經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人雜志前段時(shí)間新出的專題，終生學(xué)習(xí)喻括，許多篇文章邀杏，不自量力的學(xué)習(xí)翻譯一下~
Old dogs, new tricks
老狗，新把戲
IF YOU ARE over 20, look away now. Your cognitive performance is probably already on the wane. The speed with which people can process information declines at a steady rate from as early as their 20s.
如果你年紀(jì)已經(jīng)過(guò)了 20 双妨，那么看看你自己淮阐。你的認(rèn)知能力可能已經(jīng)在衰退了。從 20 出頭的開(kāi)始刁品，人們對(duì)于信息的處理能力就會(huì)以一個(gè)穩(wěn)定的速率下降。
A common test of processing speed is the “digit symbol substitution test”, in which a range of symbols are paired with a set of numbers in a code. Participants are shown the code, given a row of symbols and then asked to write down the corresponding number in the box below within a set period. There is nothing cognitively challenging about the task; levels of education make no difference to performance. But age does. Speed consistently declines as people get older.
一個(gè)被廣泛采納的用以測(cè)試信息處理速度的試驗(yàn)叫做“數(shù)字符號(hào)替換試驗(yàn)”浩姥，在這個(gè)試驗(yàn)中挑随，將一系列的數(shù)字和符號(hào)配對(duì)并記錄在本子上。參加試驗(yàn)的人員先閱讀本子上的內(nèi)容勒叠，然后再發(fā)給他們一個(gè)寫(xiě)著符號(hào)的表格兜挨，測(cè)試者需要在限定的時(shí)間內(nèi)填寫(xiě)出相應(yīng)符號(hào)所對(duì)應(yīng)的數(shù)字。就這個(gè)試驗(yàn)而言并不存在認(rèn)知能力上的挑戰(zhàn)眯分；受教育水平也同樣與測(cè)試結(jié)果無(wú)關(guān)拌汇。但年紀(jì)卻有影響。隨著年紀(jì)的增大弊决，回答速度便開(kāi)始持續(xù)下降噪舀。
Why this should be is still a matter of hypothesis, but a range of tentative explanations has been put forward. One points the finger at myelin, a white, fatty substance that coats axons, the tendrils that carry signals from one neuron to another. Steady reductions in myelin as people age may be slowing down these connections. Another possibility, says Timothy Salthouse, director of the Cognitive Ageing Laboratory at the University of Virginia, is depletion of a chemical called dopamine, receptor sites for which decline in number with advancing age.
產(chǎn)生這種結(jié)果的原因的研究還處在假設(shè)階段，但已經(jīng)有一些可能的解釋飘诗。有觀點(diǎn)認(rèn)為在髓磷脂的觸角上与倡，即一種被軸突覆蓋的白色脂肪物質(zhì)，這些觸角負(fù)責(zé)從一個(gè)神經(jīng)元向另一個(gè)傳輸信號(hào)昆稿。隨著人類(lèi)年齡增長(zhǎng)而帶來(lái)的髓磷脂的減少可能減慢了信號(hào)的傳輸速度纺座。弗吉尼亞大學(xué)認(rèn)知與年齡實(shí)驗(yàn)室的主任 Timothy Salthouse 提出了另一個(gè)猜想，他認(rèn)為是由于多巴胺的減少溉潭，這些多巴胺受體隨著年紀(jì)的增長(zhǎng)而減少導(dǎo)致了這一現(xiàn)象的產(chǎn)生净响。
Fortunately, there is some good news to go with the bad. Psychologists distinguish between “fluid intelligence”, which is the ability to solve new problems, and “crystallised intelligence”, which roughly equates to an individual’s stock of accumulated knowledge. These reserves of knowledge continue to increase with age: people’s performance on vocabulary and general-knowledge tests keeps improving into their 70s. And experience can often compensate for cognitive decline. In an old but instructive study of typists ranging in age from 19 to 72, older workers typed just as fast as younger ones, even though their tapping speed was slower. They achieved this by looking further ahead in the text, which allowed them to keep going more smoothly.
辛運(yùn)的是少欺，年紀(jì)增長(zhǎng)帶來(lái)壞消息的同時(shí)也有一些好消息。心理學(xué)家指出了“流體智力”（即解決新問(wèn)題的能力）和“晶體智力”（大致相當(dāng)于一個(gè)個(gè)體所累積的經(jīng)驗(yàn)和知識(shí)）的區(qū)別馋贤。知識(shí)的積累會(huì)隨著年齡的增長(zhǎng)而增加：人類(lèi)的詞匯量和一般性測(cè)試會(huì)持續(xù)增長(zhǎng)直至 70 歲以上赞别。而經(jīng)驗(yàn)的積累通常可以彌補(bǔ)認(rèn)知能力的下降掸掸。在一項(xiàng)較早進(jìn)行的但具有指導(dǎo)性意義的試驗(yàn)中氯庆，通過(guò)對(duì)年紀(jì)處于 19-72 之間的打字員進(jìn)行測(cè)試，即使年長(zhǎng)的員工在輸入速度上較低扰付，他們?cè)诖蜃炙俣壬夏贻p員工沒(méi)有差別堤撵。而之所以會(huì)有這樣一致的結(jié)果是因?yàn)槟觊L(zhǎng)的員工在打字時(shí)會(huì)提前觀察之后的內(nèi)容，這就使得他們打字過(guò)程更加順暢羽莺。
What does all this mean for a lifetime of continuous learning? It is encouraging so long as people are learning new tricks in familiar fields. “If learning can be assimilated into an existing knowledge base, advantage tilts to the old,” says Mr. Salthouse. But moving older workers into an entirely new area of knowledge is less likely to go well.
那么這些研究對(duì)于終生學(xué)習(xí)而言有什么意義呢实昨？對(duì)于人們?cè)谙嗨祁I(lǐng)域持續(xù)學(xué)習(xí)而言這是鼓舞人心的。Mr. Salthouse 說(shuō)道“如果新學(xué)習(xí)到的知識(shí)能夠融入已經(jīng)存在的知識(shí)庫(kù)中盐固，那么年紀(jì)的增長(zhǎng)就是一個(gè)優(yōu)勢(shì)”荒给。但是讓老員工去重新投入一個(gè)全新的領(lǐng)域效果就不怎么明顯了。
