雙語·情境依賴：為什么你的環(huán)境很重要

Context-dependence: Why your environment matters
情境依賴：為什么你的環(huán)境很重要

Consider an everyday situation: You get up from your desk to have a cup of tea. Once you arrive in the kitchen, you forget what you wanted. However, when you get back to your desk, you suddenly remember.
考慮一個日常會遇到的情況：你從桌旁起身想要倒杯茶，等你到了廚房，卻忘了自己想要做什么，然而回到桌邊時，突然就又想起來了。

Scientists have discovered that memories are heavily context-dependent. Context is essentially anything that is present during encoding (for instance the environment we are in). Our brains seem to encode the context as a part of the memory trace as if taking a snapshot of everything that is around us at the moment of creating the memory.
科學(xué)家發(fā)現(xiàn)，記憶是高度依賴情境的。情境基本上就是編碼過程中出現(xiàn)的任何事（例如我們所處的環(huán)境）。我們的大腦似乎把情境也編碼成了記憶的一部分，就好像在創(chuàng)造記憶的那一刻，對我們周圍的一切拍了一張快照。

Successful retrieval of the memory trace then depends to some degree on the re-activation of the context in which it was encoded. Since the intention to have a cup of tea was encoded with the context of standing up from your desk, coming back to the kitchen re-activated the intention to have a cup of tea.
因此，成功檢索記憶，某種程度上取決于成功激活編碼時所處的情境。由于想要一杯茶是和桌邊的情境一起被編碼的，因此回到桌邊會重新激活想要一杯茶的意圖。

To combat context-dependence, you can adopt the same two approaches used for overcoming state-dependence. The first approach would be to emulate the environmental context of the test. For instance, you could revise in a quiet/noisy environment depending on where your exam will be situated. You may also consider revising together with a friend or two to get used to being distracted by other people in the examination room. An even better idea would be to revise in the classroom where you will be taking the test.
為了擺脫記憶的情境依賴，我們可以采取與克服記憶的狀態(tài)依賴時相同的兩種辦法。第一個辦法是模擬考試時的環(huán)境情境。例如，根據(jù)考試的地點(diǎn)，你可以選擇在一個安靜或嘈雜的環(huán)境下復(fù)習(xí)。也可以考慮和一兩個朋友一起復(fù)習(xí)，從而適應(yīng)在考場上受其他人干擾分心的情況。更好的辦法是在你將要參加考試的那個教室里復(fù)習(xí)。

The second approach would be to revise in as many different contexts as possible. Studies have shown that students who revise in many different rooms prior to their test perform better than those who study in one room only (with a 30% improvement in test performance).
第二個辦法是在盡可能多的不同情境下復(fù)習(xí)。研究已經(jīng)表明，考前在許多不同房間復(fù)習(xí)的學(xué)生，考試時會比只在一個房間復(fù)習(xí)的學(xué)生表現(xiàn)好（考試成績提高30%）。

Since the environmental context keeps changing, the information effectively becomes context-independent. In other words, you teach yourself how to retrieve the studied material in any kind of circumstance, which is extremely useful given that fact that you often cannot predict the exact circumstances you will face during the exam.
由于環(huán)境情境一直在變化，要記的信息就成功變得不依賴情境了。換句話說，你教會了自己如何在任何環(huán)境下記起學(xué)習(xí)材料。鑒于你通常無法預(yù)測考試中會遇到怎樣的環(huán)境，這個辦法非常有用。

The context of study need not be only environmental. The particular questions and practice tests you use also become the context that is encoded with your study material. Therefore, the more questions you practice on for a given concept, the more neural connections the brain has to generate between different contexts and the target concept. The more routes the brain has built, the easier it is to retrieve the concept later. This is because retrieval becomes less dependent on the particular starting point – the type of question asked or its particular wording.
學(xué)習(xí)的情境不僅指環(huán)境。你所使用的特定問題和練習(xí)測驗(yàn)同樣構(gòu)成情境，與你的學(xué)習(xí)材料一起被編碼。因此，對于一個給定的概念，你練習(xí)的問題越多，大腦就會在不同的情境與要學(xué)的概念之間生成越多的神經(jīng)聯(lián)結(jié)。大腦建立的通路越多，日后檢索相關(guān)概念就越容易。這是因?yàn)樾畔⒌臋z索變得不那么依賴于特定的起點(diǎn)——提問的類型或特定的表述。

The impact of this kind of context-sensitivity is particularly important when creating flashcards. If the question side of your flashcard contains irrelevant information, or information that won't be present when you really need to remember, you may not be able to recall it when you need it.
這種情境制約造成的影響在制作記憶卡片時格外重要。如果你的記憶卡片在問題面包含了無關(guān)信息，或者在你真正需要記起相關(guān)內(nèi)容時不會出現(xiàn)的信息，那么在需要的時候就可能無法回想起記憶的內(nèi)容。

Consider the following flashcards:
考慮下面的記憶卡：

Q: How do you say “again” in Chinese, but only for actions that you will repeat in the future? Like asking someone to do repeat something they just said…
問題：僅指未來會重復(fù)的行為時，“again”用中文怎么說？例如讓某人重復(fù)他們剛剛說過的話……

A: 再
回答：再

Compare that to:
再比較下面的：

Q: Again (future)
問題：Again（future）

A: 再
回答：再

The former has so much more context, that you may memorize the pairing only with this context (which may be missing when you need to think about the term).
第一個記憶卡包含太多背景，導(dǎo)致你可能只在這個情境（而在你需要想起這個詞時可能并不存在這樣的情境）下才能記起二者的對應(yīng)。

For this reason, it is better to either ask yourself questions with as little context as possible (and thus maximum difficulty) or to ask many different questions, with different contexts, so the same context isn't required for successful retrieval.
因此，最好問自己包含盡可能少情境信息的問題（由此使難度最大），或者在不同情境下問許多不同問題，從而不需要同樣的情境也能成功檢索記憶。

In summary, we recommend the following:
總結(jié)起來，我們推薦如下做法：

·For 1/2 of your study time, simulate the environmental conditions of your test (a noisy/quiet environment, similar distractions, people around)
·在一半的學(xué)習(xí)時間里，模仿考試的環(huán)境條件（嘈雜/安靜的環(huán)境、類似的干擾、周圍的人）。

·For the other 1/2, alternate rooms, places and conditions as you study
·另一半時間，在不同的房間、地點(diǎn)和條件下學(xué)習(xí)。

·Test yourself with different kinds of practice questions
·用不同類型的練習(xí)問題考自己

–what-questions
·“什么”類型的問題

–why-questions
·“為什么”類型的問題

–how-questions
·“如何”類型的問題

·Make use of minimal context for flashcards, or if possible, try different ways of asking yourself questions to maximize your flexibility.
·記憶卡片使用最少的情境信息，或者如果可能的話，嘗試換不同方式問自己問題，從而充分增大記憶的靈活性。

——節(jié)選自《記憶的科學(xué)》