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【medical-news】选择太多 大脑也会疲惫
你是否发现在你决定选择哪种香料用在你的早餐桌旁之后感觉一头雾水？不要把这种感觉归罪为昨晚没有睡好。一项新的研究表明当你面对几项选择拿捏不准反复思量，这可能会加重你的思想负担，只至最后虽然你选择一项也会致你筋疲力尽。
Study author Kathleen D. Vohs, PhD, of the University of Minnesota's marketing department, and researchers from several other universities have determined that making choices, as opposed to just thinking about options, can be mentally draining. Those with too many choices -- good or bad -- have trouble remembering to take their medicine and staying focused on everyday tasks.
Kathleen D. Vohs博士是明尼苏达州立大学营销系的研究人员，他和来自其他大学的研究人员认为决策与仅仅思索备选项恰好相反，是脑力的锻炼。拥有太多选择—或好或坏
—的人这方面影响了他们正常服药以及集中精神完成他们的日常职责。
The findings are based on seven experiments designed to test how the simple act of choosing or not choosing influences a person's ability to remain focused and productive. The study involved 328 participants and 58 customers at a shopping mall.
这一结论基于7项专门设计用来测试选择这一行为本身或选择结果影响一个人集中精力和效率的能力的实验研究。该研究涉及一家超市内的328名参与者和58名顾客。
For one experiment, researchers asked some participants to make choices about consumer products, college courses, or class materials, while others had to consider various options without making decisions. Afterward, the participants had to place their hands in ice water or finish a healthy but unpleasantly flavored drink. Those who earlier made choices had a harder time staying focused and finishing the tasks than those who only had to think about their options.
其中一项实验中，研究人员让一些参与者在消费品、大学课程或课堂材料方面做出选择，而另外的参与者则仅思考各种各样的选项而不做出决定。此后，所有的参与者被要求将手放进冰水或者喝完使人健康但却不令人愉快的香味饮料。那些早先作决定的人较比仅考虑选项的人在集中注意力和完成任务方面有更困难的经历。
Additional experiments involved math skills and choices. Participants who had to make important choices regarding college coursework had more errors on the study's math test than those who didn't have to make such decisions. They also appeared more distracted. Vohs' team found that the choice makers spent less time solving the math problems and more time playing video games or reading than the other group.
附加实验涉及数学技术和选项，参与者必须要在选择大学课程其后将会在数学测验方面犯很多错误与可以不必做这类决定间做出重要的选择。他们显得比较心烦意乱。Vohs的研究小组发现选项制造小组的参与者在解决数学问题方面叫较比其他小组花费的时间更少，而在玩视频游戏或者阅读方面的时间较多。
Vohs' shopping mall experiment could have many people recalculating their checkbooks. Shoppers reported how many decisions they made that day, and then had to solve simple math problems. Those that made the most choices earlier in the day performed the worst on the math test.
在Vohs的大型购物中心实验中，很多顾客会重新审视他们的支票簿，购物者向研究人员汇报当天他们做了几项决定，接着在解决一些数学问题，那些一天中较早做出最多选择的人在数学测验中的表现最差。
The study provides evidence that it is the act of making a choice, not weighing your options, that is mentally exhausting. "There is a significant shift in the mental programming that is made at the time of choosing, whether the person acts on it at that time or sometime in the future. Therefore, simply the act of choosing can cause mental fatigue," Vohs says in a news release. "Making choices can be difficult and taxing, and there is a personal price to choosing."
这项试验的结果证实：是做决定本身而非可供选择的选项导致你脑筋疲惫。“当做决定时在头脑中存在有一个明确的过渡，无论决策者即刻或者此后按照此过渡行事。故此，单纯的选择行为可以导致精神疲劳。”“做一项决定实际上是很困难并且繁重的脑力劳动，因此决策者在决策时已经付出了私人代价” Vohs在新闻发布稿中如是说。
The findings are published in the April issue of Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
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作者:admin@医学,生命科学 2011-01-06 05:14
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