dummy
A dummy or phantom is an object that mimics the properties of an original . However, the dummy never imitates all of the properties of the model (otherwise it would be called a replica or a copy). So it serves to deceive the viewer by tricking him into being an original, or for illustration as a demonstration model.
Origin of the word
The term dummy was adopted as a loan word from French into German at the end of the 18th century ; l'attrape had been used in French for joke articles since the 18th century to mean "object aimed at misleading" . Originally the French noun " trap " meant, derived from the verb attraper = to catch, to catch (also: to trick jmd.), Which in turn is related to the noun la trappe = the pit of the pit, which is still in use today .
Dummies in behavioral research
In biology , the word dummy called a stimulus pattern , which in experiments of behavioral research is used. If an animal reacts to a dummy with a certain instinctive behavior , this observation is interpreted as evidence that those, for example, visual or acoustic features that are inherent in the dummy are the essential "building blocks" for the innate recognition of a relevant environmental situation. Dummies can therefore be interpreted as key stimuli that are more or less similar to natural stimuli that trigger a certain behavior.
For example, a mock bird of prey can trigger flight behavior in other birds . If the behavior is no longer triggered after a while, it is a consequence of habituation .
Dummy or phantom in animal breeding
In boars , stallions and bulls , a dummy of a female animal, usually called a phantom, which is intended to encourage the male animal to jump up, is used to obtain semen for artificial insemination .
Further examples
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- Backdrops and props in the theater or film studio are mostly just dummies, as are the jewelry or the hairstyles of the actors.
- In furniture stores, the furniture is often covered with mock-ups of books , consumer electronics and the like. Equipped to give the customer a 'lively' impression.
- Scarecrows and bird of prey silhouettes ("warning birds") can be thought of as dummies because they are designed to deceive birds and keep them out of a certain place by mimicking the basic visual characteristics of a human or a bird of prey.
- Crash test dummies can replace the driver and front passenger in a test-induced car accident.
- In the military are dummies ( ticket machine ) of vehicles, aircraft or infrastructure such. B. airfields , used to avoid the loss of valuable technology and human life or to fool the enemy into a greater clout. Wooden models or inflatable variants are used. In order to maintain the deception even when cleared up by thermal imaging cameras , heated dummies are also used.
During the Second World War, bunkers in the shape of churches were constructed. - In architecture it is not uncommon for dummies to give the impression that it is a historical building; Turrets, facade decorations and painted ornaments convey the romanticism of tourism in many old towns, while behind the facades are newly built houses with modern comfort . The Disneyland in this sense represents the culmination of this illusion industry; What supposedly once began with the " Potemkin villages " is imitated there for entertainment purposes for paying visitors.
- On some passenger ships with several funnels, one of them was a dummy mounted for optical reasons, for example the rearmost one on the Titanic and its sister ships , on the Vaterland , the Cap Arcona or Normandy , and the front one on ships like the America , the Europa or the Disney Magic . The three chimneys that can be seen today on the disused Queen Mary, which was used as a floating hotel , are replicas made of plastic.
- The beauty industry offers dummies for every taste: wigs , artificial eyelashes , colored contact lenses and chest hair toupees .
- In security technology , dummy or empty housings of surveillance cameras , motion detectors and external flashing systems are installed to deter people.
- Cell phone dummies as exhibits for showcases, as externally and in terms of weight structurally identical model in cell phone sales, but also as a representative replacement for an expensive or rare original device
- A dummy bus stop is important for caring for people with dementia.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Wolfgang Pfeifer (Ed.): Etymological Dictionary of German. 2nd edition, dtv, Munich 1993, ISBN 3-05-000626-9 , p. 71 f.