Kinesiology 361 Explains A Day at Target by https://padlet.com/thoudek1/4ib2foswc7nc This padlet explains my everyday tasks at Target, and how topics learned from this class explains them! Enjoy! en-us 2018-08-02 20:56:53 UTC 2025-10-12 13:12:02 UTC hello@padlet.com #1 Introduction to my Crazy Days thoudek1 https://padlet.com/thoudek1/4ib2foswc7nc/wish/271820741 Life as a Target sales floor employee is a lot more complex than a lot of people would make it out to be, especially if you have been working there for four years like I have and have been trained in almost every position. There are many days that I get to work in the morning and I have a “honey-do” list waiting for me. Of course I don’t mind, I like to stay busy but sometimes having many tasks to complete before the end of the day can be hard to do all of these things at once. One prime example of this is being able to talk on the phone with a guest who is calling, but also being called for on the walkie talkie by my manager or coworker. This happens a lot more often than I would like it too. Target is a popular store, so the phone rings A LOT and there are a lot of days where I carry this cordless phone around with me all day to be able to answer any calls. This limits my ability to do anything else when I am tending to a phone call, which in a way this could be related to Bottleneck theory of attention. 

The Bottleneck theory of attention states that a person has a limited fixed attention capacity, and that stimulus processing occurs in stages. The stages of information processing are limited in how much information that they are able to take in, which creates a bottleneck and doesn’t allow for all the stimuli to be processed at once. The first stage is the stimulus identification stage, the next is the selection of response, then preparation of response, and then you complete the response to the stimulus. If there are multiple stimuli at once trying to enter the stimulus identification stage, once a stimulus enters this stage all other stimuli will have to wait for that stimulus to clear before it can be processed.

So, how would that look in my answering the phone and getting called upon by someone else example? Well, hearing the phone-ring and my name called at the same time is two stimuli entering the identification stage at the same time. However, only one stimulus can be processed through all the stages to elicit a response at a time. This means that I first have to answer the phone and respond to the caller who is on the phone before I am able to respond to someone who is calling me over the walkie.

This picture shows how busy things can be at Target, and how attention only allows for one or a few stimuli to be processed at a time.


]]> 2018-08-02 21:01:33 UTC https://padlet.com/thoudek1/4ib2foswc7nc/wish/271820741 #2 Learning The Ropes thoudek1 https://padlet.com/thoudek1/4ib2foswc7nc/wish/271821484 One of the things I do the most at Target is “re-shop”. Re-shop collects when people who are checking out decide that they don’t want an item anymore, when guests come in to return an item, or when items are misplaced. It is then the salesfloor workers job to put all of these items back into their correct location. Target is a big store, reshop is usually separated into seven different departments to it is crucial that a salesfloor employee is able to complete reshop as fast as possible. Since Target is such a big store, this definitely comes with time and learning where everything is. 

Learning how to do re-shop can be explained by Fitts and Posner model of learning. There are three stages to this model: cognitive, associative, and autonomous. The cognitive stage is described as a time when performance relies on cognitive processes and problem solving. This stage is when you are first starting off learning how to do re-shop there is a lot of thinking and using logic about where an item would logically go. Obviously if you need to put away a candle, it is not going to go by picture frames. However, if you don’t know where candles would go then you have to problem solve to figure out where it goes. One big problem solver that we have is our personal scanner devices. When first starting off doing reshop, this is used a lot because all you have to do is scan the item and it tells you exactly where it goes. The associative stage is described as working to refine a skill to increase performance and consistency. When working frequently, there will be less reliance on cognitive thoughts and use of devices to locate where items go. The autonomous stage is described as a time when the attention demands of the skill are reduced significantly. This is when re-shop gets really easy! You are able to complete a cart of reshop without barely having to think about where the item goes. 

The picture shows practice of cart push-ups! Even though this lady isn't practicing her reshop. She can use the same learning principles using a Target shopping cart!


]]> 2018-08-02 21:13:43 UTC https://padlet.com/thoudek1/4ib2foswc7nc/wish/271821484 #3 Things are getting busy! thoudek1 https://padlet.com/thoudek1/4ib2foswc7nc/wish/271899949 Usually after the morning re-shop and my other tasks are done, it gets to be the busiest time of the day, lunchtime. As a sales floor worker, it is very common that I get called up to a checklane for backup to make sure that there are enough cashiers to get our guests through the lines quickly. There is nothing worse than a slow cashier during the busiest time of the day! If you get a fast cashier, this cashier is probably utilizing bimanual coordination, specifically asymmetric bimanual coordination. There are many instances when working at Target that bimanual coordination is important, but it is definitely important when cashiering. When scanning items from the conveyer belt, the most effective way to cashier is to bag with one hand, while scanning the next item with the other hand. This sounds simple and easy, but when you’re first starting off it can be a little difficult to get the hang of the movement and the coordination of both hands. There is a little bit of biasing that happens, that both hands want to do the same thing at the same time. Either they both want to scan, or they both want to bag. Luckily with practice, it eliminates any bias and allows for proper bimanual coordination to check the guest out quickly!

The picture below depicts how I feel during busy lunch time. She is really utilizing bimanual coordination!]]> 2018-08-03 16:10:55 UTC https://padlet.com/thoudek1/4ib2foswc7nc/wish/271899949 #4 Gotta Act Fast! thoudek1 https://padlet.com/thoudek1/4ib2foswc7nc/wish/271900359 Not only do I have to worry about being called up for backup for busy times, but I also have to be aware of any call boxes that go off during the day. All throughout the store there are call boxes placed with a huge red button that says: “Need Assistance?”. If  a guest presses this button, a loud automated voice goes over every walkie saying “Guest Service needed in (department), who is responding?” and starts counting down from 60 until an employee clears the call box. We have to act very quickly because if we don’t make it to that part of the store within 60 seconds, our higher ups get notified. This reminds me of Hick’s Law. Although Hicks Law is usually used in a laboratory and will use many different responses, and obtain very quick reaction time values it is still important to have reaction time when answering call boxes. Answering a call box is like your simple reaction time, because there is only one SR alternative. If many call boxes are going off at once, this would be an example of multiple SR alternatives and reaction time could be modeled by Hick’s Law.

This picture shows how a lot of my coworkers and I feel whenever a call box goes off. A lot of the time guests will tell us things such as "I'm right here, you don't have to run!" Little do they know, that we do.]]> 2018-08-03 16:17:01 UTC https://padlet.com/thoudek1/4ib2foswc7nc/wish/271900359 #5 Natural Strength thoudek1 https://padlet.com/thoudek1/4ib2foswc7nc/wish/271900742 Usually when guests hit call boxes, it is because we are out of something on the floor and they want to know if we have that item in the back room. The items that are most frequently asked about are large items of furniture. This is because only one will fit on the floor at a time, so if they need more than one they will ask if we have more in the back. If we do have an item in the back, I frequently have to ask a guy in the backroom to help me pull the item. This is an example individual differences at Target. It is a general standard than men are bigger and stronger so it is usually men who are working in the back room to help out with any heavy-lifting.

This is an example of how the guys in the back room look sometimes when carrying heavy objects, they make it look so easy. Their anatomy and differences in body structure allow them to carry these objects better than I would be able too! ]]> 2018-08-03 16:22:54 UTC https://padlet.com/thoudek1/4ib2foswc7nc/wish/271900742 #6 Becoming a Natural thoudek1 https://padlet.com/thoudek1/4ib2foswc7nc/wish/271901074 Now that my hectic days are finally starting to slow down, I am able to continue with my to-do list. Sometimes this requires me to reset end caps. When resetting end caps, you will be handed a piece of paper that lays exactly how many shelves and peg hooks you need, how far they are placed from one another, which items you need, and how far the items and their price labels are placed from one another. However, this piece of paper is definitely not easy to interpret and printing labels and signs for your endcap is a process. It wasn’t until I had to teach someone how to reset an endcap when I realized that this complex skill became second nature to me. It was very difficult to teach someone how to do this because this skill is now stored in my procedural memory, or the memory that is non-conscious and automatic that pertains to knowledge of making a movement. Skills stored in procedural memory are completed easily, but are difficult to articulate. For this reason, I had the person watch what I was doing so they were able to mimic the moves and steps that I was making.

This quote could be used for a variety of motor tasks. For my scenario, my practice allowed me to make a difficult task seem easy. These types of situations, making a hard task look easy, is probably due to these tasks being committed to individuals procedural memory.]]> 2018-08-03 16:26:57 UTC https://padlet.com/thoudek1/4ib2foswc7nc/wish/271901074 #7 Getting in the 'zone' thoudek1 https://padlet.com/thoudek1/4ib2foswc7nc/wish/271901398 At the end of the day, the main priority of a salesfloor employee is to “zone”. Zoning is very simple, it is pulling all the items on the shelf forward and making sure that items are in the correct place. The purpose of zoning is to make the shelves look organized and clean. Most of the time though, the mornings are so busy that the zone doesn’t begin until around 5pm which only gives an employee about 5 hours to zone their entire department. This time crunch illustrates Fitt’s Law, which states the faster the skill is performed the less accurate the skill will be. This is also known as the speed and accuracy trade off. I like to take my time on a zone because I think it is important to do the job accurately by making sure that every item is pulled forward, and making sure that everything is in the correct place. However, time does not always allow for that and accuracy is compromised to complete the zone faster. Usually on the nights where less time is spent, are the nights that the managers are not happy with the looks of the zone. If only Target managers understood Fitt’s Law, that if you want things done correctly and accurately then you need more time. 

The picture below is an example of a good zone. Everything is pulled forward, and the shelves look neat and organized. You can imagine how much time it takes to pull small cans of soup forward if you want the zone to look good. ]]> 2018-08-03 16:31:24 UTC https://padlet.com/thoudek1/4ib2foswc7nc/wish/271901398 #8 Receiving Feedback thoudek1 https://padlet.com/thoudek1/4ib2foswc7nc/wish/271901575 Feedback is very important to Target. Just look at the bottom of your most recent receipt, it asks for your feedback in exchange for a chance to win a gift-card. There are also examples of Intrinsic and Augmented feedback that Target employees use every single day. Intrinsic feedback is feedback that comes naturally from our sensory receptors when performing a skill. An example of this is when I work in the clothing department and I am folding clothes. When I am done folding a shirt and the fold is a little uneven, I give myself feedback that I folded one side too much and to know for next time to improve the fold. Augmented feedback is feedback from an external source about your performance. One type of augmented feedback that is relevant to Target is Knowledge of performance (KP). KP is feedback of movement characteristics that lead to the performance outcome. A common type of KP is verbal KP, which is giving feedback to a learner on things that could be improved on to enhance performance. Leaders in the store give verbal KP every single day. When I train new employees how to cashier, I will let them know to scan with one hand and bag with the other for a better performance. Or when I train new employees in apparel, I will let them know that next time they are putting away clothes to make sure that the clothes are in ascending size order. It is small verbal comments to let learners know now to succeed the next time they complete a task.

This is an example of bad feedback because the owner is not letting the dog know how he could improve his behavior/performance! Feedback given at Target always lets the individual know how they could improve for next time.]]> 2018-08-03 16:35:09 UTC https://padlet.com/thoudek1/4ib2foswc7nc/wish/271901575