Part I
Professor: We’ve said that the term “cognition” refers to mental states like knowing and believing, and to mental processes we use to arrive at those states. So, for example, reasoning is a cognitive process, so is perception. We use information that we perceive through our senses to help us make decisions, to arrive atbeliefs and so on.
And then there are memory and imagination which relate to the knowledge of things that happen in the past or may happen in the future. So, perceiving, remembering, imagining are all internal mental processes that lead to knowing or believing. Yet, each of these processes has limitations and can lead us to hold mistaken beliefs or make false predictions.
我们已经说过，“认知”一词指的是诸如知道和相信之类的心理状态，以及我们用来达到这些心理状态的心理过程。
因此，感知、记忆、想象都是致使我们知道或相信的内在心理过程。然而，这些过程每一个都有局限性，并可能导致我们持有错误的信念或做出错误的预判。
1. cognition|kɒgˈnɪʃn|
noun. the process by which knowledge and understanding is developed in the mind 认知；感知；认识
E.g.: processes of perception and cognition
感觉和认知过程
2. arrive at sth
to decide on or find sth, especially after discussion and thought 达成（协议）；作出（决议等）；得出（结论等）
E.g.: to arrive at the truth
找到真理
3. reasoning|ˈri:zənɪŋ|
noun. the process of thinking about things in a logical way; opinions and ideas that are based on logical thinking 推想；推理；理性的观点；论证
E.g.: She was not really convinced by this line of reasoning.
这样的分析论证实际上并没有让她信服。
4. perceive |pəˈsi:v|
verb. to notice or become aware of sth 注意到；意识到；察觉到
E.g.: I perceived a change in his behaviour.
我注意到他举止有些改变。
Part II
Take memory for example, maybe you’ve heard of studies in which people hear a list of related words. Um, let’s say a list of different kinds of fruit, after hearing this list, they’re presented with several additional words. In this case, we’ll say the additional words were “blanket” and “cherry”. Neither of these words was on the original list. And while people will claim correctly that “blanket” was not on the original list, they’ll also claim incorrectly that the word “cherry” was on the list.
Most people are convinced they heard the word “cherry” on the original list. Why did they make such a simple mistake? Well, we think because the words on the list were so closely related, the brain stored only the gist of what it heard. For example, that all the items on the list were types of fruit. When we tap our memory, our brains often fill in details and quite often these details are actually false.
虽然人们会正确地声称“毯子”不在原始列表中，但他们也会错误地声称“樱桃”这个词在列表中。
1. related |rɪˈleɪtɪd|
adj. belonging to the same group 属于同一种类的；同一组别的
E.g.: The llama is related to the camel.
美洲驼和骆驼是近亲物种。
2. blanket|ˈblæŋkɪt|
noun. a large cover, often made of wool, used especially on beds to keep people warm 毯子；毛毯
E.g.: There's an extra blanket in the bottom drawer of the cupboard.
壁橱最下面的抽屉里还有一条多余的毯子。
3. gist|dʒɪst|
noun. the main or general meaning of a piece of writing, a speech or a conversation 要点；主旨；大意
E.g.: He related the gist of his conversation to Naseby.
他将他谈话的要点告诉了纳斯比。
4. tap |tæp|
verb. to make use of a source of energy, knowledge, etc. that already exists 利用，开发，发掘（已有的资源、知识等）
E.g.: The movie seems to tap into a general sentimentality about animals.
这部电影似乎在激发人们对动物的普遍怜惜之情。
Part III
We also see this fill-in phenomenon with perception. Perception is the faculty that allows us to process information in the present, as we take it in via our senses. Again, studies have shown that people will fill in information that they thought they perceived even when they didn’t.
For example, experiments have been done where a person hears a sentence but that’s missing the word that logically completes it. They’ll claim to hear that word even though it was never said. So, if I were to say, uh, “The Sun rises in the” and then fail to complete the sentence. People will often claim to have heard the word “east”.
例如，有人做过这样的实验，让一个人听一个句子，但省去了逻辑上完成这个句子的单词。
1. faculty|ˈfæklti|
noun. any of the physical or mental abilities that a person is born with 官能；能力
E.g.: She retained her mental faculties (= the ability to think and understand) until the day she died.
她直到临终那天一直保持着思维和理解能力。
2. via |ˈvaɪə|
prep. by means of a particular person, system, etc. 通过，凭借（某人、系统等）
E.g.: The bullet missed its intended target.
子弹未击中预定的目标。
3. were
were is sometimes used instead of 'was' in certain structures, for example in conditional clauses or after the verb 'wish' （有时代替 was，用于条件从句、动词 wish 之后等）
E.g.: He told a diplomat that he might withdraw if he were allowed to keep part of a disputed oil field.
他告诉一名外交官，如果允许他保留一个有争议油田的一部分，他可能就会撤兵。
Part IV
In Cognitive Psychology, we have a phrase for this kind of inaccurate filling-in of details. It’s called a blind spot. The term originally refer to the place in our eyes where the optic nerve connects the back of the eye to the brain. There are no photo receptors in the area where the nerve connects to the eye. So that particular area of the eye is incapable of detecting images. It produces a blind spot in our field of vision. We aren’t aware of it because the brain fills in what it thinks belongs in the image, so the picture always appears complete to us.
But the term blind spot has also taken on a more general meaning. It refers to people being unaware of a bias that may affect their judgment about a subject. And the same blind spot phenomenon that affects memory and perception also affects imagination. Imagination is a faculty that some people use to anticipate future events in their lives. But the ease with which we imagine details can lead to unrealistic expectations and can bias our decisions.
我们没有意识到这一点，是因为大脑自动填充了它认为属于图像的一部分内容，所以整个图像对我们来说总是完整的。
但是，我们对细节的轻松想象可能会导致不切实际的期望，并可能使我们的决定产生偏差。
1. blind spot
a blind spot is an area in your range of vision that you cannot see properly but which you really should be able to see. For example, when you are driving a car, the area just behind your shoulders is often a blind spot. （视线内的）盲点，看不到的地方，死角
2. optic|ˈɒptɪk|
adj. connected with the eye or the sense of sight 眼的；视觉的
E.g.: The reason for this is that the optic nerve is a part of the brain.
这其中的原因在于视神经是大脑的一部分。
3. receptor|rɪˈseptə(r)|
noun. a sense organ or nerve ending in the body that reacts to changes such as heat or cold and makes the body react in a particular way 感受器；受体
E.g.: the information receptors in our brain
我们大脑里的信息感受器
4. detect |dɪˈtekt|
verb. to discover or notice sth, especially sth that is not easy to see, hear, etc. 发现；查明；侦察出
E.g.: an instrument that can detect small amounts of radiation
能检测微量辐射的仪器
5. take on
to begin to have a particular quality, appearance, etc. 呈现，具有（特征、外观等）
E.g.: The chameleon can take on the colours of its background.
变色龙可以变成周围环境的颜色。
6. bias |ˈbaɪəs|
noun. a strong feeling in favour of or against one group of people, or one side in an argument, often not based on fair judgement 偏见；偏心；偏向
E.g.: Employers must consider all candidates impartially and without bias.
雇主必须公平而毫无成见地考虑所有求职者。
7. ease |i:z|
noun. lack of difficulty 容易；轻易；不费劲
E.g.: The ease with which she learns languages is astonishing.
她学习语言之轻松令人惊讶。
Part V
So, um, Peter, suppose I ask you to imagine a lunch salad, no problem, right? But I bet you’d imagine specific ingredients. Did yours have tomatoes? Onion? Lettuce? Mine did. Our brains fill in all sorts of details that might not be part of other people’s image of a salad, which could lead to disappointment for us. If the next time we order a salad in a restaurant we have our imagined salad in mind that’s not necessarily what we’ll get on our plate.
The problem is not that we imagine things but that we assume what we’ve imagined is accurate. We should be aware that our imagination has this built-in feature “the blind spot”, which makes our predictions fall short of reality.
问题不在于我们会想象一些东西，而在于我们总假设我们想象的东西是正确的。
1. lettuce 生菜; eggplant 茄子; cabbage 卷心菜; celery 芹菜; coriander 香菜; leek 韭菜; ginger 姜; sweet potato 红薯; asparagus 芦笋; spinach 菠菜; spring onion 葱; garlic 蒜
2. built-in
adj. included as part of sth and not separate from it 是…的组成部分的；嵌入式的；内置的
E.g.: modern cameras with built-in flash units
有内置闪光灯的新式相机
3. fall short of
to fail to reach the standard that you expected or need 未达到；不符合
E.g.: The hotel fell far short of their expectations.
旅馆远没有他们预期的那么好。
10个月宝宝每天需要喝多少奶粉？
