would be more inclined to choose mother or father but instead the riddle conditions people to subconsciously think of males that you are doomed to be biased from the begining. How is that possible? It is true, the first thing that comes to mind is the surgeon is a male. These things come out of otherwise very intelligent people. The answer to the other half of the riddle is that we do not take accident victims to the. He can't breathe if he tore a hole in his space suit. A dad and his son were riding their bikes and crashed. What made imagining a surgeon mom so difficult? We were created equal and that is what I believe. Many of you will probably have heard the following riddle: A father and his son are involved in a horrific car crash and the man died at the scene. As to the conclusions, is it really any surprise that the researchers got the results they did? After the 7-minute hourglass runs out, turn it over to start it again . BUs Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Policy. Firstly, it is good to make it a long drawn out tale with lots of extraneous detail to confound the recipient. 2. Youd think they would prefer to be the one doing it to ensure it got done right, Also theres no way they would be waiting an hour if it were the doctors child so that messes people up even further. But many will name that answer, as well as the doctor being his other gay dad. If their picks skewed to one gender more than that, thatd be evidence of bias. * Female surgeon: cirurgi If you consider that the need of a group of words like female-surgeon is excludent and therefore sexist by itself,you would understand the whole picture better.