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ElizabethLoftus_2013G-_记忆的虚构_
I'd like to tell you about a legal case that I worked on involving a man named Steve Titus. 我给你们讲个我以前经手过的一个案子。 这个案子里有一个人叫斯蒂夫·提塔斯。
legal:adj.法律的;合法的;法定的; involving:v.包含;需要;牵涉;牵连;影响;(使)参加;(involve的现在分词)
Titus was a restaurant manager. 提塔斯以前是饭店经理。
He was 31 years old, he lived in Seattle , Washington, he was engaged to Gretchen, about to be married, she was the love of his life. 他31岁,住在华盛顿州的西雅图, 和一个叫格雷琴的姑娘订了婚, 马上就要结婚了,她就是他一生的挚爱。
Seattle:n.西雅图(美国一港市); engaged:adj.已订婚的; v.吸引住; (engage的过去分词和过去式)
And one night, the couple went out for a romantic restaurant meal. 一天晚上,这对情侣外出 去饭店吃一顿浪漫晚餐
romantic:adj.浪漫的;爱情的;n.浪漫的人;耽于幻想的人;
They were on their way home, and they were pulled over by a police officer . 回来的时候, 他们被警车拦下了。
police officer:n.警官;警察;警务人员;
You see, Titus' car sort of resembled a car that was driven earlier in the evening by a man who raped a female hitchhiker , and Titus kind of resembled that rapist . 知道吗？提塔斯的车有点类似 当天晚上 强奸了一位搭便车的女性的罪犯开的车。 而提塔斯有点像那个罪犯。
resembled:像,类似(resemble的过去式); raped:v.强奸;强暴(rape的过去分词和过去式) female:adj.女性的;雌性的;柔弱的,柔和的;n.女人;[动]雌性动物; hitchhiker:n.搭便车的旅行者;顺便插入的广告; rapist:n.强奸犯;强奸者;
So the police took a picture of Titus, they put it in a photo lineup , they later showed it to the victim , and she pointed to Titus' photo. 所以警察给提塔斯拍了照, 放到了罪犯相册里。 警察后来把他的照片给那个受害者看。 她指着提塔斯的照片,
lineup:n.阵容;一组人;电视节目时间表; victim:n.受害人;牺牲品;牺牲者;
She said, "That one's the closest." 说:“他最像。”
The police and the prosecution proceeded with a trial, and when Steve Titus was put on trial for rape, the rape victim got on the stand and said, "I'm absolutely positive that's the man." 警察和检察官继续进行审问, 斯蒂夫·提塔斯被当成强奸犯告上法庭, 受害者站在法庭上 说,“我绝对肯定就是他。”
prosecution:n.起诉,检举;进行;经营; proceeded:v.继续做;接着做;继而做;行进;前往;(proceed的过去分词和过去式) absolutely:adv.绝对地;完全地; positive:adj.积极的;[数]正的,[医][化学]阳性的;确定的;n.正数;[摄]正片;
And Titus was convicted . 提塔斯就这样被宣告有罪。
convicted:v.定罪;宣判…有罪;(convict的过去式和过去分词)
He proclaimed his innocence , his family screamed at the jury , his fiancée collapsed on the floor sobbing , and Titus is taken away to jail . 他申明自己是无辜的, 他的家庭对着陪审团声嘶力竭, 他的未婚妻倒在地上痛哭, 提塔斯被带进了监狱。
proclaimed:公告; innocence:n.清白,无罪;天真无邪; jury:n.[法]陪审团;评判委员会;adj.应急的; collapsed:v.倒塌,坍塌;倒下,昏倒;坐下;(collapse的过去分词和过去式) sobbing:v.哭诉;泣诉;抽噎着说;(sob的现在分词) jail:n.监狱;监牢;拘留所;v.监禁;下狱;
So what would you do at this point? 那么这样的时候你能做什么？
What would you do? 你能做什么？
Well, Titus lost complete faith in the legal system, and yet he got an idea. 所以,提塔斯从此完全失去对法律体系的信任。 可是他有了个想法。
faith:n.信心;信任;宗教信仰;
He called up the local newspaper, he got the interest of an investigative journalist , and that journalist actually found the real rapist, a man who ultimately confessed to this rape, a man who wa s thought to have committed 50 rapes in that area, and when thi s in forma tion was given to the judge, the judge set Titus free. 他联系当地的报纸, 一个搞调查的杂志对他的案子很有兴趣, 而且这个杂志实际上找到了真的罪犯, 这人最终供认自己的犯罪事实, 而且他还和其他的50起强奸案有关。 案件都发生在那个地区。 法官得知这个消息以后, 释放了提塔斯。
investigative:adj.研究的;调查的;好调查的; journalist:n.新闻工作者;报人;记日志者; ultimately:adv.最终;最后;归根结底;终究; forma:n.福马(环境科技公司名);
And really, that's where this case should have ended. 好吧,这个案子到这里就该结束了吧？
It should have been over. 真的是应该结束了。
Titus should have thought of this as a horrible year, a year of accusation and trial, but over. 真的是应该结束了。 一年的指控、提审,但是都结束了。
horrible:可怕的,极讨厌的, accusation:n.控告,指控;谴责;
It didn't end that way. 但是事情没有就此结束。
Titus was so bitter . 提塔斯的生活变得更加苦涩。
bitter:adj.苦的; n.苦味; v.激烈地; v.使变苦;
He'd lost his job. He couldn't get it back. 他失业了,无法重新回去上班。
He lost his fiancée. 他失去了未婚妻。
She couldn't put up with his persistent anger. 她无法忍受他一直以来的愤怒。
put up with:v.忍受;容忍; persistent:adj.固执的,坚持的;持久稳固的;
He lost his entire savings , and so he decided to file a lawsuit against the police and others whom he felt were responsible for his suffering. 他失去了所有存款。 所以他决定提起诉讼, 状告那些警察和对那些 需要对他的遭遇负责的人。
savings:n.节省物;节省;节约;储蓄金;存款;(saving的复数) lawsuit:n.诉讼;[法]官司;诉讼案件; responsible:adj.负责的,可靠的;有责任的;
And that's when I really started working on this case, trying to figure out how did that victim go from "That one's the closest" 我是从那时开始介入这个案子的, 想搞清楚 受害人怎么会那么坚定地从 “这个人最象”
to "I'm absolutely positive that's the guy." 到“我绝对确信就是他。”
Well, Titus was consumed with his civil case. 那么提塔斯呢 ,把时间都花在他的案子上,
consumed:adj.沉迷…的; v.消耗,耗费; (consume的过去分词和过去式) civil:adj.公民的;民间的;文职的;有礼貌的;根据民法的;
He spent every waking moment thinking about it, and just days before he was to have his day in court, he woke up in the morning, doubled over in pain, and died of a stress-related heart attack . 他只要醒着就想这事儿。 就在要开庭的前几天, 他早上醒来, 突然疼痛不已, 结果死于精神压力引起的心肌梗死。
heart attack:n.[医]心肌梗塞
He was 35 years old. 那时他才35岁。
So I was asked to work on Titus' case because I'm a psychological scientist. 我之所以介入提塔斯的案子, 是因为我是个研究心理学的科学家。
psychological:adj.心理的;心理学的;精神上的;
I study memory. I've studied memory for decades. 我研究记忆,已经研究有几十年了。
And if I meet somebody on an airplane -- this happened on the way over to Scotland -- if I meet somebody on an airplane, and we ask each other, "What do you do? What do you do?" 如果我在飞机上遇到谁－ 恰巧是去苏格兰的－ 如果我在飞机上遇到谁－ 我们会互相打招呼,“你是做什么的？做什么的？”
airplane:n.飞机;
and I say "I study memory," 我就说,“我是研究记忆的。”
they usually want to tell me how they have trouble remembering names, or they've got a relative who's got Alzheimer's or some kind of memory problem, but I have to tell them 他们一般都会告诉我,他们很难记住别人的名字呀, 他们有个亲戚得了痴呆症呀, 或者一些和记忆有关的问题。 然后我就告诉他们,
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;
I don't study when people forget. 我不研究人的遗忘。
I study the opposite: when they remember, when they remember things that didn't happen or remember things that were different from the way they really were. 正相反,我研究的是人的记忆。 当他们记着根本没有发生的事儿, 或者记着与他们做的 根本不同的事儿。
I study false memories. 我研究的就是错误记忆。
Unhappily , Steve Titus is not the only person to be convicted based on somebody's false memory . 不幸的是,斯蒂夫·提塔斯不是唯一一个 被别人的错误记忆所害的人。
Unhappily:adv.不幸地;遗憾地; false memory:n.(对事实上并未发生的事情的)伪记忆;
In one project in the United States, information has been gathered on 300 innocent people, 300 defendants who were convicted of crimes they didn't do. 在美国的一项课题中, 这个课题集中了 300个无辜的人们, 300个被宣判有罪的无辜者。
United:adj.联合的; v.联合,团结; (unite的过去分词和过去式) innocent:adj.无辜的;无罪的;无知的;n.天真的人;笨蛋; defendants:n.[法]被告(defendant的复数);
They spent 10, 20, 30 years in prison for these crimes, and now DNA testing has proven that they are actually innocent. 他们因此而在监狱度过了10年,20年,30年 现在的DNA检测证明 他们是无辜的。
And when those cases have been analyzed , three quarters of them are due to faulty memory, faulty eyewitness memory. 当对这些案子进行分析后, 其中四分之三的案子 归结于错误的记忆,目击者的错误记忆。
analyzed:v.分析(analyze的过去式和过去分词);检讨; three quarters:adj.四分之三的;n.四分之三; faulty:adj.有错误的;有缺点的; eyewitness:n.目击者;见证人;
Well, why? 那么,这是为什么呢？
Like the jurors who convicted those innocent people and the jurors who convicted Titus, many people believe that memory works like a recording device . 那么,这是为什么呢？ 给提塔斯定罪的那些陪审团成员, 他们都相信记忆 可以作为记录装置。
jurors:n.[法]陪审员(juror的复数形式); device:n.装置;策略;图案;
You just record the information, then you call it up and play it back when you want to answer questions or identify images . 就是人记住了一些信息, 然后唤起这些信息,重放这些信息 来回答警察的提问和鉴别嫌犯照片。
identify:v.识别:鉴定:确认:发现: images:n.印象;声誉;形象;画像;雕像;(image的第三人称单数和复数)
But decades of work in psychology has shown that this just isn't true. 数十年的心理学研究 显示这不一定是对的。
psychology:n.心理学;心理状态;
Our memories are constructive . 我们的记忆具有可塑性的,
constructive:adj.建设性的;推定的;构造上的;有助益的;
They're reconstructive . 也是可重塑的。
reconstructive:adj.重建的;改造的;
Memory works a little bit more like a Wikipedia page: 记忆有点像维基百科页面:
Wikipedia:维基百科;
You can go in there and change it, but so can other people. 你可以登录编辑它,但是别人也可以这样做。
I first started studying this constructive memory process in the 1970s. 我刚开始研究这个可塑性记忆 是在70年代。
process:v.处理;加工;列队行进;n.过程,进行;方法,adj.经过特殊加工(或处理)的;
I did my experiments that involved showing people simulated crimes and accidents and asking them questions about what they remember. 我做了实验,向受试者展示 模拟的犯罪事件和事故。 我然后问他们都记住了什么。
involved:adj.有关的; v.涉及; (involve的过去式和过去分词) simulated:adj.假装的; v.假装; (simulate的过去式和过去分词)
In one study, we showed people a simulated accident and we asked people, how fast were the cars going when they hit each other? 在一项研究中,我们给受试者展示模拟的事故 然后我们问他们 他们相撞的时候,车速有多快。
And we asked other people, how fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other? 然后我们问其他的人 如果他们重撞在一起时,车速有多快。
smashed:adj.大醉;v.打碎;(使)猛烈撞击;(用力)撞开;(smash的过去分词和过去式)
And if we asked the leading "smashed" question, the witnesses told us the cars were going faster, and moreover , that leading "smashed" question caused people to be more likely to tell us that they saw broken glass in the accident scene when there wasn't any broken glass at all. 如果我们用 重撞“这个词儿来引导他们时, 受试者更倾向于告诉我们车速是非常快的。 不仅如此,用”重撞“来诱导问题时, 人们更倾向于告诉我们, 他们在事故现场看到了破碎的玻璃。 其实,根本就没有什么破碎的玻璃。
witnesses:n.[法]证人; v.作证; moreover:adv.而且;此外;
In another study, we showed a simulated accident where a car went through an intersection with a stop sign, and if we asked a question that insinuated it was a yield sign, 在另一项研究中,我们展示的是一个模拟事故, 一辆车正经过一个有”停车”牌的十字路口。 如果我们暗示受试者那是个“让路”牌的时候,
intersection:n.交叉;十字路口;交集;交叉点; insinuated:v.暗示;活动;(使)缓慢进入;(insinuate的过去分词和过去式) yield:n.产量;产出;利润;v.屈服;让步;放弃;提供;
many witnesses told us they remember seeing a yield sign at the intersection, not a stop sign. 很多受试者会说他们记得十字路口有“让路”牌, 而不是“停车”牌。
And you might be thinking, well, you know, these are filmed events, they are not particularly stressful . 你会说,嗯, 这只是拍摄下来的模拟现场, 受试者没有什么精神压力。
particularly:adv.特别地,独特地;详细地,具体地;明确地,细致地; stressful:adj.紧张的;有压力的;
Would the same kind of mistakes be made with a really stressful event? 如果在真实的现场会有同样的错误吗？ 那可是真正紧张的时刻。
In a study we published just a few months ago, we have an answer to this question, because what was unusual about this study is we arranged for people to have a very stressful experience. 我们最近发表了一个几个月前的研究课题。 正好可以回答你的这个问题。 这项研究不同以往的地方在于 我们见了有过紧张压力体验的受试者。
arranged:adj.安排的;v.安排;计划;准备(arrange的过去式和过去分词);
The subjects in this study were members of the U.S. military who were undergoing a harrowing training exercise to teach them what it's going to be like for them if they are ever captured as prisoners of war. 这项研究的受试者 是美军军方人士。 他们经历了残酷的训练 来体验 被活捉成为战犯的场面。
military:adj.军事的;军人的;适于战争的;n.军队;军人; undergoing:v.经历,经受(变化、不快的事等);(undergo的现在分词) harrowing:adj.令人痛心的; v.耙地; (harrow的现在分词) captured:adj.捕获的;被俘的;v.捕获;占领;引起;(capture的过去式和过去分词)
And as part of this training exercise, these soldiers are interrogated in an aggressive , hostile , physically abusive fashion for 30 minutes and later on they have to try to identify the person who conducted that interrogation . 这个训练的其中一部分就是 这些士兵遭到长达30分钟的刑讯逼供和 严刑拷打。 后来他们必须努力辨别出 是谁对他们施加了暴行。
interrogated:v.审问;盘问;查询,询问;(interrogate的过去分词和过去式) aggressive:adj.侵略性的;好斗的;有进取心的;有闯劲的; hostile:adj.敌意的; n.敌对分子; abusive:adj.辱骂的;滥用的;虐待的; conducted:v.组织;安排;实施;执行;指挥;带领;引导;(conduct的过去分词和过去式) interrogation:n.讯问;审问;[语]疑问句;
And when we feed them suggestive information that insinuates it's a different person, many of them misidentify their interrogator , often identifying someone who doesn't even remotely resemble the real interrogator. 当我们向他们建议 审讯人可能另有其人时, 他们中的很多人认不出真正的审讯人。 他们经常指认出 完全不相近的人。
suggestive:adj.暗示的;提示的;影射的; insinuates:vt.暗示;使逐渐而巧妙地取得;使迂回地潜入;vi.暗讽;说含沙射影的话; misidentify:v.识别错; interrogator:n.质问者;询问机; identifying:n.识别,标识;标识关系;v.识别;(identify的现在分词) remotely:adv.遥远地;偏僻地;(程度)极微地,极轻地;
And so what these studies are showing is that when you feed people misinformation about some experience that they may have had, you can distort or contaminate or change their memory. 这些研究结果表明 当你向人们提供错误信息 误导他们经历过的事情时 你完全可以破坏、搅乱甚至改变他们的记忆。
misinformation:n.误报;错误的消息; distort:v.使变形;扭曲;使失真;歪曲; contaminate:v.污染;玷污,毒害(人的思想或品德);
Well out there in the real world, misinformation is everywhere. 大千世界, 错误的信息无处不在。
We get misinformation not only if we're questioned in a leading way, but if we talk to other witnesses who might consciously or inadvertently feed us some erroneous information, 我们得到错误的信息, 我们得到错误的信息, 而且也可能是我们与其他人交谈时 被有意无意地 灌输了错误信息。
consciously:adv.自觉地;有意识地; inadvertently:adj.非故意地,无心地; erroneous:adj.错误的;不正确的;
or if we see media coverage about some event we might have experienced, all of these provide the opportunity for this kind of contamination of our memory. 也可能是我们看到了与我们经历有关的媒体报道。 这一切都有可能 扭曲我们的记忆。
media:n.媒体;媒质(medium的复数);血管中层;浊塞音;中脉; coverage:n.覆盖,覆盖范围; contamination:n.污染,玷污;污染物;
In the 1990s, we began to see an even more extreme kind of memory problem. 90年代,我们观察到 一个更为极端的记忆问题。
extreme:adj.极端的;极度的;偏激的;尽头的;n.极端;末端;最大程度;极端的事物;
Some patients were going into therapy with one problem -- maybe they had depression , an eating disorder -- and they were coming out of therapy with a different problem. 一些患者因为一个单纯的问题去看医生, 也许是因为抑郁,或者饮食失调。 但当他们结束治疗时, 往往会产生完全不同的问题。
patients:n.接受治疗者,病人;(patient的复数) therapy:n.治疗,疗法; depression:n.沮丧;洼地;不景气;忧愁; eating disorder:n.饮食功能失调(如厌食);
Extreme memories for horrific brutalizations, sometimes in satanic rituals, sometimes involving really bizarre and unusual elements . 那些关于残酷暴行的极端记忆, 有些象是邪教仪式 有些带有非常奇怪、非常特殊的成分。
horrific:adj.可怕的;令人毛骨悚然的; satanic:adj.邪恶的;魔鬼的; bizarre:adj.奇异的(指态度,容貌,款式等); elements:n.要素;基本部分;少量;一群;(element的复数)
One woman came out of psychotherapy believing that she'd endured years of ritualistic abuse , where she was forced into a pregnancy and that the baby was cut from her belly . 一个结束了心理治疗的妇女 坚信自己经受了数年的 残忍的性侵害,使她不幸怀孕。 孩子从她的肚子里被夺走。
psychotherapy:n.心理疗法;精神疗法; endured:v.忍耐;忍受;持续;持久;(endure的过去分词和过去式) ritualistic:adj.仪式的;固守仪式的;惯例的; abuse:n.滥用;虐待;辱骂;弊端;恶习,陋习;v.滥用;虐待;辱骂; pregnancy:n.怀孕;丰富,多产;意义深长; belly:n.腹部;胃;食欲;v.涨满;鼓起;
But there were no physical scars or any kind of physical evidence that could have supported her story. 可是她身上根本就没有任何伤疤 也没有任何体征 来支持她的观点。
physical:adj.[物]物理的;身体的;物质的;符合自然法则的;n.体格检查; evidence:n.证据,证明;迹象;明显;v.证明;
And when I began looking into these cases, 当我研究这些案例时,
I was wondering, where do these bizarre memories come from? 我想知道 这些奇特的记忆是从何而来呢？
And what I found is that most of these situations involved some particular form of psychotherapy. 我发现很多这样奇怪的情况 都源于患者的一些心理治疗。
And so I asked, were some of the things going on in this psychotherapy -- like the imagination exercises or dream interpretation , or in some cases hypnosis , or in some cases exposure to false information -- were these leading these patients to develop these very bizarre, unlikely memories? 我不禁想到 这些问题可能跟他们所进行的心理治疗有关- 比如想象力训练, 比如解梦, 比如催眠疗法, 或者无意接触到的错误信息。 这些是不是都会使患者 产生一些非常奇怪的 不正确的记忆呢？
imagination:n.想象;想象力;创造力;想象的事物; interpretation:n.解释;翻译;演出; hypnosis:n.催眠;催眠状态; exposure:n.暴露;显露;揭露;面临; unlikely:adj.不大可能发生的;非心目中的;非想象的;难以相信的;
And I designed some experiments to try to study the processes that were being used in this psychotherapy so I could study the development of these very rich false memories. 因此我设计了一些实验, 使用心理治疗中会采用的步骤 来研究这些丰富的错误记忆是如何产生的。 来研究这些丰富的错误记忆是如何产生的。
processes:n.过程; v.处理(process的第三人称单数形式);
In one of the first studies we did, we used suggestion, a method inspired by the psychotherapy we saw in these cases, we used this kind of suggestion and planted a false memory that when you were a kid, five or six years old, you were lost in a shopping mall . 我们最初的一个研究是, 我们对受试者提出建议, 这个方法借鉴了我们在案例里看到的一些心理治疗法。 我们用我们的建议 植入一个错误的记忆。 那就是:当你还五六岁的时候, 你在一个购物中心走丢了,
inspired:adj.受到启发的; v.鼓舞; (inspire的过去分词和过去式) shopping mall:un.商业区林荫路;
You were frightened . You were crying. 你害怕得哭了,
frightened:adj.害怕的;受惊的;惊吓的;v.使惊吓;使惊恐;(frighten的过去分词和过去式)
You were ultimately rescued by an elderly person and reunited with the family. 最终,你在一个长者的帮助下 找到了家人。
rescued:v.营救;援救;抢救;(rescue的过去分词和过去式) elderly:adj.上了年纪的;过了中年的;稍老的; reunited:v.重聚;使再结合(reunite的过去式和过去分词);
And we succeeded in planting this memory in the minds of about a quarter of our subjects. 我们成功地 给大约四分之一的受试者植入了这个错误记忆。
And you might be thinking, well, that's not particularly stressful. 你会说,好吧, 可是这个不是在心理压力下的测试呀。
But we and other investigators have planted rich false memories of things that were much more unusual and much more stressful. 我们以及其他的研究人员成功地植入过 一些错误的记忆, 错误得非常离谱,也非常纠结的记忆。
investigators:n.研究者,调查者(investigator的复数形式);
So in a study done in Tennessee , researchers planted the false memory that when you were a kid, you nearly drowned and had to be rescued by a life guard. 在田纳西的一项研究中, 科研人员植入的错误记忆是 你小的时候,差点淹死过, 是一个救生员救了你。
Tennessee:n.田纳西州(美国州名); drowned:v.(使)淹死,溺死;浸透;淹没;浸泡;(drown的过去分词和过去式)
And in a study done in Canada, researchers planted the false memory that when you were a kid, something as awful as being attacked by a vicious animal happened to you, succeeding with about half of their subjects. 加拿大的一项研究中, 研究人员植入的错误记忆是 你小的时候 曾经被凶恶的动物 攻击过。 近一半的受试者之后有了这样的错误记忆。
vicious:adj.恶毒的;恶意的;堕落的;有错误的;品性不端的;剧烈的;
And in a study done in Italy, researchers planted the false memory, when you were a kid, you witnessed demonic possession . 在意大利的一项研究中, 研究者植入的错误记忆是 你小时候目睹过恶魔附身
witnessed:v.当场看到,目击;见证;作证;(witness的过去式和过去分词) demonic:adj.有魔力的,恶魔的; possession:n.拥有;具有;属地;个人财产;
I do want to add that it might seem like we are traumatizing these experimental subjects in the name of science, but our studies have gone through thorough evaluation by research ethics boards that have made the decision that the temporary discomfort that some 在这里我想说 看起来我们是在伤害受试者 却打着科学的旗号。 其实,我们的研究都要经过 科研道德委员会的层层审批的。 经审批,委员会认为, 对那些会有短暂不适感的
traumatizing:vt.使…受损伤;使…受精神创伤; experimental:adj.实验的;根据实验的;试验性的; in the name of:以…的名义; thorough:adj.彻底的;十分的;周密的; evaluation:n.评价;[审计]评估;估价;求值; ethics:n.伦理学;伦理观;道德标准; temporary:adj.暂时的,临时的;n.临时工,临时雇员; discomfort:n.不适,不安;不便之处;vt.使…不舒服;使…不安;
of these subjects might experience in these studies is outweighed by the importance of this problem for understanding memory processes and the abuse of memory that is going on in some places in the world. 受试者的研究工作 可以帮助我们更好地 理解记忆的过程 和记忆的破坏,那些发生 在世界各地的问题。
outweighed:v.重于;大于;超过;(outweigh的过去分词和过去式)
Well, to my surprise, when I published this work and began to speak out against this particular brand of psychotherapy, it created some pretty bad problems for me: 令我惊奇的是, 我发表的研究开始引起了 一些著名理疗师的反对。 他们给我制造了很多麻烦,
speak out:畅所欲言;大胆地说;大声地说; brand:v.铭刻于,铭记;打烙印于;印…商标于;n.商标,牌子;烙印;
hostilities , primarily from the repressed memory therapists , who felt under attack, and by the patients whom they had influenced . 敌对主要来自于一些心情压抑的记忆治疗师。 他们觉得自己受到了攻击。 敌对也来自那些认为自己被无端牵扯进来的患者。
hostilities:n.战争;[心理]敌意(hostility的复数); primarily:adv.首先;主要地,根本上; repressed:adj.被压抑的;被抑制的;v.抑制;镇压;约束;(repress的过去分词) therapists:n.治疗专家(therapist的复数); influenced:v.影响;对…起作用;支配;左右;(influence的过去分词和过去式)
I had sometimes armed guards at speeches that I was invited to give, people trying to drum up letter-writing campaigns to get me fired. 我有的时候不得不带着保镖 去做演讲嘉宾。 人们写信投诉,要勒令我辞职。
drum:n.鼓; v.打鼓;
But probably the worst was I suspected that a woman was innocent of abuse that was being claimed by her grown daughter. 可能最糟糕的还有 我曾经认为一位妇女 根本就是无辜的。 可是她长大的女儿偏认为
suspected:v.怀疑;不信任;(suspect的过去分词和过去式)
She accused her mother of sexual abuse based on a repressed memory. 她的妈妈曾经性侵过她, 仅仅凭着那些压抑的记忆。
accused:v.控告;控诉;谴责;(accuse的过去分词和过去式) sexual:adj.性的;性别的;有性的;
And this accusing daughter had actually allowed her story to be filmed and presented in public places. 这个女儿甚至把她的所谓的故事 搬上了银幕,曝光给公众。
accusing:adj.谴责的;指责的;v.控告;控诉;谴责;(accuse的现在分词)
I was suspicious of this story, and so I started to investigate , and eventually found information that convinced me that this mother was innocent. 我非常怀疑这个故事的真实性。 所以我开始了调查, 最终的调查结果让我相信 这位妈妈是无辜的。
suspicious:adj.可疑的;怀疑的;多疑的; investigate:v.调查;研究;审查; eventually:adv.最后,终于; convinced:adj.坚信; v.使确信; (convince的过去分词和过去式)
I published an exposé on the case , and a little while later, the accusing daughter filed a lawsuit. 我发表文章来揭露真相, 后来那位女儿 把我告上法庭。
on the case:民警出警;诉讼;令状;
Even though I'd never mentioned her name, she sued me for defamation and invasion of privacy . 即使我没有提及她的姓名, 她仍然状告我诽谤和侵犯隐私。
sued:v.控告;提起诉讼;提出请求;(sue的过去分词和过去式) defamation:n.诽谤;中伤; invasion:n.武装入侵;侵略;侵犯;涌入;干预; privacy:n.隐私;秘密;隐居;隐居处;
And I went through nearly five years of dealing with this messy , unpleasant litigation , but finally , finally , it was over and I could really get back to my work. 这个案子经过了五年的时间。 我不得不经历大量的令人厌恶的诉讼。 最终,最终,案子终于结束了,我得以 回到我的工作岗位。
messy:adj.肮脏的;凌乱的;不整洁的; unpleasant:adj.令人不快的;不舒服的;不客气的 litigation:n.诉讼;起诉; finally:adv.终于;最终;(用于列举)最后;彻底地;
In the process, however, I became part of a disturbing trend in America where scientists are being sued for simply speaking out on matters of great public controversy . 然而,在这个过程中,我成为 一直令人不安的趋势的一部分。 那就是科学家仅仅因为 在有争议的公共事务中提出自己的观点而遭诉讼。
disturbing:adj.引起烦恼的;令人不安的;v.打扰;干扰;搅乱;使不安;(disturb的现在分词) trend:n.趋势;动向;趋向;动态;v.走向;趋向; controversy:n.争论;论战;辩论;
When I got back to my work, I asked this question: if I plant a false memory in your mind, does it have repercussions ? 我回到工作岗位时,我提出这样一个问题, 当我给你植入一个错误记忆后, 它会有后续影响吗？
repercussions:n.反响,影响(repercussion的复数形式);
Does it affect your later thoughts, your later behaviors? 它会改变你将来的想法和 将来的行为吗？
Our first study planted a false memory that you got sick as a child eating certain foods: hard-boiled eggs , dill pickles , strawberry ice cream. 我们给你植入错误记忆 你因此就像孩子吃错了东西一样生病。 就象吃错了坏鸡蛋、腌菜、草莓冰激凌一样生病。
hard-boiled eggs:煮硬了的蛋; dill:n.[园艺]莳萝;莳萝的种子; pickles:n.泡菜;腌菜;菜酱;v.腌渍;(pickle的第三人称单数和复数) strawberry:n.草莓
And we found that once we planted this false memory, people didn't want to eat the foods as much at an outdoor picnic. 我们发现一旦我们植入了错误记忆, 人们就不那么喜欢在野餐的时候吃那些食物了 人们就不那么喜欢在野餐的时候吃那些食物了
outdoor:adj.户外的;露天的;
The false memories aren't necessarily bad or unpleasant. 错误记忆不一定就是不好的,不愉快的。
necessarily:adv.必要地;必定地,必然地;
If we planted a warm, fuzzy memory involving a healthy food like asparagus , we could get people to want to eat asparagus more. 如果我们植入一个温暖、温馨的记忆, 记忆里面有美味的芦笋的话, 我们就会让人们更喜欢吃芦笋。
fuzzy:adj.模糊的;失真的;有绒毛的; asparagus:n.芦笋;龙须菜;天冬;
And so what these studies are showing is that you can plant false memories and they have repercussions that affect behavior long after the memories take hold. 所以这些研究表明, 你可以植入错误记忆, 而记忆有后续反应。 一旦形成了这个记忆,它会长久地影响你的行为。
Well, along with this ability to plant memories and control behavior obviously come some important ethical issues , like, when should we use this mind technology ? 那么, 通过植入记忆来影响行为的这种能力 很明显会带来一些严肃的道德问题。 比如,我们什么情况下可以使用这样的意识技术？
ethical:adj.伦理的;道德的;凭处方出售的;n.处方药; issues:n.重要议题;争论的问题;v.宣布;公布;发出;(issue的第三人称单数和复数) technology:n.技术;工艺;术语;
And should we ever ban its use? 我们应该不应该禁止它的使用？
ban:v.下令禁止;查禁;n.禁令;
Therapists can't ethically plant false memories in the mind of their patients even if it would help the patient, but there's nothing to stop a parent from trying this out on their overweight or obese teenager. 在伦理上,治疗师不能 给患者植入错误的记忆, 即使这有助于帮助患者。 但是这不能阻止一些家长为了 他们超重和肥胖的孩子去尝试这种治疗。
ethically:adv.伦理上; overweight:adj.超重的;过重的;vt.使负担过重;n.超重; obese:adj.肥胖的,过胖的;
And when I suggested this publicly, it created an outcry again. 我建议公开使用这种疗法时, 又引起了舆论大哗。
outcry:n.强烈抗议;大声疾呼;尖叫;倒彩;
'"There she goes. She's advocating that parents lie to their children." “看看她,她主张让父母跟孩子撒谎。”
advocating:v.拥护;支持;提倡;(advocate的现在分词)
Hello, Santa Claus . (Laughter) 你好,圣诞老人。（笑声）
Santa Claus:n.身着红衣;圣诞老人;
I mean, another way to think about this is, which would you rather have, a kid with obesity , diabetes , shortened lifespan , all the things that go with it, or a kid with one little extra bit of false memory? 我的意思是,从另一个角度想这个问题, 你是宁可 有一个肥胖的,有糖尿病的,短命的 问题众多的孩子, 还是想要一个有一点小小错误记忆的孩子？
obesity:n.肥大,肥胖; diabetes:n.糖尿病;多尿症; shortened:v.(使)变短,缩短;(shorten的过去式和过去分词) lifespan:n.寿命;预期生命期限;预期使用期限; extra:adj.额外的:n.额外的事物:adv.额外:另外:
I know what I would choose for a kid of mine. 我知道我会怎么给我的孩子选,
But maybe my work has made me different from most people. 也许是我的工作让我和别人不大一样。
Most people cherish their memories, know that they represent their identity , who they are, where they came from. 很多人珍视他们的记忆, 知道那些代表他的身份, 代表他们是谁,从哪儿来。
cherish:v.珍爱;怀有(感情等);抱有(希望等); represent:v.代表;表现;描绘;回忆;再赠送; identity:n.身份;同一性,一致;特性;恒等式;
And I appreciate that. I feel that way too. 我明白这些。我也是那么认为的。
appreciate:v.欣赏;感激;感谢;理解;
But I know from my work how much fiction is already in there. 但从我的工作中我知道, 一个人的记忆中到底有多少是虚构的。
If I've learned anything from these decades of working on these problems, it's this: just because somebody tells you something and they say it with confidence , just because they say it with lots of detail, 这么几十年的工作确实让我 学到些东西,那就是: 即使有人告诉过你, 而且是胸有成竹地告诉你, 即使他们描述了很多细节,
confidence:n.信心;信任;秘密;adj.(美)诈骗的;骗得信任的;
just because they express emotion when they say it, it doesn't mean that it really happened. 即使他们满怀激情地描述, 那也不等于它真的就发生过。
express:v.表达; adj.特快的; n.特快列车; v.使用快速服务; emotion:n.强烈的感情;激情;情感;
We can't reliably distinguish true memories from false memories. 我们无法从真实的记忆中识别错误记忆。
reliably:adv.可靠地;确实地; distinguish:vt.区分;辨别;使杰出,使表现突出;vi.区别,区分;辨别;
We need independent corroboration . 我们需要独立的佐证。
independent:adj.独立的; n.无党派议员(或候选人等); corroboration:n.确证,证实;确证的事实;
Such a discovery has made me more tolerant of the everyday memory mistakes that my friends and family members make. 这样的发现使我能够忍受 每天发生的记忆错误, 那些来自朋友家人的记忆错误。
tolerant:adj.宽容的;容忍的;有耐药力的;
Such a discovery might have saved Steve Titus, the man whose whole future was snatched away by a false memory. 这样的发现本来可以挽救斯蒂夫?塔提斯, 那个被无端夺走生命的人。 这一切仅仅源于一个错误的记忆。
snatched:v.一把抓起;一下夺过;夺去;抢走;偷窃;(snatch的过去分词和过去式)
But meanwhile , we should all keep in mind , we'd do well to, that memory, like liberty , is a fragile thing. 但同时,我们需要记住, 我们需要做好事。 那些记忆就像自由一样, 是很脆弱的。
meanwhile:adv.同时,其间;n.其间,其时; keep in mind:记住; liberty:n.自由;许可;冒失; fragile:adj.脆的;易碎的;
Thank you. Thank you. 谢谢,谢谢！
Thank you. (Applause) 非常感谢！（掌声）
Thanks very much. (Applause) 非常感谢！（掌声）