Part I
Professor: For decades, psychologists have been looking at our ability to perform tasks while other things are going on. How we're able to keep from being distracted and what the conditions for good concentration are. As long ago as 1982, researchers came up with something called the CFQ, the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire.
This questionnaire asks people to rate themselves according to how often they get distracted in different situations, like, um, forgetting to save a computer file because they had something else on their mind, or, missing a speed limit sign on the road, John?
Student: I've lost my share of computer files but not because I'm easily distracted. I just forget to save them.
Professor: And that's part of the problem with the CFQ. It doesn't take other factors into account enough like forgetfulness. Plus you really can't say you are getting objective scientific results from a subjective questionnaire where people report on themselves.
这份问卷要求人们根据他们在不同情况下分心的频率来给自己做出评估，比如，因为脑子里在想别的事而忘记保存电脑文件，或者在路上错过限速标志。
1. perform|pərˈfɔ:rm|
verb. to do sth, such as a piece of work, task or duty 做；履行；执行
E.g.: This operation has never been performed in this country.
这个国家从未做过这种手术。
2. cognitive |ˈkɒgnətɪv|
adj. connected with mental processes of understanding 认知的；感知的；认识的
E.g.: As children grow older, their cognitive processes become sharper.
孩子们越长越大，他们的认知过程变得更为敏锐。
3. questionnaire|ˌkwestʃəˈneə(r)|
noun. a written list of questions that are answered by a number of people so that information can be collected from the answers 调查表；问卷
E.g.: Headteachers will be asked to fill in a questionnaire.
校长们将被要求完成一份问卷调查。
4. rate |reɪt|
verb. to have or think that sb/sth has a particular level of quality, value, etc. 评定；评价；评级
E.g.: Voters continue to rate education high on their list of priorities.
选民继续把教育看作是头等重要的大事。
5. share |ʃeə(r)|
noun. if something is divided or distributed among a number of different people or things, each of them has, or is responsible for, a share of it (应得或应承担的)一份
E.g.: Everyone must accept their share of the blame.
每个人都必须承担自己那份责任。
6. objective |əbˈdʒektɪv|
adj. not influenced by personal feelings or opinions; considering only facts 客观的；就事论事的；不带个人感情的
E.g.: I find it difficult to be objective where he's concerned.
只要涉及他，我就难以做到保持客观。
7. subjective |səbˈdʒektɪv|
adj. based on your own ideas or opinions rather than facts and therefore sometimes unfair 主观的（非客观的）
E.g.: Everyone's opinion is bound to be subjective.
每个人的意见都必定是主观的。
Part II
So it's no surprise that someone attempted to design an objective way to measure distraction. It's a simple computer game designed by a psychologist named Nilli Lavie.
In Lavie's game, people watch as the letters “N” and “X” appear and disappear in a certain area on the computer screen. Everytime they see an N, they press one key and every time they see an X, they press another. Except other letters also start appearing in the surrounding area of the screen with increasing frequency which creates a distraction and makes the task more difficult. Lavie observed that people's reaction time slowed as these distractions increased.
Student: Well, that's not too surprising, is it?
Professor: No, it's not. It's the next part of the experiment that was surprising. When the difficulty really increased, when the screen filled up with letters, people got better at spotting the X's and N's. Why do you think that happened?
只是其他字母也开始以越来越高的频率出现在屏幕的周围区域，这会分散注意力并使任务变得更加困难。
1. letter |ˈletə(r)|
noun. a written or printed sign representing a sound used in speech 字母
E.g.: Write your name in capital/block letters.
用大写字母书写姓名。
2. except |ɪkˈsept|
conj. used before you mention sth that makes a statement not completely true 除了；只是
E.g.: Our dresses were the same except mine was red.
我们的连衣裙是一样的，只是我的那件是红色。
3. spot|spɑ:t|
verb. to see or notice a person or thing, especially suddenly or when it is not easy to do so 看见；看出；注意到；发现
E.g.: No one spotted that the gun was a fake.
没有人留意到那是一支假枪。
Part III
Student: Well, maybe when we're really concentrating, we just don't perceive irrelevant information, maybe we just don't take it in, you know?
Professor: Yes, and that's one of the hypotheses that was proposed, that the brain simply doesn't admit unimportant information. The second hypothesis is that, yes, we do perceive everything, but the brain categorizes the information, and whatever's not relevant to what we're concentrating on gets treated as low priority.
So Lavie did another experiment designed to look at this ability to concentrate better in the face of increased difficulty. This time, she used brain scanning equipment to monitor activity in a certain part of the brain. The area called V5, which is part of the visual cortex, the part of our brains that processes visual stimuli.
第二个假设是，我们确实感知到了一切，但是大脑对信息进行了分类，与我们所关注的不相关的内容被视作低优先级处理。
1. perceive|pəˈsi:v|
verb. to notice or become aware of sth 注意到；意识到；察觉到
E.g.: The patient was perceived to have difficulty in breathing.
发现病人呼吸困难。
2. admit |ədˈmɪt|
verb. to allow sb/sth to enter a place 准许…进入（某处）
E.g.: The narrow windows admit little light into the room.
窗户狭窄，只有少量光线可以照进房间。
3. in the face of sth
despite problems, difficulties, etc. 即使面对（问题、困难等）
E.g.: She showed great courage in the face of danger.
面对危险她表现出了巨大的勇气。
4. cortex |ˈkɔ:teks|
noun. the outer layer of an organ in the body, especially the brain 皮层；皮质；（尤指）大脑皮层
E.g.: the cerebral/renal cortex
大脑 / 肾皮层
5. stimulus |ˈstɪmjələs|
noun. something that produces a reaction in a human, an animal or a plant （使生物产生反应的）刺激，刺激物
E.g.: The animals were conditioned to respond to auditory stimuli (= sounds) .
经过训练，那些动物对声音形成了条件反射。
Part IV
V5 is the area of the visual cortex that's responsible for the sensation of movement. Once again, Lavie gave people a computer-based task to do. They had to distinguish between words in upper- and lower-cased letters; or even harder, they had to count the number of syllables in different words.
This time, the distraction was a moving star field in the background. You know, where it looks like you're moving through space passing stars? Normally, area V5 would be stimulated as those moving stars are perceived, and sure enough, Lavie found that during the task, area V5 was active, so people were aware of the moving star field. That means people were not blocking out the distraction.
Student: So doesn't that mean the first hypothesis you mentioned was wrong? The one that says we don't even perceive irrelevant information when we're concentrating?
这一次，分散注意力的是背景中移动的星场，就好像是你在宇宙中移动穿过好多星星那样。
1. sensation|senˈseɪʃn|
noun. the ability to feel through your sense of touch 感觉能力；知觉能力
E.g.: The pain was so bad that she lost all sensation.
太疼了，疼得她都失去了知觉。
2. -based
(in compounds 构成复合词) containing sth as an important part or feature 以…为重要部分（或特征）；以…为主
E.g.: a class-based society
以阶级为特征的社会
3. upper case
noun. capital letters (= the large form of letters, for example A, B, C rather than a, b, c) 大写字母
E.g.: Headings should be in upper case.
标题应该大写。
lower case
noun. (in printing and writing 印刷和书写) small letters 小写字体
E.g.: The text is all in lower case.
正文一律用小写字体。
4. syllable |ˈsɪləbl|
noun. any of the units into which a word is divided, containing a vowel sound and usually one or more consonants 音节
E.g.: ‘Potato ’ is stressed on the second syllable.
potato一词的重音在第二个音节上。
5. stimulate |ˈstɪmjuleɪt|
verb. if something stimulates a part of a person's body, it causes it to move or start working 刺激(身体部位);使活跃
E.g.: The production of melanin in the skin is stimulated by exposure to the sun.
皮肤暴露在阳光下就很容易生成黑色素。
Part V
Professor: Yes, that's right, up to a point, but that's not all. Lavie also discovered that as she made the task more difficult, V5 became less active. So that means that now people weren't really noticing the star field at all. That was quite a surprise! And it proved that the second hypothesis, that we do perceive everything all the time but the brain categorizes distractions differently, well, that wasn't true either.
Lavie thinks the solution lies in the brain's ability to accept or ignore visual information. She thinks its capacity is limited. It's like a highway: when there are too many cars, traffic is stopped. No one can get on. So when the brain is loaded to capacity, no new distractions can be perceived.
Now, that maybe the correct conclusion for visual distractions, but more research is needed to tell us how the brain deals with, say, the distractions of solving a math problem when we're hungry, or when someone is singing in the next room.
因此，当大脑加载到最大容量时，就不会感知到新的干扰了。
1. up to a point
to some extent; to some degree but not completely 在某种程度上
E.g.: I agree with you up to a point.
我在某种程度上同意你的看法。
2. solution |səˈlu:ʃn|
noun. an answer to a puzzle or to a problem in mathematics 答案；解；谜底
E.g.: The solution to last week's quiz is on page 81.
上星期测验的答案在第81页。
3. capacity |kəˈpæsəti|
noun. the number of things or people that a container or space can hold 容量；容积；容纳能力
E.g.: The hall was filled to capacity (= was completely full) .
大厅内座无虚席。
4. say |seɪ|
verb. to suggest or give sth as an example or a possibility 比方说；假设
E.g.: Say you lose your job: what would you do then?
假设你把工作丢了，那你怎么办呢？
10个月宝宝每天需要喝多少奶粉？
