经济学人245:诚实是需要时间的

 　　Science and technology

　　科学技术

　　The psychology¹ of morality

　　道德心理学

　　Time to be honest

　　诚实是需要时间的

　　A simple experiment suggests a way to encourage truthfulness²

　　一个简单的实验却为我们提供了一种鼓励诚实的途径

　　IS SIN original?

　　人性本恶？

　　That is the question addressed by Shaul Shalvi, a psychologist at the University of Amsterdam, in a paper just published in Psychological Science.

　　这是由阿姆斯特丹大学的一位心理学家-Shaul Shalvi，在《心理科学》杂志上发表的一篇论文中所提出的问题。

　　Dr Shalvi and his colleagues, Ori Eldar and Yoella Bereby-Meyer of Ben-Gurion University in Israel, wanted to know if the impulse to cheat is something that grows or diminishes when the potential cheater has time for reflection on his actions.

　　Shalvi博士和他的两位同事-以色列Ben-Gurion大学的Ori Eldar 和 Yoella Bereby-Meyer，希望知道如果那些潜在的骗子有时间对他们的行为作出充分考虑，他们撒谎的冲动会否因此增强或减弱呢？

　　Is cheating, in other words, instinctive³ or calculating?

　　换句话说，撒谎究竟是人的一种本能行为，还是经过仔细分析后所作出的选择呢？

　　Appropriately, the researchers apparatus⁴ for their experiment was that icon⁵ of sinful activity, the gambling⁶ die.

　　研究人员为他们的实验选择了一样合适的工具—骰子—罪恶活动的标志。

　　They wanted to find out whether people were more likely to lie about the result of a die roll when asked that result immediately, or when given time to think.

　　他们想查明的是：人们是在摇骰后立即被询问其结果时容易撒谎呢，还是在他们获得一定的思考余地的时候呢？

　　To carry out their experiment, Dr Shalvi, Dr Eldar and Dr Bereby-Meyer gave each of 76 volunteers a six-sided die and a cup.

　　实验前，Shalvi博士，Eldar博士和Bereby-Meyer博士给作为实验对象的76位志愿者每人发了一个摇盅和一粒骰子。

　　Participants were told that a number of them, chosen at random⁸, would earn ten shekels for each pip of the numeral they rolled on the die.

　　参加者被告知他们中的一部分被随机抽选出来的，会依据其掷出的骰子点数而得到相应数目的奖励，每点10谢克尔。

　　They were then instructed to shake their cups, check the outcome of the rolled die and remember this roll.

　　接着他们便按照指示摇盅，开盅查看结果，记住点数。

　　Next, they were asked to roll the die two more times, to satisfy themselves that it was not loaded, and, that done, to enter the result of the first roll on a computer terminal.

　　然后他们被要求多摇两次，以让自己确信骰子中没有被灌铅。最后，让他们自己在电脑终端里输入第一次所掷出的点数。

　　Half of the participants were told to complete this procedure within 20 seconds while the others were given no time limit.

　　有一半参加者被要求在20秒内完成整个实验流程，而另一半则没有时间限制。

　　The researchers had no way of knowing what numbers participants actually rolled, of course.

　　研究人员当然无法知晓每个参加者实际掷出点数。

　　But they knew, statistically⁹, that the average roll, if people reported honestly, should have been 3.5.

　　但他们知道，依照统计学规律，如果所有人都能做到如实上报点数，那么这次实验的平均掷出点数应为3.5。

　　This gave them a baseline from which to calculate participants honesty.

　　这就为研究人员提供了一个测量参加者诚实程度的依据。

　　Those forced to enter their results within 20 seconds, the researchers found, reported a mean roll of 4.6.

　　他们发现，那组被要求于20秒内输入结果的的参加者所上报的掷出点数平均值为4.6，

　　Those who were not under any time pressure reported a mean roll of 3.9.

　　而另外没有时间压力的参加者的为3.9。

　　Both groups lied, then.

　　显然这两组人都撒谎了，

　　But those who had had more time for reflection lied less.

　　不过在那些有充分时间进行考虑的参加者中撒谎的较少。

　　A second experiment confirmed this result.

　　第二次实验则验证了这一结果。

　　A different bunch of volunteers were asked to roll the die just once.

　　这次是另一群不同的志愿者被要求掷骰子，不过只掷一次。

　　Again, half were put under time pressure and, since there were no additional rolls to make, the restriction¹⁰ was changed from 20 seconds to eight.

　　同上次一样，他们中一半人被限制了时间，并且由于此次只需掷一次骰子，时间限制也从20s缩短为8s。

　　The others were allowed to consider the matter for as long as they wished.

　　其余一般则想考虑多久都行。

　　In this case the first half reported an average roll of 4.4.

　　在这次实验中，前面有时间限制的一半人所上报点数的平均值为4.4，

　　Those given no time limit reported an average of 3.4.

　　而没有时间限制的所上报的平均值为3.4。

　　The second lot, in other words, actually told the truth.

　　换言之，后者如实上报了数据。

　　The conclusion, therefore, at least in the matter of cheating at dice¹¹, is that sin is indeed original.

　　因此，得出的结论是-至少在此次摇骰作弊的案例中如此—人性本恶。

　　Without time for reflection, people will default to the mode labelled cheat.

　　在缺少时间进行考虑的情况下，人们会进入默认的撒谎模式。

　　Given such time, however, they will often do the right thing.

　　然而，如果他们获得了那样的考虑时间，一般会作出道德上正确的选择。

　　If you want someone to be honest, then, do not press him too hard for an immediate⁷ decision.

　　所以，如果你希望某人对你诚实，那么千万别逼迫他立即做出出决定啊。

1 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

2 truthfulness   

n. 符合实际

参考例句：

• Among her many virtues are loyalty, courage, and truthfulness. 她有许多的美德，如忠诚、勇敢和诚实。
• I fired a hundred questions concerning the truthfulness of his statement. 我对他发言的真实性提出一连串质问。

3 instinctive   

adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的

参考例句：

• He tried to conceal his instinctive revulsion at the idea.他试图饰盖自己对这一想法本能的厌恶。
• Animals have an instinctive fear of fire.动物本能地怕火。

4 apparatus   

n.装置，器械；器具，设备

参考例句：

• The school's audio apparatus includes films and records.学校的视听设备包括放映机和录音机。
• They had a very refined apparatus.他们有一套非常精良的设备。

5 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

6 gambling   

n.赌博；投机

参考例句：

• They have won a lot of money through gambling.他们赌博赢了很多钱。
• The men have been gambling away all night.那些人赌了整整一夜。

7 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

8 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

9 statistically   

ad.根据统计数据来看，从统计学的观点来看

参考例句：

• The sample of building permits is larger and therefore, statistically satisfying. 建筑许可数的样本比较大，所以统计数据更令人满意。
• The results of each test would have to be statistically independent. 每次试验的结果在统计上必须是独立的。

10 restriction   

n.限制，约束

参考例句：

• The park is open to the public without restriction.这个公园对公众开放，没有任何限制。
• The 30 mph speed restriction applies in all built-up areas.每小时限速30英里适用于所有建筑物聚集区。

11 dice   

n.骰子；vt.把（食物）切成小方块，冒险

参考例句：

• They were playing dice.他们在玩掷骰子游戏。
• A dice is a cube.骰子是立方体。