... I'd tried to declare arrays and had gotten error messages. To get past that, I'd started declaring arrays using splice. ... since it worked I continued to do it that way.

This strikes me as a perfect example of the Skinnerian process of shaping "superstitious" behavior.

Please do not take this the wrong way: I do not mean it to be in any way offensive or a personal attack. If Skinner's analysis is right, "superstitious behavior" of this kind is something we all exhibit, know it or not, and always have and always will as long as we remain organisms whose behavior is predominantly operant. However, with self-awareness, we can occasionally eliminate behaviors that are wasteful of time or effort, or are actively destructive — and so you have!