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BenAmbridge_2014X-_心理学的十大迷思：揭露真相_
You've heard of your I.Q., your general intelligence , but what's your Psy-Q? 你们都听过I.Q.这个词,就是所谓的智商。 但,你的Psy-Q（心理智商）呢？
intelligence:n.智力;智慧;才智;(尤指关于敌国的)情报;
How much do you know about what makes you tick, and how good are you at predicting other people's behavior or even your own? 你对于成就你的事物了解多少？ 而你又多擅长去预测别人的行为？ 甚至说你自己的行为？
predicting:v.预言;预告;预报;(predict的现在分词)
And how much of what you think you know about psychology is wrong? 你认为你所瞭解的心理学,有多少是错误的呢？
psychology:n.心理学;心理状态;
Let's find out by counting down the top 10 myths of psychology. 就让我们一起来倒数揭露这心理学上的十大迷思。
myths:神话;谬见;
You've probably heard it said that when it comes to their psychology, it's almost as if men are from Mars and women are from Venus . 当人们在提及心理学时,你或许曾经听他们说过: 这就像是男人从火星来,女人从金星来。
Mars:n.火星 Venus:n.[天]金星;维纳斯(爱与美的女神);
But how different are men and women really? 但是,男性和女性之间究竟真的差多少呢？
To find out, let's start by looking at something on which men and women really do differ and plotting some psychological gender differences on the same scale . 为了找到真相,我们就来看看这些 男性和女性有所不同的事物, 并且在同规模的图表上画出两性的差异线。
plotting:v.密谋;暗中策划;(在地图上)标出;绘制(图表);(plot的现在分词) psychological:adj.心理的;心理学的;精神上的; gender:n.性别; scale:n.规模;比例;鳞;刻度;天平;数值范围;v.衡量;攀登;剥落;生水垢;
One thing men and women do really differ on is how far they can throw a ball. 男性与女性有差异的事情之一, 是能够把球丢得多远。
So if we look at the data for men here, we see what is called a normal distribution curve . 让我们来看看这个关于男性的资料, 我们现在看到的这个就是所谓的常态分配曲线。
normal distribution:n.正态分布; curve:n.曲线;弯曲;曲面;弧线;v.(使)沿曲线移动;呈曲线形;
A few men can throw a ball really far, and a few men not far at all, but most a kind of average distance. 少数的男性可以将球丢得非常远,另外少数的男性则丢不远, 但大部分的男性都丢在一个平均距离中。
And women share the same distribution as well, but actually there's quite a big difference. 而女性也相同的呈现了常态分配曲线。 但我们可以看到这里出现了一个蛮大的差异。
In fact, the average man can throw a ball further than about 98 percent of all women. 事实上,大部份的男性都可以把球丢得比 98％的女性还要来得更远。
So now let's look at what some psychological gender differences look like on the same standardized scale. 那么我们现在来看看在相同标准规模上的 一些心理性别差异。
standardized:adj.标准的; v.使合乎标准;
Any psychologist will tell you that men are better at spatial awareness than women -- so things like map-reading, for example -- and it's true, but let's have a look at the size of this difference. 不论哪个心理学家都会告诉你, 男性的空间感比女性还要更好, 像是地图识读的能力而这是真的, 但让我们来看看这个两性差异的大小。
psychologist:n.心理学家,心理学者; spatial:adj.空间的;存在于空间的;受空间条件限制的; awareness:n.意识,认识;明白,知道; have a look at:看一看,看一眼;
It's tiny; the lines are so close together they almost overlap . 我们能看到差异是非常小的。这两条曲线非常靠近,近乎重迭。
overlap:n.重叠;重复;v.部分重叠;与…同时发生;
In fact, the average woman is better than 33 percent of all men, and of course, if that was 50 percent, then the two genders would be exactly equal. 事实上,平均的女性还比33％的男性更好, 当然,如果说这个数值是50％的话, 两个性别就并没有任何差异了。
genders:n.性别;性;
It's worth bearing in mind that this difference and the next one I'll show you are pretty much the biggest psychological gender differences ever discovered in psychology. 我想这个差异会是值得被记住的。而接下来我将要给你看的, 差不多是心理学史上所发现, 心理性别差异最大的例子。
bearing:n.关系;影响;姿态;举止v.承受;忍受;承担责任;(bear的现在分词)
So here's the next one. 就让我们来看下一个例子:
Any psychologist will tell you that women are better with language and grammar than men. 任何一个心理学家都会告诉你,女性的语言和语法能力 比男性还要好。
So here's performance on the standardized grammar test. 这表现在标准语法测验上。
performance:n.性能;表现;业绩;表演;
There go the women. There go the men. 这是女性的,这是男性的。
Again, yes, women are better on average, but the lines are so close that 33 percent of men are better than the average woman, and again, if it was 50 percent, that would represent complete gender equality. 没有错,女性平均上是比男性还要好,但是两条曲线也非常的相近。 还有33％的男性比起一般的女性还要好。 再一次的,如果这个值是50％的话, 那这两个性别就会是相同的了。
represent:v.代表;表现;描绘;回忆;再赠送;
So it's not really a case of Mars and Venus. 所以说,这并不是真的像火星人与金星人那样。
It's more a case of, if anything, Mars and Snickers : basically the same, but one's maybe slightly nuttier than the other. 而比较像是其他的东西,例如巧克力棒Mars和巧克力棒Snikers: 他们基本上是相同的,但一种可能比另一种含有更多果仁。
Snickers:偷笑;窃笑;窃笑着说(snicker的第三人称单数); basically:adv.主要地,基本上; slightly:adv.些微地,轻微地;纤细地; nuttier:adj.多坚果的;产坚果的;古怪的(nutty的变形);
I won't say which. 我不会告诉你是哪一种。
Now we've got you warmed up. 现在,你们都准备好了。
Let's psychoanalyze you using the famous Rorschach inkblot test. 我们就来用着名的罗夏克墨迹测验来做个心理分析。
psychoanalyze:vt.用精神分析疗法治疗分析; Rorschach:adj.罗夏(墨迹)测验的(叫人解释墨水点绘的图形以判断其性格); inkblot:n.墨水斑点;
So you can probably see two, I dunno , two bears or two people or something. 现在你大概可以看到两个,我不知道,也许是两只熊、两个人或其它什么东西。
dunno:v.我不知道;
But what do you think they're doing? 但你觉得他们在做什么？
Put your hand up if you think they're saying hello. 举手,如果你觉得他们在对彼此打招呼。
Not many people. Okay. 好,没有很多人。
Put your hands up if you think they are high-fiving . 如果你觉得他们在击掌,请举手。
high-fiving:举手击掌;
Okay. What if you think they're fighting? 好。有没有觉得他们在打架的？
What if:如果…怎么办?
Only a few people there. 只有几个人。
Okay, so if you think they're saying hello or high-fiving, then that means you're a friendly person. 好的,所以说如果你觉得他们在打招呼或击掌的话, 就代表你是一个友善的人。
If you think they're fighting, you're a bit more of a nasty , aggressive person. 如果你觉得他们在打架的话, 代表你是一个让人感觉不舒服、具有攻击性的人。
nasty:adj.极差的:令人厌恶的:不友好的:n.令人不愉快的事物: aggressive:adj.侵略性的;好斗的;有进取心的;有闯劲的;
Are you a lover or a fighter, basically. 就看你基本上是个和平者或是个斗士。
lover:n.爱好者;情侣;热爱者;
What about this one? 那这个呢？
This isn't really a voting one, so on three everyone shout out what you see. 这不是个需要投票的项目,所以我数到三的时候喊出你看到的东西。
One, two, three. (Audience shouting)
I heard hamster . Who said hamster? 我听到有人说仓鼠,是谁说的？
hamster:n.仓鼠;仓鼠毛皮;
That was very worrying. 真是令人担心。
A guy there said hamster. 那里有个家伙说仓鼠。
Well, you should see some kind of two-legged animal here, and then the mirror image of them there. 你应该会看到画面上有某种双足动物, 并且它的写照图像在另一边。
two-legged:有两条腿的; mirror image:n.镜像;映像;反像;
If you didn't, then this means that you have difficulty processing complex situations where there's a lot going on. 如果你没有看见的话,代表你有困难 去处理很多同时发生的复杂情况。
processing:v.加工;处理;审核;数据处理;v.列队行进;缓缓前进;(process的现在分词) complex:adj.复杂的;合成的;n.复合体;综合设施;
Except, of course, it doesn't mean that at all. 除了,当然,这根本就不是那个意思。
Rorschach inkblot tests have basically no validity when it comes to diagnosing people's personality and are not used by modern-day psychologists . 罗夏克墨迹测验基本上在分辨人们的个性上, 是没有准确度的。 现代的心理学家也并没有采用这套方法。
validity:n.[计]有效性;正确;正确性; diagnosing:n.诊断;v.诊断(diagnose的现在分词); personality:n.性格;个性;人格;魅力;气质;名人;特色; modern-day:adj.当代的;今日的; psychologists:n.[心理]心理学家(psychologist的复数形式);
In fact, one recent study found that when you do try to diagnose people's personalities using Rorschach inkblot tests, schizophrenia was diagnosed in about one sixth of apparently perfectly normal participants . 事实上,最近一个研究发现当你尝试 用罗夏克墨迹测验去诊断人们的个性时, 在明显完全正常的参与者中 大约有六分之一的人,被诊断出精神分裂症。
personalities:n.性格;个性;人格;气质;名人;(personality的复数) schizophrenia:n.[内科]精神分裂症; diagnosed:v.诊断(疾病);判断(问题的原因);(diagnose的过去分词和过去式) apparently:adv.显然地;似乎,表面上; participants:n.参与者(participant的复数形式);
So if you didn't do that well on this, maybe you are not a very visual type of person. 所以如果你在这个测验上没有做好的话, 或许只是代表你不是一个视觉型的人。
visual:adj.视觉的,视力的;栩栩如生的;
So let's do another quick quiz to find out. 那让我们再来做一个快速的小测验。
quiz:n.小测验;知识竞赛;v.盘问;查问;询问;
When making a cake, do you prefer to -- so hands up for each one again -- do you prefer to use a recipe book with pictures? 你在做蛋糕的时候,你比较喜欢……请你们举手回答—— 你比较喜欢使用带有图片的食谱吗？
prefer:v.更喜欢;宁愿;提出;提升; recipe:n.食谱;方法;诀窍;烹饪法;
Yeah, a few people. 嗯,少数一些人。
Have a friend talk you through? 让朋友讲给你听吗？
Or have a go, making it up as you go along? 或是就自己试着动手做做看？
Quite a few people there. 只有一些些人。
Quite a few:不少,相当多;
Okay, so if you said A, then this means that you are a visual learner and you learn best when information is presented in a visual style. 好的,所以如果你选A, 代表你是一个视觉的学习者, 当资讯以视觉的方式呈现时,你能够得到最佳的吸收与学习。
If you said B, it means you're an auditory learner, that you learn best when information is presented to you in an auditory format. 如果你说B,代表着你属于听觉的学习者, 当资讯以听觉的方式呈现时,你才会获得较好的吸收与学习。
auditory:n.听众;礼堂;adj.听觉的;耳朵的;
And if you said C, it means that you're a kinesthetic learner, that you learn best when you get stuck in and do things with your hands. 而如果你选C,就代表你属于动觉的学习者。 在你自己动手实际去做时,你吸收和学习得最快。
kinesthetic:adj.运动觉的;肌肉运动知的;
Except, of course, as you've probably guessed, that it doesn't, because the whole thing is a complete myth. 除了说,当然,你可能已经猜到了, 这些都不对,因为这整件事情都是个迷思。
Learning styles are made up and are not supported by scientific evidence . 这些学习方式都是被捏造出来的,并没有任何科学证据去支持它们。
scientific:adj.科学的,系统的; evidence:n.证据,证明;迹象;明显;v.证明;
So we know this because in tightly controlled experimental studies, when learners are given material to learn either in their preferred style or an opposite style, it makes no difference at all to the amount of information that they retain . 我们知道这些,是因为我们进行了严谨的研究, 我们给这些受试者材料让他们去学习, 材料分成了他们喜欢的学习方式,以及他们不喜欢的学习方式。 结果是,不管哪种学习方式,他们所记住的资讯量都是一样的。
tightly:adv.紧紧地;坚固地; experimental:adj.实验的;根据实验的;试验性的; preferred:v.较喜欢;喜欢…多于…;(prefer的过去式和过去分词) retain:v.保留;保持;持有;继续拥有;
And if you think about it for just a second, it's just obvious that this has to be true. 你稍微用个几秒思考一下, 就会发现这是很明显的事实。
obvious:adj.明显的;显著的;平淡无奇的;
It's obvious that the best presentation format depends not on you, but on what you're trying to learn. 显然的,最好的学习模式 并不是是取决于你自己,而是取决于你所学习的东西。
presentation:n.展示;描述,陈述;介绍;赠送;
Could you learn to drive a car, for example, just by listening to someone telling you what to do with no kinesthetic experience? 举个例子吧,你能够只透过听别人说 来学怎么开车吗？ 没有动觉经验的话,可能吗？
Could you solve simultaneous equations by talking them through in your head and without writing them down? 在解联立方程式的时候, 你能够只用脑袋来计算而不用纸笔来辅助吗？
simultaneous equations:n.联立方程;解线性方程;
Could you revise for your architecture exams using interpretive dance if you're a kinesthetic learner? 你能够用跳舞来复习你的建筑学考试, 只因为你是一个动觉的学习者吗？
revise:v.修改;复习;改变;温习;n.校订;[印]再校样; architecture:n.建筑学;建筑风格;建筑式样;架构; interpretive:adj.解释的;作为说明的;
No. What you need to do is match the material to be learned to the presentation format, not you. 不行啊。你要做的是,将所有要学习的资料和 适当的学习方法连系起来,而不只是你。
I know many of you are A-level students that will have recently gotten your GCSE results. 我知道你们之中有许多A级水准的学生, 最近才刚拿到你的GCSE（中等教育普通证书）的结果。
recently:adv.最近;新近;
And if you didn't quite get what you were hoping for, then you can't really blame your learning style, but one thing that you might want to think about blaming is your genes . 如果你并没有得到你所预期的成果的话, 你真的不能去责怪你的学习方式, 但你或许可以考虑去责怪你的基因。
genes:n.基因;(gene的复数)
So what this is all about is a recent study at University College London found that 58 percent of the variation between different students and their GCSE results was down to genetic factors . 这是伦敦大学学院最近所做的一项研究, 他们发现在不同学生和他们的GCSE结果之间, 有58％的差异性 是来自于基因遗传。
variation:n.变异;变体;变奏;变种; genetic:adj.基因的;遗传学的; factors:n.因素(factor的复数); v.做代理商;
That sounds like a very precise figure, so how can we tell? 这听起来是一个很精确的数字,那么我们是怎么确定的呢？
precise:adj.准确的;确切的;精确的;明确的;
Well, when we want to unpack the relative contributions of genes and the environment, what we can do is do a twin study. 是这样的,当我们想要解开关于 基因与环境的相对作用, 我们可以做双胞胎研究。
unpack:vt.卸下…;解除…的负担;vi.打开包裹; relative:adj.相对的;有关系的;成比例的;n.亲戚;相关物;[语]关系词;亲缘植物; contributions:n.捐款;捐资;定期缴款;贡献;促成作用;(contribution的复数)
So identical twins share 100 percent of their environment and 100 percent of their genes, whereas non-identical twins share 100 percent of their environment, but just like any brother and sister, share only 50 percent of their genes. 所以说,同卵双胞胎有着100％相同的环境, 以及100％相同的基因。 然异卵双胞胎也有着100％相同的环境, 但就像任何的兄弟姐妹一样,他们只有50％相同的基因。
whereas:conj.然而;鉴于;反之; non-identical:n.不同的;非同一的;
So by comparing how similar GCSE results are in identical twins versus non-identical twins, and doing some clever math, we can an idea of how much variation and performance is due to the environment and how much is due to genes. 那么,经由比较同卵双胞胎与异卵双胞胎 的GCSE成绩, 再做一点聪明的数学之后, 我们就可以知道有多少表现和差异性是来自于环境, 而多少是源自于基因的关系。
comparing:v.比较;对比;(compare的现在分词) versus:prep.对;与...相对;对抗;
And it turns out that it's about 58 percent due to genes. 结果证明,58％的比例是因为基因。
So this isn't to undermine the hard work that you and your teachers here put in. 这并不是要推翻你和老师们的辛苦付出,
undermine:vt.破坏,渐渐破坏;挖掘地基;
If you didn't quite get the GCSE results that you were hoping for, then you can always try blaming your parents, or at least their genes. 但是如果你没有得到你所预期的GCSE结果, 那么你可以随时尝试着去责怪你的父母,或至少他们的基因。
One thing that you shouldn't blame is being a left-brained or right-brained learner, because again, this is a myth. 有件你不应该去归咎的事情, 是关于左脑学习者或右脑学习者, 因为,一样的,这是个迷思。
left-brained:左脑性的;
So the myth here is that the left brain is logical, it's good with equations like this, and the right brain is more creative , so the right brain is better at music. 这个迷思说,左脑是理性的, 它擅于解方程式, 而右脑是创意的,它在音乐等方面表现得更佳。
left brain:n.左脑; right brain:n.(人的)右脑(据信用于构思新思想和主管情感); creative:adj.创造性的;
But again, this is a myth because nearly everything that you do involves nearly all parts of your brain talking together, even just the most mundane thing like having a normal conversation. 但这仍然是个迷思,因为几乎你做的每件事情 都要你大脑的所有部位互相沟通联系, 就算是最乏味的日常对话都是如此。
involves:v.包含;需要;牵涉;牵连;影响;(使)参加,加入(involve的第三人称单数) mundane:adj.世俗的,平凡的;世界的,宇宙的;
However, perhaps one reason why this myth has survived is that there is a slight grain of truth to it. 然而这迷思至今仍存在,或许有一个原因, 就是因为这里面包含着小部份的事实。
grain:n.粮食; v.把…作成细粒;
So a related version of the myth is that left-handed people are more creative than right-handed people, which kind of makes sense because your brain controls the opposite hands, so left-handed people, 这迷思的另一个版本, 是说左撇子的人比起右撇子的人更有创造力, 这种说法有点道理,因为你的大脑是控制的是相反的手, 所以左撇子的人,
left-handed:adj.左撇的;用左手的;笨拙的; right-handed:adj.用右手的,惯用右手的;向右转的;
the right side of the brain is slightly more active than the left-hand side of the brain, and the idea is the right-hand side is more creative. 他的右脑比起右撇子的人, 会稍微更加活络一点, 我们的观念是右脑会更加有创造力。
Now, it isn't true per se that left-handed people are more creative than right-handed people. 但这个左撇子比右撇子 还要有创造力的观念,就其本身而言就是错误的。
per se:adv.本身;本质上;
What is true that ambidextrous people, or people who use both hands for different tasks, are more creative thinkers than one-handed people, because being ambidextrous involves 事实上是双手都灵巧的人, 或可以两手同时处理不同事情的人, 比单手使用者更具有创意, 因为双手使用者
ambidextrous:adj.双手灵巧的;怀有二心的; one-handed:adj.用单手的;用独手干的;adv.用单手;
having both sides of the brain talk to each other a lot, which seems to be involved in creating flexible thinking. 的大脑两侧需要大量的互动与沟通, 这与创造灵活的思考有所相关。
involved:adj.有关的; v.涉及; (involve的过去式和过去分词) flexible:adj.灵活的;柔韧的;易弯曲的;
The myth of the creative left-hander arises from the fact that being ambidextrous is more common amongst left-handers than right-handers, so a grain of truth in the idea of the creative left-hander, but not much. 左撇子较有创意的迷思, 是从左撇子比右撇子有更多人能善用双手的 这项事实中所产生出来的, 所以说左撇子比较善于创造的这个说法是有一点真实性的, 但只有一点而已。
left-hander:n.左撇子,惯用左手的人;左手投球;笨拙; arises:v.出现;发生;站立; amongst:prep.在…之中;在…当中(等于among);
A related myth that you've probably heard of is that we only use 10 percent of our brains. 另一个相关的迷思,你或许听过, 是我们只有用到大脑10％的这件事。
This is, again, a complete myth. 这一样的也是完全的迷思。
Nearly everything that we do, even the most mundane thing, uses nearly all of our brains. 我们所做的每件事情,就算是最无聊的小事, 都要用到几乎整个大脑。
That said, it is of course true that most of us don't use our brainpower quite as well as we could. 但的确,我们大多数的人不能 有效的去运用我们的大脑。
brainpower:n.智能;智囊团; as well as:也;和…一样;不但…而且;
So what could we do to boost our brainpower? 那我们该怎么提升我们的脑力呢？
boost:n.提高;增长;帮助;激励;v.使增长;使兴旺;偷窃;
Maybe we could listen to a nice bit of Mozart. 或许我们可以听一段莫札特的音乐。
Have you heard of the idea of the Mozart effect? 你听过莫札特效应吗？
So the idea is that listening to Mozart makes you smarter and improves your performance on I.Q. tests. 有一个观念是,听莫札特的音乐会使你变聪明, 而且会提升智力测验的表现。
improves:v.改进;改善;(improve的第三人称单数)
Now again, what's interesting about this myth is that although it's basically a myth, there is a grain of truth to it. 这个迷思的有趣之处 也是在于它有一点的事实存在其中。
So the original study found that participants who were played Mozart music for a few minutes did better on a subsequent I.Q. test than participants who simply sat in silence . 原先的研究是发现, 听了几分钟莫札特音乐的受试者, 在智力测验中, 表现得比只是静默着坐着的受试者还要好。
original:n.原件;原作;原物;原型;adj.原始的;最初的;独创的;新颖的; subsequent:adj.后来的,随后的; in silence:沉默地;
But a follow-up study recruited some people who liked Mozart music and then another group of people who were fans of the horror stories of Stephen King. 但一项后续研究招募了一些喜欢莫札特音乐的人, 以及另外一群 喜欢史蒂芬．金恐怖小说的人。
follow-up:adj.后续的;增补的;n.随访;跟进;后续行动; recruited:v.招聘,雇佣;招募;(recruit的过去分词和过去式) horror:n.恐惧;厌恶;震惊;对某事物的强烈畏惧(或憎恨);
And they played the people the music or the stories. 然后他们给这些受试者们听音乐或听恐怖故事。
The people who preferred Mozart music to the stories got a bigger I.Q. boost from the Mozart than the stories, but the people who preferred the stories to the Mozart music 更喜欢听莫札特音乐的人比听故事的人, 从莫札特音乐中,得到更大量的智力增长, 但对于更喜欢听故事的人来说,
got a bigger I.Q. boost from listening to the Stephen King stories than the Mozart music. 他们反而在恐怖故事中,得到更大量的智力增长, 而对莫札特音乐反应较小。
So the truth is that listening to something that you enjoy perks you up a bit and gives you a temporary I.Q. boost on a narrow range of tasks. 事实是,当你在听你享受的东西时, 这些东西会使你振作一点,且给你在有限范围的 短暂智力增长。
perks:n.特权; v.打扮; temporary:adj.暂时的,临时的;n.临时工,临时雇员; narrow:adj.狭窄的; v.使窄小; n.峡谷; (场所,物品等的)狭窄部分;
There's no suggestion that listening to Mozart, or indeed Stephen King stories, is going to make you any smarter in the long run . 所以如果你想藉由听莫札特音乐, 或当然,听史蒂芬．金的故事, 来使你长期变得更聪明,那都是不可能的事。
in the long run:长远;终究;
Another version of the Mozart myth is that listening to Mozart can make you not only cleverer but healthier, too. 另一个关于莫札特迷思的版本, 是说莫札特的音乐不只是能让你变聪明,更能够使你健康。
Unfortunately , this doesn't seem to be true of someone who listened to the music of Mozart almost every day, 可惜这对于 几乎每天听莫札特音乐的人来说,都不是真的。
Unfortunately:adv.不幸地;
Mozart himself, who suffered from gonorrhea , smallpox , arthritis , and, what most people think eventually killed him in the end, syphilis . 莫札特他自己, 就饱受着疾病的折磨,其中包含着淋病、天花、关节炎 以及人们认为最终致他于死的梅毒。
gonorrhea:n.[性病]淋病; smallpox:n.[内科]天花; arthritis:n.[外科]关节炎; eventually:adv.最后,终于; syphilis:n.[性病]梅毒;
This suggests that Mozart should have bit more careful, perhaps, when choosing his sexual partners. 这表示,也许莫札特在选择他的性伴侣时 应该要更小心。
sexual:adj.性的;性别的;有性的;
But how do we choose a partner? 但是,我们该如何选择另一半呢？
So a myth that I have to say is sometimes spread a bit by sociologists is that our preferences in a romantic partner are a product of our culture, that they're very culturally specific . 有一个迷思,偶尔会被社会学家散播, 那就是我们对于恋人的选择与偏爱是一种文化下的产物。 他们说这都是具有文化特定性的。
sociologists:n.社会学家; preferences:n.偏爱;爱好;喜爱;偏爱的事物;(preference的复数) romantic:adj.浪漫的;爱情的;n.浪漫的人;耽于幻想的人; culturally:adv.从文化角度,文化意义上;在人文学方面; specific:adj.特殊的,特定的;明确的;详细的;[药]具有特效的;n.特性;细节;特效药;
But in fact, the data don't back this up. 但事实上,数据并不支持这个说法。
A famous study surveyed people from [37] different cultures across the globe, from Americans to Zulus , on what they look for in a partner. 有一个知名的研究,测试了来自全球三十七个不同文化的人, 从美国人到南非祖鲁人都有, 关于他们如何择偶。
surveyed:v.调查,俯视(survey的过去式和过去分词形式);考察,调研; Zulus:n.祖鲁族;祖鲁人;
And in every single culture across the globe, men placed more value on physical attractiveness in a partner than did women, and in every single culture, too, women placed more importance than did men on ambition and high earning power. 而全世界每个文化都一样, 男性较重视另一半的身材吸引力, 女性则相对较不重视, 每个文化皆相同, 女性比男性更重视另一半的野心以及赚钱的能力。
physical:adj.[物]物理的;身体的;物质的;符合自然法则的;n.体格检查; attractiveness:n.吸引力;迷惑力; ambition:n.追求的目标;野心;志向;抱负;
In every culture, too, men preferred women who were younger than themselves, an average of, I think it was 2.66 years, and in every culture, too, women preferred men who were older than them, so an average of 3.42 years, which is why we've got here "Everybody needs a Sugar Daddy ." 每个文化皆同, 男性比较喜欢比自己年纪小的女性, 我想平均大约在2.66岁左右, 仍是每一个文化皆同, 女性都偏好比自己年长的男性, 这边平均是3.42岁, 所以我们明白了:「每个人都需要个糖爸爸。」
Sugar Daddy:n.甜爹(对年轻女子慷慨大方的好色阔佬);
So moving on from trying to score with a partner to trying to score in basketball or football or whatever your sport is. 我们就从伴侣的话题转移到, 如何在篮球或足球等运动得分的这个话题吧。
The myth here is that sportsmen go through hot-hand streaks , Americans call them, or purple patches , we sometimes say in England, where they just can't miss, like this guy here. 这个迷思是说,运动员会经历一个美国人称为热手时期, 或英国人所称的紫色时期, 像这家伙一样,在球场上他们不能错过。
sportsmen:n.运动员; streaks:n.[地质]条痕; v.形成条纹; purple:n.紫色;紫袍;v.变紫;使成紫色;adj.紫色的;华丽的文辞; patches:n.斑点;小块;补丁;眼罩;v.打补丁;缝补;修补;(patch的第三人称单数和复数)
But in fact, what happens is that if you analyze the pattern of hits and misses statistically , it turns out that it's nearly always at random . 但如果你分析这个模式, 这些成功和失败的统计, 你会发现这几乎都是随机的。
statistically:adv.统计地;统计学上; random:adj.[数]随机的;任意的;胡乱的;n.随意;adv.胡乱地;
Your brain creates patterns from the randomness . 你的大脑会从这些随机的事件中创造出一套模式。
randomness:n.随意;无安排;不可测性;
If you toss a coin, a streak of heads or tails is going to come out somewhere in the randomness, and because the brain likes to see patterns where there are none, 如果你丢一枚硬币, 会随机出现正面和反面两种可能, 而因为你的大脑喜欢从一无所有的地方里找出模式来,
toss:v.扔,抛,掷;甩(使)摇摆,挥动,颠簸;摇匀;n.掷硬币决定;向上甩头;投掷
we look at these streaks and attribute meanings to them and say, "Yeah he's really on form today," 所以我们就替这些随机事件加上意义, 然后说:「是啊,他今天状况真好！」
attribute:n.属性;象征;v.把…归因于;认为…属于;认为某人(某物)具有某种特性;
whereas actually you would get the same pattern if you were just getting hits and misses at random. 虽然你在完全随机的好球和坏球中, 还是会得到一套相同的模式与结论。
So an exception to this, however, is penalty shootouts. 但罚球点是例外,
exception:n.例外;异议; penalty:n.罚款,罚金;处罚;
A recent study looking at penalty shootouts in football shows that players who represent countries with a very bad record in penalty shootouts, like, for example, England, 最近有一个关于足球中罚球点的研究, 发现那些代表国家的球员 有一个罚球的纪录很糟糕的, 例如,英国,
tend to be quicker to take their shots than countries with a better record, and presumably as a result , they're more likely to miss. 会比表现好的国家更快去射门, 但大概就是因为这样,所以他们也比较容易失误。
presumably:adv.大概;推测起来;可假定; as a result:结果;
Which raises the question of if there's any way that we could improve people's performance. 所以就出现了这个疑问, 有没有什么方法可以使我们提升我们的表现呢？
And one thing you might think about doing is punishing people for their misses and seeing if that improves them. 你可能会做一个决定, 就是去惩罚那些失误的人,看会不会有所改进。
This idea, the effect that punishment can improve performance, is what participants thought they were testing in Milgram's famous learning and punishment experiment that you've probably heard about if you're a psychology student. 这个关于惩罚可以提升表现的想法, 是着名的米尔格伦实验中, 受试者们认为他们正在被实验。 如果你是一个心理系学生的话你应该已经听过这个了。
punishment:n.惩罚;严厉对待,虐待;
The story goes that participants were prepared to give what they believed to be fatal electric shocks to a fellow participant when they got a question wrong, just because someone in a white coat told them to. 故事里,参与者要准备给其他的受试者 他们认为是致命的电击。 而受试者相信这样的电击是会致命的。 只因为一个穿着白袍的人告诉他们会这样。
fatal:adj.致命的;灾难性的;毁灭性的;导致失败的; electric:n.供电;adj.电的;用电的;电动的;发电的;
But this story is a myth for three reasons. 但这故事是一个迷思,这里有三个原因。
Firstly and most crucially , the lab coat wasn't white, it was in fact grey. 第一个也是最关键的是,实验室的外套不是白色而是灰色的。
Firstly:adv.首先(主要用于列举条目,论点时);第一; crucially:adv.关键地;至关重要地;
Secondly, the participants were told before the study and reminded any time they raised a concern , that although the shocks were painful , they were not fatal and indeed caused no permanent damage whatsoever . 第二,受试者们在研究之前就被告知, 并在实验中也一直被提醒, 虽然电击是疼痛的,但并不会致命, 当然也不会造成任何的永久性伤害。
reminded:v.提醒;使想起;(remind的过去分词和过去式) concern:v.涉及,关系到;使担心;n.关系;关心;关心的事; painful:adj.痛苦的;疼痛的;令人不快的; permanent:adj.永久的,永恒的;n.烫发; whatsoever:pron.无论什么;
And thirdly, participants didn't give the shocks just because someone in the coat told them to. 再来第三个是,参与者们 并不只是因为穿着白袍的人给予指令而电击的。
When they were interviewed after the study, all the participants said that they firmly believed that the learning and punishment study served a worthy scientific purpose which would have enduring gains for science as opposed to the momentary nonfatal discomfort caused to the participants. 实验结束采访他们的时候, 所有的参与者都说,他们坚定的相信 这个关于学习与惩罚的研究,是很有价值的, 相对于给予暂时性非致命的不适感, 他们更相信这在科学领域会有长远的收获。
interviewed:v.对(某人)进行面试(或面谈); (媒体)采访(interview的过去分词和过去式) worthy:adj.值得的; n.杰出人物; enduring:adj.持久的;耐久的;v.忍耐;忍受;持续;持久;(endure的现在分词) opposed:adj.强烈反对; v.反对(计划、政策等); (oppose的过去分词和过去式) momentary:adj.瞬间的;短暂的;随时会发生的; nonfatal:adj.非致命的; discomfort:n.不适,不安;不便之处;vt.使…不舒服;使…不安;
Okay, so I've been talking for about 12 minutes now, and you've probably been sitting there listening to me, analyzing my speech patterns and body language 是的,所以我已经讲了大概有十二分钟了, 你可能坐在那裏听我说话, 分析我的演讲模式和肢体语言,
analyzing:adj.分析的;v.分析(analyze的现在分词); body language:n.身势语;
and trying to work out if you should take any notice of what I'm saying, whether I'm telling the truth or whether I'm lying, but if so you've probably completely failed, because although we all think we can catch a liar from their body language and speech patterns, 且试图去分辨我所说的, 究竟是实话或谎话, 如果你正这样做的话,你大概已经失败了, 因为虽然我们都认为我们 能够透过肢体语言和说话模式来找出骗子,
take any notice of:采取的任何通知;采取任何通知; liar:n.说谎的人;
hundreds of psychological tests over the years have shown that all of us, including police officers and detectives , are basically at chance when it comes to detecting lies from body language and verbal patterns. 但几年下来有数百个心理学研究, 都发现我们全部的人,包含警察和侦探, 在透过身体语言和言语模式来分辨人时, 都只是靠着运气而已。
detectives:n.侦探;警探;私人侦探;(detective的复数) detecting:n.检测;检定;v.发现;探知(detect的现在分词);adj.探测的; verbal:adj.口头的;言语的;动词的;照字面的;n.动词的非谓语形式;
Interestingly , there is one exception: 有趣的是有一个例外:
Interestingly:adv.有趣地;
TV appeals for missing relatives . 电视上有人呼吁失踪的亲友时,
appeals:n.[法]上诉; v.有吸引力(appeal的单三形式); relatives:n.亲戚;亲属;同类事物;(relative的复数)
It's quite easy to predict when the relatives are missing and when the appealers have in fact murdered the relatives themselves. 我们很容易判断出该亲友是真的失踪了, 或是发出通知的人谋杀了他。
So hoax appealers are more likely to shake their heads, to look away, and to make errors in their speech, whereas genuine appealers are more likely to express hope that the person will return safely and to avoid brutal language. 说谎的呼吁者可能会摇头、望向别处, 且会制造错误的言论, 相反的,真正的呼吁者通常 表达对失踪的亲友安全返回的希望, 会避免用任何残忍的语言。
genuine:adj.真实的,真正的;诚恳的; express:v.表达; adj.特快的; n.特快列车; v.使用快速服务; brutal:adj.残忍的;野蛮的,不讲理的;
So, for example, they might say "taken from us" rather than "killed." 举例来说,比起「被杀」这个词,他们会说「把他从我们身边带走」。
Speaking of which, it's about time I killed this talk, but before I do, I just want to give you in 30 seconds the overarching myth of psychology. 说到这里,也差不多是我该结束的时间了, 但在那之前,我想要用三十秒来谈, 关于心理学总体的一个迷思。
overarching:adj.首要的;支配一切的;包罗万象的;v.成拱形(overarch的ing形式);
So the myth is that psychology is just a collection of interesting theories, all of which say something useful and all of which have something to offer. 这个迷思说,心理学只是一些有趣理论的组合, 只是一些说来实用的和能够提供的东西而已。
What I hope to have shown you in the past few minutes is that this isn't true. 在过去的几分钟内,我希望我已经让你知道 这不是真的。
What we need to do is assess psychological theories by seeing what predictions they make, whether that is that listening to Mozart makes you smarter, that you learn better when information is presented in your preferred learning style 我们需要做的是,藉由所做的预测, 重新评价这些心理学理论的价值, 不管是让你变聪明的莫札特音乐, 或使你学得更好的学习模式,
assess:vt.评定;估价;对…征税; predictions:n.预测,预言(prediction复数形式);
or whatever it is, all of these are testable empirical predictions, and the only way we can make progress is to test these predictions against the data in tightly controlled experimental studies. 还是些其他的什么,这都只是可受檢验的经验上的说法, 所以我们唯一可以做的是, 在严谨控制的研究中, 用数据去檢验这些说法。
testable:adj.可试验的;有资格立遗嘱的;可根据遗嘱处理的;有资格作证人的; empirical:adj.经验主义的,完全根据经验的;实证的;
And it's only by doing so that we can hope to discover which of these theories are well supported, and which, like all the ones I've told you about today, are myths. 也只有透过这样的做法,我们才能发现, 哪一些理论是被支持的, 而哪一些,像是我今天所告诉你的,是错误的迷思。
Thank you. 谢谢大家。
(Applause) （观众鼓掌）