Mind blindness... or how I saved myself from getting an F

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Last monday in Phyed lecture, we were informed that we were to have a test today in class. The test was to be on a scan-tron so we needed to bring a pencil to class.

Fast forward to last night, I'm lying in bed trying to fall asleep, I suddenly realize that I don't have any pencils on me in my dorm, at first I didn't worry, I figured that since I was in a pit class with 140 other people, there would be many others who would forget pencils too, and the professor would bring some with him.

Then a little voice in my head went off telling me that no, this is just my mindblindness, and your the only one who's gonna forget a pencil, and that I'd better get some before class monday morning.

So that's what I did, I got a package of pencils, and then went to class. Sure enough, as I scanned over the class, every other student there had a pencil with them. I would have been the only one there with out one.

And then to up the stakes even more, the professor as he was handing out the tests comments "I sure hope everyone remembered their pencils for the test since I didn't bring any with me, and if you don't have one, your SOL!"

Score one small victory for Scoots.

Scott, congratulations on being so foreseeing. However, I think that your story is not indicative of mindblindness, but rather of an extreme feat of mindreading. Apparently the professor thought about bringing pencils, but decided not to do so, as evidenced by his remark. That exactly mirrors your thought process.

Can you explain what is a scan-tron and SOL, and what subject is Phyed? (I though that the latter is physical education, but I guess it would not involve lectures and tests done with pencils.) Thanks!

I have to disagree, becasue my mindset last thinking about it was that everyone else was like me. I.E. didn't have pencils, would come to class, and borrow one from the teacher for the test, like it was in UW-Manitowoc. Thus I was expecting no problem since I was expecting things here at oshkosh to be like they were at manitowoc. When I finished that thought, the little voice in my head went off telling me "Don't think like this! Your gonna get burned!"



Scan-tron is a lazy, but effcient way for a teacher to correct a test. You get narrow sheet of paper that is full of little circles alinged into rows and colums like this

1. A B C D
2. A B C D
3. A B C D

The test is multiple choice, and for each question, you use your pencil to darken the circle of the answer in the row for that question. If the answer to question 1 is A, the row would look like this.

1. █ B C D

And you do that for each question. When the teacher grades the tests, he/she feeds them into a machine that senses what was filled in for each row, and compares it to the answer key in the machines memory. Thats where the pencil comes in to play, since the machine uses electrodes to sense what was marked down on the paper, and pencil lead conducts electrcity. If the machine senses a wrong answer, it makes a mark next the row (question) that's wrong, and then at the bottom of the paper, it marks down the total number you got right. All the teacher has to do is mark down in his grade book what each student got. This is not new technology. I've seen scan-tron forms that have copyright dates on them going back to 1972.

Phyed is indeed physical education. I never thought it was possible for pyhed, but my physical education class does indeed have a lecture session to it.

SOL = So Outta Luck

Heh. Based on the version of the expression that I've heard, the "S" actually stands for a four-letter word than many people consider to be profane.