閉上眼睛可提高記憶力

If you can’t remember your PIN number, try closing your eyes.

如果你忘記了你的密碼，試一下閉上你的眼睛。

Experiments show that recall is boosted when we shut out the outside world.

實驗結果表明，當我們閉上眼睛不關注外面世界的時候，我們的記憶力會被提高。

It is thought that blocking out distractions frees up the necessary brainpower to remember things. Psychologists from the University of Surrey put the theory to test by showing almost 200 men and women short films and asking them a series of questions about what they had seen.

阻斷干擾被認爲可以釋放必要的腦力去記憶事情。來自塞瑞大學的心理學家爲證明這個理論進行了如下實驗：通過給大約200名男性和女性展示一些短片並問他們一系列關於他們看到了什麼的問題。

The first film clip was silent and showed an electrician stealing as he carried out jobs in a house.

第一個短片是無聲的，可以看到一名電工在一個住宅內工作時正在偷竊。

The volunteers then answered a series of questions about what they had seen – and half of them did this with their eyes closed. Those whose eyes were open got just 48 per cent of the answers right on average – a score much lower than the 71 per cent achieved by those who had shut their eyes.

然後參加實驗的志願者回答了一系列關於他們看到什麼的問題——其中有一半人是閉着眼睛回憶的。那些睜開眼睛去回憶的志願者只有48%的回答正確率，與那些閉着眼睛回憶的志願者的71%的回答正確率相比，實在低了許多。

Having built up a rapport with the questioner boosted scores further.

和被提問者建立了融洽的關係後，回答正確分數將會進一步提高。

The second film clip came from the BBC series Crimewatch and included sound as well as images.

而第二個短片則來自英國廣播公司系列犯罪影片，既由聲音也有圖像，同樣證實了結論。

Closing eyes boosted recall of facts heard and seen.

閉上眼睛的確加強了對所聽到和所看到的事實的記憶。

It had been argued that the technique improves memory by allowing people to build a detailed mental image of the thing they are trying to recall.

一直在爭論，這項技術通過讓人們對他們所記憶的東西建立一個詳細的幻想的來改善記憶。

The finding that the trick also made it easier to remember auditory information shows this is not the only explanation.

對這個訣竅也更容易讓人記住聽覺信息的發現顯示這並不是唯一的解釋。

Researcher Robert Nash said it is likely that those who shut their eyes also benefit from blocking out distractions.

研究員羅伯特·納什說可能這是因爲那些閉上眼睛的人受益於屏蔽干擾。警察一直鼓勵證人作證時閉上眼睛試圖記住犯罪的細節。

He said that police forces have long been aware of the benefits of asking eyewitnesses to shut their eyes during interviews.

他說，警察早就意識到這個的訣竅，並在面談時要求目擊者閉上他們的眼睛。

His study, published in the journal Legal and Criminological Psychology, suggests that police will glean even more information if they build up a rapport with the interviewee.

他的研究發表在《法律與犯罪學的心理學》 ，建議如果警方與受訪者建立融洽的關係，將收集更多的信息。

Dr Nash believes that a simple closing of the eyes will also be of benefit in everyday situations, such as recalling pin numbers and remembering shopping lists.

納什博士認爲，閉上眼睛這一簡單的行爲在日常生活中也將受益,如回憶密碼和記住購物清單。

And while his experiment involved quizzing people shortly after they’d watched a film, other studies suggest that closing eyes can boost recall of events that date back several years.

雖然他的實驗只涉及了志願者看了短片不久後就向他們提問，但其他的研究表明，閉上眼睛可以增強對幾年前的事情的回憶。