D: Lots of people have had dreams that seem to foretell the future. Some psychologists attribute this to “retrieval cues.”
Y: Retrieval cues?
D: A retrieval cue is a coincidence in the real world that triggers a dream memory which otherwise would have gone unnoticed.For example, did you know you dreamed about a little dog before the real dog showed up?
Y: Oh, yes, I was thinking about it all morning.
D: Really?
Y: Welll, I think so.
D: Maybe, or maybe the real event triggered a recollection of a dream, which not seems like it must have been in your thoughts all along. By the way did you have any other dreams last night that didn't come true?
Y: Hmm, I don't remember what other else I dreamed.
D: Why not? Some studies suggest we have literally hundreds of dreams each night.
Y: Ok, I get the point. Maybe this dreaming the future stuff is more like picking and choosing dreams when they happen to fit.
D: Coincidences are bound to come up. And if the coincidence acts as retrieval cue, the sense that you predicted something can be pretty convincing… even if it’s just a dream.
D:許多人都做過一些好像可以預(yù)知未來的夢。心理學(xué)家把這種現(xiàn)象歸因于“提取線索”。
Y:提取線索?
D:提取是一種巧合:現(xiàn)生活中的某個場景讓你回憶起一個不被注意夢境。比如,你知道你夢到的那只小狗出現(xiàn)在真實的狗之前嗎?
D:是的。我整個早上都在想這個夢。
Y:真的嗎?
Y:我想是吧。
D:也許吧,有或許是真實事件讓你回憶起某個夢境,而這個夢境不一定一直都在你的腦海中。順便問一下,你昨天晚上還做了其它沒有實現(xiàn)的夢嗎?
Y:嗯,其他做過的夢都不記得了。
D:為什么不記得了呢?有研究稱我們每天晚上要做數(shù)百個夢。
Y:好,我知道了。也許夢見未來這種事更像是從成千上百個夢的中挑選一個碰巧合適情景的。
D:所以,巧合就發(fā)生了。如果巧合作為提取線索,你能預(yù)測未來就相當(dāng)有說服力,盡管那只是一個夢。
Notes:
提取線索的心理學(xué)概念,是指當(dāng)你搜索一個特定的記憶時,可以利用的刺激??梢允峭獠刻峁┑模热缭嚲砩系倪x擇題題目;也可以是內(nèi)部提供,比如看到一個人時,自己問自己,“我在哪兒見過她?”