Mostepisodesofabsent-mindedness—forgettingwhereyouleftsomethingorwonderingwhyyoujustenteredaroom—arecausedbyasimplelackofattention,saysSchacter.“You’resupposedtoremembersomething,butyouhaven’tencodeditdeeply.”
Encoding,Schacterexplains,isaspecialwayofpayingattentiontoaneventthathasamajorimpactonrecallingitlater.Failuretoencodeproperlycancreateannoyingsituations.Ifyouputyourmobilephoneinapocket,forexample,anddon’tpayattentiontowhatyoudidbecauseyou’reinvolvedinaconversation,you’llprobablyforgetthatthephoneisinthejacketnowhanginginyouwardrobe(衣柜).“Yourmemoryitselfisn’tfailingyou,”saysSchacter.“Rather,youdidn’tgiveyourmemorysystemtheinformationitneeded.”
Lackofinterestcanalsoleadtoabsent-mindedness.“Amanwhocanrecitesportsstatisticsfrom30yearsago,”saysZelinski,“maynotremembertodropaletterinthemailbox.”Womenhaveslightlybettermemoriesthanmen,possiblybecausetheypaymoreattentiontotheirenvironment,andmemoryreliesonjustthat.
Visualcuescanhelppreventabsent-mindedness,saysSchacter.“Butbesurethecueisclearandavailable,”hecautions.Ifyouwanttoremembertotakeamedication(药物)withlunch,putthepillbottleonthekitchentable—don’tleaveitinthemedicinechestandwriteyourselfanotethatyoukeepinapocket.
Anothercommonepisodeofabsent-mindedness:walkingintoaroomandwonderingwhyyou’rethere.Mostlikely,youwerethinkingaboutsomethingelse.“Everyonedoesthisfromtimetotime,”saysZelinski.Thebestthingtodoistoreturntowhereyouwerebeforeenteringtheroom,andyou’lllikelyremember.
1.Whydoestheauthorthinkthatencodingproperlyisveryimportant?
A)Ithelpsusunderstandourmemorysystembetter.
B)Itenablesustorecallsomethingformourmemory.
C)Itexpandsourmemorycapacityconsiderably.
D)Itslowsdowntheprocessoflosingourmemory.
2.Onepossiblereasonwhywomenhavebettermemoriesthanmenisthat________.
A)theyhaveawiderrangeofinterests
B)theyaremorereliantontheenvironment
C)theyhaveanunusualpoweroffocusingtheirattention
D)theyaremoreinterestedinwhat’shappeningaroundthem
3.Anoteinthepocketcanhardlyserveasareminderbecause________.
B)it’snotclearenoughforyoutoread
D)itmightgetmixedupwithotherthings
4.Whatdowelearnfromthelastparagraph?
A)Ifwefocusourattentionononething,wemightforgetanother.
B)Memorydependstoacertainextentontheenvironment.
C)Repetitionhelpsimproveourmemory.
D)Ifwekeepforgettingthings,we’dbetterreturntowherewewere.
5.Whatisthepassagemainlyabout?
A)Theprocessofgradualmemoryloss.
B)Thecausesofabsent-mindedness.
C)Theimpactoftheenvironmentonmemory.
D)Awayifencodingandrecalling.
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