小孩和猩猩使用相同記憶法
Infants and Apes Remember Things Similarly
國際在線 　
　
　　 Infants and apes apparently adopt the same tactics for remembering where things are, but as children develop their strategies change, a new study shows.

　　一項新的研究顯示，小孩和猿使用同樣的方法來記憶物品所在的地方，但是當孩子們越長越大，他們的方法就會改變。

　　The findings might reveal in part how the minds of our distant ancestors shifted gears to embark on the road toward humanity.

　　這些發現也許能在一定程度上說明我們的遠祖是如何轉舵走上“人性”的道路。

　　There are two basic strategies animals use to remember where things are. Either they remember a thing's features, such as whether it was a banana, or they remember its place in space, such as left.

　　動物記憶物品位置的方法有兩種。一種是通過記憶物品的特點，例如它是否是一個香蕉；另一種則是通過記憶物品所在的空間位置，例如是否在左邊。

　　All animals scientists have tested seem to employ both strategies. However, if experiments are rigged such that animals had to choose between the tactics, some species, such as chickens and toads, prefer a feature-based strategy. Others, such as fish and dogs, favor a place-based strategy.

　　受測的科學家們會同時采取兩種方法。但是在同樣的實驗中，動物們則會選擇其中一種，一些物種，例如雞和蟾蜍會選擇特點記憶法。其他的，例如魚和狗更喜歡空間記憶法。

　　Researcher Daniel Haun at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany and his colleagues investigated orangutans, gorillas, bonobos, chimpanzees and humans. They wanted to see whether humanity and its closest relatives all adopted the same strategies for remembering where things are. Any changes in strategy between species or within species would shed light on how they all evolved.

　　德國萊比錫普朗克演化人類學研究所研究人員丹尼爾·煥和同事們分別對猩猩、大猩猩、倭黑猩猩、黑猩猩和人類進行了研究。他們希望了解人類是否會和他們最近的“親戚”選擇同樣的記憶方法。不同物種之間和同一物種間的方法改變都能說明演化的過程。

　　At the Leipzig Zoo, the scientists hid rewards such as grapes, banana slices or toy animals under either a hollow piece of wood, an imitation bird's nest or an artificial hollow rock.
　
　

　　在萊比錫動物園，科學家們把如葡萄、香蕉片、動物玩具等獎品放入空木頭、假鳥窩或者人造空石頭里面。

　　At times, the rewards were concealed(11) under the same object they were hidden beneath previously, whose place had changed. A feature-based strategy would best find these coveted items.

　　當研究人員用同樣的掩飾物藏匿獎品，只是改變了它們的位置的時候，善用特點記憶法的動物很容易找到這些誘人的獎品。

　　At other times, the rewards were hidden at the same place they were concealed before, but under a different object. A place-based strategy would best discover these items.

　　當研究人員沒有移動物品，只是改變了藏匿物品的掩蓋物的時候，善用空間記憶法的動物則能很快發現物品。

　　When human infants are a year old, they favor place-based strategies like all the other great ape species do. This suggests human and ape brains start out the same, at least when it comes to remembering where things are. The most recent common ancestors between humans and all the other great apes date back to about 15 million years ago, suggesting this common preference has been part of our brain structures since at least then.

　　一歲左右的小孩和猿類一樣選擇空間記憶法。這說明至少在物品位置記憶方面，人類和猿類大腦最初是一樣的。可證明的人類和猿類擁有共同祖先的最近時間是1500萬年前，也就是說至少從那個時候起，人類和猿類就擁有同樣的記憶方法。

　　However, three-year-old children preferred a feature-based strategy. The researchers noted this shift in strategy coincided with a period when humans are first drawn into social life and acquire skills such as spoken language.

　　但是，三歲的小孩就會選擇特點記憶法。研究人員說這種轉變正與人類剛剛步入社會生活相對應，那個時候人們學會了很多技能，例如說話。