雙語·檢索：訪問大腦中的記憶

Retrieval: Accessing Memories in Your Brain
檢索：訪問大腦中的記憶

Retrieval is the mechanism of accessing information stored in memory. Successful retrieval of a memory trace hinges on its associations with cues. A cue is anything that is connected to the memory trace (physical object, situation, time period, word, question). Scientists believe that memories are retrieved through the process of ‘spreading activation’. Once a cue is activated in the brain, the activation spreads from the cue to the target memory. A single memory trace can be connected to an infinite number of cues. If none of the relevant cues is activated, the memory trace cannot be retrieved, even though it may be well stored in memory.
檢索是訪問記憶中存儲信息的機制。記憶痕跡的成功檢索取決于它與線索的聯(lián)系。線索指的是與記憶痕跡相聯(lián)系的任何事物（可以是有形的物體、情境、時間段、單詞、問題）。科學家認為，記憶是通過“激活擴散”的過程來檢索的。當一個線索在大腦中被激活以后，激活信號就會從線索傳遞到目標記憶。一個記憶痕跡可以與無數(shù)線索相連。如果任何相關(guān)的線索都沒有被激活，那么即使完好無缺地存儲在記憶中，對應的記憶痕跡也無法被檢索到。

As an example, try to remember the capitals of the following countries while covering the rest of the page:
例如，蓋住本頁的其余部分，試著回想下列國家的首都：

·South Korea
·韓國

·Syria
·敘利亞

·Denmark
·丹麥

·Colombia
·哥倫比亞

·Afghanistan
·阿富汗

·Thailand
·泰國

·Venezuela
·委內(nèi)瑞拉

·Turkey
·土耳其

Could you remember all of the capitals? Do you feel that you know their names and may be able to remember them later? You may be experiencing the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon: you know that you know something but still can't remember it. Now try the same exercise with a little help:
你能想起所有這些首都嗎？有沒有感到自己知道它們的名字，也許過會兒就能想起來？你或許也遇到過這種就在嘴邊卻說不出來的現(xiàn)象：你知道自己知道某件事，但依然無法想起來。下面試著在一點小幫助下再做同樣的練習：

·South Korea S
·韓國　首

·Syria D
·敘利亞　大

·Denmark C
·丹麥　哥

·Colombia B
·哥倫比亞　波

·Afghanistan K
·阿富汗　喀

·Thailand B
·泰國　曼

·Venezuela C
·委內(nèi)瑞拉　加

·Turkey A
·土耳其　安

Did you remember all of them now? You most likely remembered more of them. This is because the starting letter functions as a suitable cue that is connected to the capital's name. When the cue is provided, the memory trace storing the capital's name becomes automatically activated.
現(xiàn)在你記起它們了嗎？很可能這回記起了更多，因為第一個字就是一個合適的線索，關(guān)聯(lián)到首都的名稱。提供了這個線索后，存儲首都名稱的記憶痕跡自動就被激活了。

How does the process of retrieval function and what are its implications for learning? What can we do to maximize our chances of successfully retrieving information?
檢索記憶的過程是如何工作的？對于學習又有什么啟示呢？我們能夠做些什么來盡可能增加成功檢索信息的幾率呢？

——節(jié)選自《記憶的科學》