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_本文原题：双语泛读丨信息碎片化的时代，如何提升记忆力？

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When the sum total of human knowledge rests an arm’s length away in each person’s pocket, why do we have to remember anything anymore?
当全人类的知识都被装在每个人的口袋里、唾手可得的时候，我们为什么非得再费心去记任何东西？
On an average day most of us check our smartphones 47 times, and nearly double that if we’re between the ages of 18 and 24, which might explain why some of us have such a hard time processing the information we take in to form memories. Smartphones alter the way we way walk, talk and think, and we’re barely keeping up.
平时，我们大多数人每天会查看智能手机47次，年龄在18岁至24岁之间的人次数几乎会多出一倍。这或许可以解释，我们中的一些人为什么会觉得，处理自己吸收进来的信息并形成记忆这件事如此困难。智能手机改变了我们走路、交谈、思考的方式，而我们难以跟上。
“Everything is available through a Google search almost instantaneously, so what motive do you have to store useless info?” said Joseph LeDoux, who directs New York University’s Emotional Brain Institute.
“通过谷歌搜索引擎几乎可以立即搜到一切，那你还有什么动力去储存无用的信息？”纽约大学(New York University)情绪脑研究所(Emotional Brain Institute)所长约瑟夫·勒杜(Joseph LeDoux)说。
Mr. LeDoux, whose work focuses on how the brain forms memories, said this instant-fact setup clouds our judgment on what information to filter and store. Since we’re no longer weighed down by having to retain trivial data, we are left with greater cognitive space. But how do we select what we remember?
致力于研究大脑如何形成记忆的勒杜（LeDoux）说，这种即时的设置搅乱了我们的判断，不知该过滤和储存哪些信息。由于不再因为必须保留琐碎的数据而不堪重负，我们有了更大的认知空间。但我们该如何选择，什么样的东西才是应当记住的？
He said there are two main kinds of memories: explicit, which are created through conscious experience, and implicit, which form when past experiences affect us, sometimes without our knowledge, as in reacting with fear in dangerous situations or getting sweaty palms when you see a dog if you were once bitten.
勒杜说，记忆主要分为两种：一种是外显记忆，它通过意识体验形成；另一种是内隐记忆，在过去的经历影响我们之时形成，有时候内隐记忆的形成是不知不觉的——比如在情况危急时做出惊恐的反应，或者如果你被狗咬过，看到狗时手心就会出汗。
Memory is a fallible thing, changing over time. Recalling a long-term memory brings it back into our short-term memory, which essentially gives it new context. Memory is therefore a reconstruction, not a photographic recording, and for economic purposes, our brains — unlike computers — are forever rerecording those memories, making them far more error prone.
记忆是一种容易出错的东西，会随着时间的推移而改变。回忆的时候，长期记忆回到我们的短期记忆之中，这其实是给了它新的关联。因此记忆是一种重新构造的过程，而不是用照片把事情记录下来；分页标题【and|双语泛读丨信息碎片化的时代，如何提升记忆力？】而且，出于合算的目的，我们的大脑——不同于计算机——会一直重新记录这些记忆，从而让记忆更加容易出错。
“Many people seem unaware that they might accomplish more with sustained, uninterrupted attention to one task,” said Nelson Cowan, a working memory specialist at the University of Missouri. “It can be exhilarating to flit from one conversation to another on Facebook, but people don’t realize what’s missing in the process. It’s like having a delicious soup poured on your head. Often the people who think they’re the best at sharing attention between tasks are actually missing the most.”
“很多人似乎都没意识到，如果不受干扰地持续专注于一项任务，他们可能会取得更好的成果， ”密苏里大学(University of Missouri)工作记忆专家纳尔逊·考恩(Nelson Cowan)说。 “在Facebook上从一场对话跳到另一场对话会令人兴奋不已，但人们没有意识到在此过程中失去了什么。这就好像一道美味的汤被洒在头上。自认为最善于同时关注不同任务的人，其实常常漏掉很多东西。 ”
They’re both right, but there are still things we can do to improve our memories.
他们俩都是对的，但我们还是可以采取一些行动来改善记忆。
Repeat After Me
重复温习
As simple as it sounds, the repetition of tasks — reading, or saying words over and over — continues to be the best method for transforming short-term memories into long-term ones. To do that, we have to retrain our minds to focus on one task at a time. Sadly, most bypass this formula because we’re already convinced we’re productive.
和听起来一样简单，重复执行任务——一遍又一遍地阅读单词或将其念出声——仍然是把短期记忆转化为长期记忆的最佳途径。这样做的时候，我们必须保持注意力的集中，每次执行一项任务。可悲的是，我们大多数人都忽略了这一准则，因为我们已然相信自己可以一心多用。
New connections are made in your brain when you learn. To remember what you learn, do what you probably did in your youth: Repeat words, thoughts and ideas over and over until you get them right. It’s the easiest brain game there is.
学习的时候，新的连接会在你的大脑中形成。要记住学的东西，就得做你年少时大约做过的事情：反复记单词，反复琢磨一些想法和观念，直到完全记牢。这是最简单的大脑游戏。
Take Your Time
慢慢来
Forget cramming. It didn’t work in college, it doesn’t work now. Spaced repetition might be the best way.
忘了临时抱佛脚吧。它在大学里没管用过，现在也不管用。间隔式重复或许最好的记忆法。
Robert Bjork, the chair of U.C.L.A.’s psychology department, said that quickly stuffing facts into our brains leads us to forget them in the long term (he even filmed a YouTube video series on the subject). When you rehearse knowledge and practice it often, it sticks, research has shown. So if you can incorporate what you’re trying to remember into daily life, ideally over time, your chances of retaining it drastically improve.
加州大学洛杉矶分校(UCLA)心理系主任罗伯特·比约克(Robert Bjork)说，快速把信息塞进大脑的结果是，时间一长我们就会忘记它们（他甚至就这一问题制作了一则视频，发在YouTube上）。研究显示，如果你经常温习或练习一些知识，就会将其记得很牢。因此，从理论上来说，如果你能把试图记住的东西融入自己的日常生活，那么假以时日，你记住它们的概率会大幅提升。分页标题
But once you stop rehearsing that knowledge, the retention drops profoundly. Researchers call this the “forgetting curve.”
但你一旦停止温习那些知识，记住的概率便会大幅下降。研究人员称之为“遗忘曲线” 。
To get past it, space out your repetition over a few days and test the effect yourself. But be careful: Spacing out sessions or scheduling them too concurrently seem to slow gains, so find a healthy medium that works. This is a good way to effectively start tackling a new language.
要解决这一问题，你应该每隔几天进行一次重复记忆，并自行测试其效果。不过请当心：间隔期太长或太短似乎都见效缓慢，因此得找出一个行得通的适中的间隔期。这是有效地开始处理新知识的好方法。