source:bbcbyTomStafford 欲翻译的小伙伴,可评论领稿,并把已完成的译文贴在评论处或发在自己的心理圈内。谢谢 Itisacommonmisconceptionthatweknowourownminds。AsImovearoundtheworld,walkingandtalking,Iexperiencemyselfthinkingthoughts。WhatshallIhaveforlunch?,Iaskmyself。OrIthink,Iwonderwhyshedidthat?andtryandfigureitout。Itisnaturaltoassumethatthisexperienceofmyselfisacompletereportofmymind。Itisnatural,butwrong。 Theresanundermind,allpsychologistsagreeanunconsciouswhichdoesalotoftheheavyliftingintheprocessofthinking。IfIaskmyselfwhatisthecapitalofFrancetheanswerjustcomestomindParis!IfIdecidetowigglemyfingers,theymovebackandforthinacomplexpatternthatIdidntconsciouslyprepare,butwhichwasdeliveredformyusebytheunconscious。 Thebigdebateinpsychologyisexactlywhatisdonebytheunconscious,andwhatrequiresconsciousthought。Ortousethetitleofanopaperonthetopic,Istheunconscioussmartordumb?Onepopularviewisthattheunconsciouscanpreparesimplestimulusresponseactions,deliverbasicfacts,recogniseobjectsandcarryoutpractisedmovements。Complexcognitioninvolvingplanning,logicalreasoningandcombiningideas,ontheotherhand,requiresconsciousthought。 ArecentexperimentbyateamfromIsraelscorespointsagainstthisposition。RanHassinandcolleaguesusedaneatvisualtrickcalledContinuousFlashSuppressiontoputinformationintoparticipants’mindswithoutthembecomingconsciouslyawareofit。Itmightsoundpainful,butinrealityit’sactuallyquitesimple。Thetechniquetakesadvantageofthefactthatwehavetwoeyesandourbrainusuallyattemptstofusethetworesultingimagesintoasinglecoherentviewoftheworld。ContinuousFlashSuppressionuseslightbendingglassestoshowpeopledifferentimagesineacheye。Oneeyegetsarapidsuccessionofbrightlycolouredsquareswhicharesodistractingthatwhengenuineinformationispresentedtotheothereye,thepersonisnotimmediatelyconsciouslyawareofit。Infact,itcantakeseveralsecondsforsomethingthatisintheoryperfectlyvisibletoreachawareness(unlessyoucloseoneeyetocutouttheflashingsquares,thenyoucanseethesuppressedimageimmediately)。 Hassin’skeyexperimentinvolvedpresentingarithmeticquestionsunconsciously。Thequestionswouldbethingslike934andtheywouldbefollowedbythepresentation,fullyvisible,ofatargetnumberthattheparticipantswereaskedtoreadaloudasquicklyaspossible。Thetargetnumbercouldeitherbetherightanswertothearithmeticquestion(so,inthiscase,2)orawronganswer(forinstance,1)。Theamazingresultisthatparticipantsweresignificantlyquickertoreadthetargetnumberifitwastherightanswerratherthanawrongone。Thisshowsthattheequationhadbeenprocessedandsolvedbytheirmindseventhoughtheyhadnoconsciousawarenessofitmeaningtheywereprimedtoreadtherightanswerquickerthanthewrongone。 Theresultsuggeststhattheunconsciousmindhasmoresophisticatedcapacitiesthanmanyhavethought。Unlikeothertestsofnonconsciousprocessing,thiswasn’tanautomaticresponsetoastimulusitrequiredapreciseanswerfollowingtherulesofarithmetic,whichyoumighthaveassumedwouldonlycomewithdeliberation。Thereportcallsthetechniqueusedagamechangerinthestudyoftheunconscious,arguingthatunconsciousprocessescanperformeveryfundamental,basiclevelfunctionthatconsciousprocessescanperform。 Thesearestrongclaims,andtheauthorsacknowledgethatthereismuchworktodoaswestarttoexplorethepowerandreachofourunconsciousminds。Likeicebergs,mostoftheoperationofourmindsremainsoutofsight。Experimentslikethisgiveaglimpsebelowthesurface。