We’re fairly good at judging people based on first impressions, thin slices of experience ranging from a glimpse of a photo to a five-minute interaction, and deliberation can be not only extraneous but intrusive. In one study of the ability she dubbed “thin slicing”, the late psychologist Nalini Ambady asked participants to watch silent 10-second video clips of professors and to rate the instructor’s overall effectiveness. Their ratings correlated strongly with students’ end-of-semester ratings. Another set of participants had to count backward from 1,000 by nines as they watched the clips, occupying their conscious working memory. Their ratings were just as accurate, demonstrating the intuitive nature of the social processing.
Critically, another group was asked to spend a minute writing down reasons for their judgment, before giving the rating. Accuracy dropped dramatically. Ambady suspected that deliberation focused them on vivid but misleading cues, such as certain gestures or utterances, rather than letting the complex interplay of subtle signals form a holistic impression. She found similar interference when participants watched 15-second clips of pairs of people and judged whether they were strangers, friends, or dating partners.
Other research shows we’re better at detecting deception and sexual orientation from thin slices when we rely on intuition instead of reflection. “It’s as if you’re driving a stick shift,” says Judith Hall, a psychologist at Northeastern University, “and if you start thinking about it too much, you can’t remember what you’re doing. But if you go on automatic pilot, you’re fine. Much of our social life is like that.”
Thinking too much can also harm our ability to form preferences. College students’ ratings of strawberry jams and college courses aligned better with experts’ opinions when the students weren’t asked to analyze their rationale. And people made car-buying decisions that were both objectively better and more personally satisfying when asked to focus on their feelings rather than on details, but only if the decision was complex—when they had a lot of information to process.
Intuition’s special powers are unleashed only in certain circumstances. In one study, participants completed a battery of eight tasks, including four that tapped reflective thinking (discerning rules, comprehending vocabulary) and four that tapped intuition and creativity (generating new products or figures of speech). Then they rated the degree to which they had used intuition (“gut feelings,” “hunches,” “my heart”). Use of their gut hurt their performance on the first four tasks, as expected, and helped them on the rest. Sometimes the heart is smarter than the head.
1. Nalini Ambaby’s study deals with _____.
2. In Ambaby’s study, rating accuracy dropped when participants _____.
3. Judith Hall mentions driving to mention that _____.
4. When you are making complex decisions, it is advisable to _____.
5. What can we learn from the last paragraph?
问题1选项
A.instructor-students interaction
B.the power of people’s memory
C.the reliability of first impressions
D.people’s ability to influence others
问题2选项
A.gave the rating in limited time
B.focused on specific details
C.watched shorter video clips
D.discussed with one another
问题3选项
A.memory can be selective
B.reflection can be distracting
C.social skills must be cultivated
D.deception is difficult to detect
问题4选项
A.follow your feelings
B.list your preferences
C.seek expert advice
D.collect enough data
问题5选项
A.Generating new products takes time.
B.Intuition may affect reflective tasks.
C.Vocabulary comprehension needs creativity.
D.Objective thinking may boost intuitiveness.
第1题:C
第2题:B
第3题:B
第4题:A
第5题:B
第1题:
【选项释义】
Nalini Ambaby’s study deals with _____. 纳里尼•安巴迪的研究涉及_____。
A. instructor-students interaction A. 老师学生互动
B. the power of people’s memory B. 人们记忆的力量
C. the reliability of first impressions C. 第一印象的可靠性
D. people’s ability to influence others D. 人们影响他人的能力
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干定位到原文第一段一、二句“我们很擅长根据第一印象(first impressions)来判断一个人(judging people),从瞥一眼(a glimpse)照片到五分钟的互动,这些是薄片式的经验(thin slices of experience),而深思熟虑不仅是无关紧要的,而且是侵入性的。已故心理学家纳里尼•安巴迪(Nalini Ambady)在一项被她称为‘薄片撷取’的能力研究中,要求参与者观看教授们10秒的无声视频片段,并对老师的整体效率进行评估”,由此可知,纳里尼•安巴迪的研究涉及的是第一印象的可靠性,选项C符合。
【干扰项排除】
A、B、D选项原文没有提及,属于无中生有。
第2题:
【选项释义】
In Ambaby’s study, rating accuracy dropped when participants _____. 在安巴迪的研究中,当参与者_____时,评分准确度下降。
A. gave the rating in limited time A. 在有限的时间内给出了评级
B. focused on specific details B. 专注于具体细节
C. watched shorter video clips C. 观看较短的视频片段
D. discussed with one another D. 与另一个人讨论
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干定位到第二段二、三句“准确性大幅下降(Accuracy dropped dramatically)。安巴迪怀疑,他们的深思熟虑(deliberation)将注意力集中在生动但具有误导性的线索上,比如某些手势或话语,而不是让微妙信号的复杂相互作用形成整体印象”,说明在安巴迪的研究中,当参与者将注意力集中在细节上时,评分的准确性会下降。选项B符合原文。
【干扰项排除】
A、C、D选项原文没有提及,属于无中生有。
第3题:
【选项释义】
Judith Hall mentions driving to mention that _____. 朱迪斯•霍尔提到开车是为了说_____。
A. memory can be selective A. 记忆是有选择性的
B. reflection can be distracting B. 沉思会分散注意力
C. social skills must be cultivated C. 社交技能必须培养
D. deception is difficult to detect D. 欺骗是很难察觉的
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干定位到第三段“另一项研究表明,当我们依靠直觉而不是沉思时(intuition instead of reflection),更能从薄片式信息中检测出欺骗和性取向。东北大学心理学家朱迪斯•霍尔说:‘这就好像你在开手动档车,当你开始想太多时,你就不记得自己在做什么了。但如果你选择自动挡就会没事。我们的大部分社交生活都是这样的。’”,这里霍尔提到开车是为了说明“沉思会分散注意力”,选项B符合。
【干扰项排除】
A、C、D选项原文没有提及,属于无中生有。
第4题:
【选项释义】
When you are making complex decisions, it is advisable to _____. 当你在做复杂的决定时,_____是明智的。
A. follow your feelings A. 跟着你的感觉
B. list your preferences B. 列出你的偏好
C. seek expert advice C. 寻求专家建议
D. collect enough data D. 收集足够的数据
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干定位到第四段第三句“当人们被要求把注意力集中在他们的感觉(focus on their feelings)而不是细节上时,他们做出的买车决定在客观上更好也更能满足个人需求,但只有当决定很复杂(the decision was complex),需要处理大量信息的时候才是如此”,由此可知,当你在做复杂的决定时,最好将注意力集中在感觉上,跟着感觉走,选项A符合。
【干扰项排除】
B、C、D选项原文没有提及,属于无中生有。
第5题:
【选项释义】
What can we learn from the last paragraph? 我们可以从最后一段中学到什么?
A. Generating new products takes time. A. 生产新产品需要时间。
B. Intuition may affect reflective tasks. B. 直觉可能会影响反思任务。
C. Vocabulary comprehension needs creativity. C. 词汇理解需要创造力。
D. Objective thinking may boost intuitiveness. D. 客观思维可以增强直觉。
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】由题干可以定位到最后一段倒数第二句“正如预期的那样,使用直觉(gut)会影响他们在前四项任务中的表现,而在其余的任务中则会有所帮助”前四项任务指的是反思性思维的任务,说明参与者在完成利用反思性思维的任务时会受到直觉的影响。因此B选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
A、C、D选项原文没有提及,属于无中生有。