7 Surprising Ways Senses Shape Perception1

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Every bit of information we know about the world we gathered with one of our five senses.2這是一個倒裝句，從every到world是后面gathered的賓語。But even with perfect pitch3perfect pitch是個短語，thoughtco網站的解釋是：Perfect pitch (also referred to as absolute pitch) is the incredibly rare ability of a person to instantaneously identify or sing any given musical note without a reference pitch. It is estimated that 1/10,000 people in the USA are born with this cognitive trait.。也就是說，這個短語既指可分辨各種音高的聽力，也可以指發出各種音高的能力。結合上下文來看，這里肯定指的是聽力。or 20/20 vision, our perceptions don’t always reflect an accurate picture of our surroundings. Our brain is constantly filling in gaps and taking shortcuts, which can result in some pretty wild illusions.

我們了解的有關世界的所

有信息都是用我們的五種感官獲得的。但是即使有完美的辨音能力或是20/20的視力，我們的感知也并不總能準確地反映周圍的世界。我們的大腦一直不斷地填補空白，走捷徑，這就可能導致非常離譜的錯覺。

That’s the subject of “Our Senses: An Immersive Experience,” a new exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.4這句話有三層意思。一是博物館位于紐約，二是博物館舉辦了一個新展覽，三是新展覽的主題就是上一句的內容。注意引號中的內容是新展覽的名稱，而不是主題。Mental Flossrecently took a tour of the sensory

funhouse to learn more about how the brain and the senses interact.

這就是紐約市的美國自然歷史博物館新展覽的主題。該展覽名為“我們的感官：沉浸式體驗”。為了進一步了解大腦和感官相互作用的機制，《心理牙線》雜志最近參觀了這一感官游樂園。

1. Lighting reveals hidden images.

Under normal lighting, the walls of the first room5room這個詞的翻譯應該符合漢語的習慣，即譯為“展室”，而不是簡單的翻譯為“房間”。of “Our Senses” look like abstract art. But when the lights change color, hidden illustrations are revealed. The three lights—blue, red,and green—used in the room activate the three cone cells in our eyes, and each color highlights a different set of animal illustrations, giving the viewers the impression of switching between three separate rooms while standing still.

1. 燈光會顯現隱藏的圖像。

在正常燈光下，“我們的感官”第一個展室的墻壁看起來像抽象藝術。但燈光改變顏色時，隱藏的圖畫就會顯現出來。房間里使用的三種燈光——藍色、紅色和綠色相應地激活了我們眼睛中的三種錐細胞，每種顏色都突出一組不同的動物圖畫，給參觀者一種自己站著沒動卻在三個不同房間之間切換的感覺。

2. Certain sounds take priority6 priority不應該按照字面翻譯為優先權，因為“權”字容易讓人產生法律上的聯想，這不符合此處上下文的含義。不如這么意譯。 .

We can “hear” many different sounds at once, but we can only listen to a couple at a time. The AMNH exhibit demonstrates this with an audio collage7audio collage這是個詞組，漢語固定的譯法是“聲效拼貼”。of competing recordings8competing recordings拼貼里有多種聲音，每種聲音都希望被別人聽到。但“拼貼”（collage）一詞已經暗示了這一層意思。所以competing這個詞也可以不譯出來，譯出來反而更生硬。.Our ears automatically pick out noises we’re conditioned to react to, like an ambulance siren or a baby’s cry. Other sounds, like individual voices and musical instruments, require more effort to detect.

2. 有些聲音會優先識別。

我們可以同時“聽見”許多不同的聲音，但我們一次只能聽其中的一兩種。自然歷史博物館展覽用一段聲效拼貼展示了這一點，這段聲效中同時有許多不同的聲音。我們的耳朵會自動地挑出我們習慣于做出反應的聲音，比如救護車的警笛聲或嬰兒的哭聲。要發現其他聲音，比如某個人和樂器的聲音，則需要更努力地去聽。

3. ... As do certain images9這是接第二小節的標題來的，完整的形式為Certain sounds take priority, as do certain image。下文“...And so does sound”與此類似。.

When looking at a painting, most people’s eyes are drawn to the same spots. The fi rst things we look for in an image are human faces. So after staring at an artwork for fi ve seconds, you may be able to say how many people are in it and what they look like, but would likely come up short10come up short是個詞組，朗文詞典的解釋是to fail to win or achieve something，即不能干什么事。when asked to list the inanimate object in the scene.

3. ……圖像也是如此。

我們看一幅畫的時候，多數人的眼睛會被吸引到同一個地方。在一幅圖像中，我們會首先尋找人臉。所以，盯著一個藝術品五秒鐘以后，你或許可以說出上面有多少人，他們長什么樣，但是如果要求你列出圖中的無生命物體時，你就可能說不上來了。

4. Color inf l uences taste...

Every cooking show you’ve watched is right—presentation11和前文room類似，應該按照漢語的習慣翻譯為“品相”，漢語烹飪節目中一般都會這么說。really is important. One look at something can dictate your expectations for how it should taste. Researchers have found that we perceive red food and drinks to taste sweeter and green food and drinks to taste less sweet regardless of chemical composition. Even the color of the cup we drink from can influence our perception of taste.

4. 顏色會影響味覺……

你看過的每一檔烹飪節目都講得對，品相真的很重要。對于一樣東西，只要一眼，就會對其味道形成一種期望。研究人員發現無論食物中的化學成分是什么，我們都會認為紅色的食物和飲料要更甜一點，而綠色的則沒那么甜。甚至飲品杯子的顏色也會影響我們的味覺。

5. ... And so does sound.

Sight isn’t the only sense that plays a part in how we taste. According to one study, listening to crunching noises while snacking on chips makes them taste fresher. Remember12這里在“記得”后面添加“試試”，譯文會更生動，也符合邏輯。that trick before tossing out a bag of stale junk food.

5. ……聲音也是如此。

并不只有視覺會影響我們的味覺。一項研究表明，吃薯片時聽著“嘎吱嘎吱”的聲音，人們會覺得薯片更可口。下次扔變味的垃圾食品之前，記得試試這個小竅門。

6. Things get weird when senses contradict each other.

The most mind-bending room in the “Our Senses” exhibit is practically empty. The illusion comes from the black grid pattern painted onto the white wall in such a way13in such a way與后面的that形成呼應，不能按照字面死譯為“如此……以致”。that straight planes appear to curve. The shapes tell our eyes we’re walking on uneven ground while our inner ear tells us the floor is stable. It’s like getting seasick in reverse: This conflicting sensory information can make us feel dizzy and even nauseous.

6. 感官互相矛盾時，事情就怪異起來。

“我們的感官”展覽中最讓人神經錯亂費解的展室實際上是空的。錯覺來自于白色墻壁上的黑色格子圖案，這些圖案的排列似乎讓直的平面彎曲了，讓我們的眼睛以為，我們走在凹凸不平的地面上，而我們的內耳卻告訴我們地面是平坦的。這跟暈船恰好相反：這種互相矛盾的感官信息會讓我們感覺頭暈，甚至惡心。

7. We see faces everywhere.

The human brain is really good at recognizing human faces—so good it can make us see things that aren’t there.This is apparent in the Einstein hollow head illusion. When looking at the mold of Albert Einstein’s face straight on, the features appear to pop out rather than sink in. Our brain knows we’re looking at something similar to a human face,and it knows what human faces are shaped like, so it automatically corrects the image that it’s given. ■

7. 我們到處都能看出人臉。

人類的大腦非常擅長識別人臉，擅長到能讓我們看到不存在的東西。這在愛因斯坦凹臉頭像錯覺中就很明顯。當我們從正前方看阿爾伯特·愛因斯坦模型的面部時，五官似乎是凸出來的而不是凹進去的。我們的大腦知道我們正在看與人臉相似的東西，并且知道人臉是什么樣的，所以它會自動校正它得到的圖像。 □