為什么困惑可能對你有好處

為什么困惑可能對你有好處

The headline for this article may leave you a little, well, confused.

這篇文章的標題可能會讓你有點困惑。

After all, we've long associated the mental stutter that occurs when we don't understand something to be a shortcoming, a glitch in our central processing unit. Or worse, confusion could mark serious cognitive decline, perhaps even a disease-related impairment.

畢竟，我們很長時間以來都認為，當我們不明白某件事是缺點，是中央處理器的一個小故障時，就會出現精神上的口吃。更糟的是，困惑可能標志著嚴重的認知能力下降，甚至可能是疾病相關的損害。

Depending on how open we are to a little confusion, it can spur the mind to understand a difficult concept. (Photo: ImageFlow/Shutterstock)

You're probably OK. In fact, according to a new study, it isn't so much about being confused, but how we respond to that feeling that matters.

你沒有問題。事實上，根據一項新的研究，這并不是關于困惑，而是我們如何應對這種感覺。

The study, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, suggests some people make confusion work for them — prompting them to learn more about something they don't initially understand.

這項發(fā)表在《人格與社會心理學雜志》上的研究表明，有些人讓困惑為他們服務——促使他們去學習更多他們最初不理解的東西。

Others, on the other hand, react to confusion by turning away from the subject completely.

另一方面，另一些人對困惑的反應則是完全避開這個話題。

It all comes down to how people respond to feelings of uncertainty and bewilderment, the research suggests.

研究表明，這完全取決于人們如何應對不確定和困惑的感覺。

Reacting to confusion

應對困惑

What's your response when faced with befuddlement? (Photo: Peshkova/Shutterstock)

To test their theory, University of Notre Dame researchers invited test subjects to learning sessions that involved a complex idea. Then they intentionally ratcheted up the confusion — and monitored participants' reactions.

為了驗證他們的理論，圣母大學的研究人員邀請實驗對象參加涉及復雜概念的學習課程。然后他們故意加劇這種困惑，并觀察參與者的反應。

Or, in the appropriately bewildering language of the study, "Confusion was experimentally induced via a contradictory-information manipulation involving the animated agents expressing incorrect and/or contradictory opinions and asking the (human) learners to decide which opinion had more scientific merit."

或者，用研究中適當的令人困惑的語言來說，“通過一種矛盾信息的操作，通過實驗引起了混淆，這涉及到動畫代理表達不正確和/或矛盾的觀點，并要求(人類)學習者決定哪種觀點更有科學價值。”

Got that? Yeah, same here.

明白了嗎?是的,我也一樣。

It's the kind of language that separates confused people into two groups: the learn-more-about-it kind and the not-today-thanks kind.

這種語言把困惑的人分成兩類:“多學點”類和“不要今天就說謝謝”類。

To make matters murkier, the scientists ensured there was a fundamental contradiction in each of the scientific models discussed in case studies.

更糟糕的是，科學家們確信案例研究中討論的每一個科學模型都存在根本的矛盾。

At the end of each discussion, participants were tested on their understanding of the subject. Interestingly, people who had reported higher rates of confusion were also better able to grasp the subject — and identify the scientific contradictions.

每次討論結束時，參與者都要接受對主題理解程度的測試。有趣的是，那些報告有較高困惑率的人也能更好地掌握主題——并識別科學上的矛盾。

Essentially, they had a positive reaction to confusion, using it as a motivation to wrap their heads around a subject. For them, confusion was a preface to learning something new.

從本質上講，他們對困惑有積極的反應，把它作為一種動機來圍繞一個主題進行思考。對他們來說，困惑是學習新事物的序幕。

They demonstrated what behavioral scientist Nick Hobson describes as a high degree of openness.

他們展示了行為科學家尼克·霍布森所描述的高度開放性。

"Openness is associated with the experience of immersion, absorption and wonderment," he writes in The Behaviorist. "Individuals higher in openness are fascinated by complex situations and tend to have more nuanced experiences. It is characterized by a greater tolerance of ambiguity."

他在《行為主義者》中寫道:“開放與沉浸、專注和驚奇的體驗有關。”“開放度較高的人會被復雜的情況所吸引，往往會有更多微妙的經歷。它的特點是對歧義有更大的容忍度。”

There is, however, an important caveat. D'Mello cautions against deliberately sowing confusion in the context of learning. People already struggling to understand a concept — especially one that they're under pressure to understand — may not benefit from the added confusion.

然而，有一個重要的警告。德梅洛警告說，不要在學習的過程中故意制造困惑。人們已經在努力理解一個概念——尤其是他們在壓力下要理解的概念——可能不會從額外的困惑中受益。

Instead, confusion may work best for people who are actually looking for a challenge and don't face consequences for taking a chance to learn something new.

相反，對于那些正在尋找挑戰(zhàn)的人來說，困惑可能是最好的解決方法，而且他們也不會因為嘗試學習新東西而面臨后果。

Those would be the intellectual risk-takers who are spurred on, rather than dissuaded by feelings of confusion. And perhaps even those who find themselves right here at this very moment. Congratulations on following up on your initial confusion.

這些人是智力上敢于冒險的人，他們會受到困惑感的激勵，而不是勸阻。甚至是那些此時此刻發(fā)現自己就處在困惑中的人。祝賀你在最初的困惑中堅持了下來。