Peter Doolittle: How your "working memory" makes sense of the world

Translator: Chin_Liang Lin Reviewer: Bighead Ge

So yesterday, I was out in the street

琴日，我喺街度

in front of this building,

喺一幢樓前面

and I was walking down the sidewalk,

我喺行人路行

and I had company, several of us,

仲有幾個人同我一齊行

and we were all abiding by the rules

of walking down sidewalks.

We're not talking each other. We're facing forward.

大家冇傾偈，大家都係向前行

We're moving.

When the person in front of me slows down.

喺我前面嘅人行慢咗

And so I'm watching him, and he slows down,

我睇住佢，佢減慢，跟住就停咗落嚟

and finally he stops.

Well, that wasn't fast enough for me,

由於件事發生得唔算太突然

so I put on my turn signal, and I walked around him,

所以個腦有轉彎嘅提示，我就兜過咗佢

and as I walked, I looked to see what he was doing,

一邊走，我一邊睇佢做梗乜嘢

and he was doing this.

佢就喺度發梗短訊

He was texting,

and he couldn't text and walk at the same time.

佢唔能夠一邊打字一邊行路

Now we could approach this

宜家等我哋

from a working memory perspective

由工作記憶嘅角度

or from a multitasking perspective.

或者從多作業角度，睇剛才呢件事

We're going to do working memory today.

我哋今日講工作記憶

Now, working memory

工作記憶就係我哋每日嘅主動意識

is that part of our consciousness that we are

aware of at any given time of day.

You're going it right now.

你宜家就係用梗工作記憶

It's not something we can turn off.

我哋唔會熄到佢

If you turn it off, that's called a coma, okay?

如果你真係要熄咗佢，你就會昏迷

（笑聲）

So right now, you're doing just fine.

所以呢，你哋宜家都冇熄咗佢

Now working memory has four basic components.

工作記憶有四個基本元素

It allows us to store some immediate experiences

佢可以儲存上一秒嘅經歷

and a little bit of knowledge.

同埋少少知識

It allows us to reach back into our long-term memory

佢又可以令我哋搵返我哋好耐嘅記憶

and pull some of that in as we need it,

提取我哋想要嘅長期記憶

mixes it, processes it

再按我哋當時嘅目的加以組合、處理

in light of whatever our current goal is.

Now the current goal isn't something like,

所謂當時嘅目的唔係話

I want to be president or the best surfer in the world.

我想成為總統或世界最勁嘅滑浪手

It's more mundane. I'd like that cookie,

而係比較日常，就好似我要嗰塊餅

or I need to figure out how to get into my hotel room.

或者我要諗方法入去酒店房間

Now working memory capacity

工作記憶嘅容量

is our ability to leverage that,

指我哋善用我哋已知嘅嘢

our ability to take what we know

用佢哋嚟完成啲嘢

and what we can hang onto

and leverage it in ways that allow us to satisfy

嚟滿足我哋當時嘅目的

our current goal.

Now working memory capacity

工作記憶容量由來已久

has a fairly long history,

and it's associated with a lot of positive effects.

帶畀人類好多好處

People with high working memory capacity

工作記憶容量大嘅人一般都擅長講故仔

tend to be good storytellers.

They tend to solve and do well on standardized tests,

而且無論測驗對佢哋有幾重要都好

however important that is.

佢哋都考得好好

They're able to have high levels of writing ability.

佢哋嘅寫作能力都好高

They're also able to reason at high levels.

推理水平都好高

So what we're going to do here is play a little bit with some of that.

咁宜家，我哋就嚟玩一個 工作記憶容量嘅遊戲

So I'm going to ask you to perform a couple tasks,

我會叫你哋做一啲任務

and we're going to take your working memory out for a ride.

你哋就要用你哋嘅工作記憶

You up for that? Okay.

你哋準備好未？

I'm going to give you five words,

我會講五個字，你哋要記著佢

and I just want you to hang on to them.

Don't write them down. Just hang on to them.

唔要寫落嚟，只可以用腦記住

Five words.

五個字

While you're hanging on to them, I'm going to ask you to answer three questions.

你哋記住嘅同時，要答我三個問題

I want to see what happens with those words.

我想睇下你哋嘅記憶係點

So here's the words:

好，呢五個字係：

tree,

樹

highway,

公路

mirror,

鏡

Saturn

土星

and electrode.

電極

So far so good?

冇問題呀嗎？

Okay. What I want you to do

好！宜家我要請你哋

is I want you to tell me what the answer is

話畀我聽 23 乘 8 係幾多

to 23 times eight.

Just shout it out.

大聲講出嚟

(Mumbling) (Laughter)

（講者模彷口結）（笑聲）

In fact it's -- (Mumbling) -- exactly. (Laughter)

口結係完全正常嘅（笑聲）

All right. I want you to take out your left hand

好。宜家我要你哋伸出左手

and I want you to go, "One, two, three, four, five,

你哋要數一至十

six, seven, eight, nine, 10."

It's a neurological test, just in case you were wondering.

如果你唔知嘅話，呢個係一個神經測試

All right, now what I want you to do

好，宜家你哋要背英文最後五個字母

is to recite the last five letters

of the English alphabet backwards.

由尾背返起

You should have started with Z.

由 Z 開始

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

All right. How many people here are still pretty sure

好。宜家有幾多人

you've got all five words?

仲記得我頭先講嗰五個字？

Okay. Typically we end up with about less than half,

好。通常唔到一半嘅人仲記得

right, which is normal. There will be a range.

冇錯，呢個好正常。因人而異

Some people can hang on to five.

有啲人可以記到五個

Some people can hang on to 10.

有啲人可以記到十個

Some will be down to two or three.

有啲人剩係記到兩三個

What we know is this is really important to the way we function, right?

我哋知道，工作記憶 對大腦嘅運作好重要，係嗎？

And it's going to be really important here at TED

喺 TED 呢度尤其重要

because you're going to be exposed to so many different ideas.

因為你會聽到好多嘅諗法

Now the problem that we have

宜家我哋嘅問題係

is that life comes at us,

時間向我哋衝埋嚟

and it comes at us very quickly,

時間轉瞬即逝

and what we need to do is to take that amorphous

我哋要把握每一殺那

flow of experience and somehow

extract meaning from it

用豆咁細嘅工作記憶 喺每一秒裏面搵到意思

with a working memory

that's about the size of a pea.

Now don't get me wrong, working memory is awesome.

唔好誤會，工作記憶其實好犀利嘅

Working memory allows us

工作記憶令我哋可以

to investigate our current experience

一路向前嗰陣 一路了解自己當時嘅感受

as we move forward.

It allows us to make sense of the world around us.

令我哋明白周圍嘅嘢

But it does have certain limits.

佢雖然有限制

Now working memory is great for allowing us to communicate.

但工作記憶可以令我哋同人溝通

We can have a conversation,

令我哋可以同人傾偈

and I can build a narrative around that

令我知道我哋講梗啲乜嘢

so I know where we've been and where we're going

要講啲乜嘢

and how to contribute to this conversation.

同埋點樣令個討論更加好

It allows us to problem-solve, critical think.

工作記憶令我哋解決問題

識得批判思考

We can be in the middle of a meeting,

喺會議途中

listen to somebody's presentation, evaluate it,

我哋可以分析個報告好唔好

decide whether or not we like it,

諗下自己鍾唔鍾意個報告

ask follow-up questions.

跟住問問題

All of that occurs within working memory.

呢啲嘢都係由工作記憶完成

It also allows us to go to the store

佢畀我哋可以去到鋪頭買嘢

and allows us to get milk and eggs and cheese

買牛奶、蛋同乳酪

when what we're really looking for

更重要去買紅牛飲品同豬肉

is Red Bull and bacon. (Laughter)

（笑聲）

Gotta make sure we're getting what we're looking for.

佢令我哋確定買咗要買啲嘢

Now, a central issue with working memory

工作記憶有佢嘅局限

is that it's limited.

呢樣亦都係佢嘅核心問題

It's limited in capacity, limited in duration,

容量、儲存時間、焦點都有限

limited in focus.

We tend to remember about four things.

我哋一般可以記到四樣嘢

Okay? It used to be seven,

係嗎？以前話係七樣

but with functional MRIs, apparently it's four,

但功能性磁力共振影像指出，係四件

and we were overachieving.

所以之前誇大咗

Now we can remember those four things

我哋一般可以記著四樣嘢大概十至廿秒

for about 10 to 20 seconds

unless we do something with it,

除非我哋開始落手做呢四樣

unless we process it, unless we apply it to something,

除非個腦處理佢哋

我哋將佢哋應用出嚟

unless we talk to somebody about it.

除非我哋同人講嗰四樣嘢

When we think about working memory,

我哋睇工作記憶

we have to realize that this limited capacity

我哋必須認清佢容量係有限

has lots of different impacts on us.

所以佢對我哋會有好多影響

Have you ever walked from one room to another

你有冇試過由一個房行到另一間

and then forgotten why you're there?

但你唔記得咗點解要行過嚟？

You do know the solution to that, right?

你知道點做，係咪？

You go back to that original room. (Laughter)

就係返去原本間房！

（笑聲）

Have you ever forgotten your keys?

你有冇曾經唔記得鎖匙喺邊？

You ever forgotten your car?

你有冇唔記得架車喺邊？

You ever forgotten your kids?

有冇唔記得咗細路？

Have you ever been involved in a conversation,

你有冇曾經同一班人傾偈

and you realize that the conversation to your left

但發現左邊另一班人傾嘅嘢更加吸引？

is actually more interesting? (Laughter)

（笑聲）

唔，你喺度點頭，你喺度笑

So you're nodding and you're smiling,

but you're really paying attention to this one over here,

但你係唔留心嘅

until you hear that last word go up,

直到聽到我最尾個字高音

and you realize,

然後你知道人哋問梗你一個問題

you've been asked a question. (Laughter)

（笑聲）

And you're really hoping the answer is no,

而你真係希望答案係「否」

because that's what you're about to say.

因為「否」正係你想講嘅嘢

All of that talks about working memory,

上述講嘅都係關於工作記憶

what we can do and what we can't do.

以及我哋可以做同唔可以做嘅嘢

We need to realize that working memory

但我哋必須認清工作記憶嘅容量係有限

has a limited capacity,

and that working memory capacity itself is how we negotiate that.

所以我哋要識得運用工作記憶

We negotiate that through strategies.

我哋可以用一啲方法

So what I want to do is talk a little bit about a couple of strategies here,

我會喺度講少少呢啲方法

and these will be really important

呢啲方法真係幾重要

because you are now in an information target-rich environment

因為你嚟緊幾日會收到好多資訊

for the next several days.

Now the first part of this that we need to think about

首先，我哋個腦每日每一秒

and we need to process our existence, our life,

都要不斷即時咁處理 我哋嘅生存、我哋嘅生活

immediately and repeatedly.

We need to process what's going on

我哋要即時知道眼前發生梗嘅事

the moment it happens, not 10 minutes later,

而唔係十分鐘之後至知

not a week later, at the moment.

亦唔係一個禮拜之後至知

So we need to think about, well, do I agree with him?

我哋即時要諗嘅包括︰我同意佢嗎？

What's missing? What would I like to know?

少咗啲咩？我想知道啲咩？

Do I agree with the assumptions?

我同意呢啲假設嗎？

How can I apply this in my life?

可以知道套用到生活？

It's a way of processing what's going on

明白目前發生嘅事

so that we can use it later.

我哋就可以有經驗，之後再用得返

Now we also need to repeat it. We need to practice.

我哋亦都需要重複練習

So we need to think about it here.

我哋同人討論啲事

In between, we want to talk to people about it.

We're going to write it down, and when you get home,

我哋要將佢哋記錄低

返屋企之後，攞出筆記，思考筆記

pull out those notes and think about them

and end up practicing over time.

同埋要定時練習

Practice for some reason became a very negative thing.

「練習」因為某啲原因令人覺得係負面

It's very positive.

但佢其實係好正面

The next thing is, we need to think elaboratively

下一步，我哋就要諗得仔細同好清晰

and we need to think illustratively.

Oftentimes, we think that we have to relate new knowledge to prior knowledge.

好多時，我哋都覺得要 將新知識連到去已有嘅知識

What we want to do is spin that around.

我哋就想倒轉

We want to take all of our existence

用新知識解釋現有嘅嘢

and wrap it around that new knowledge

and make all of these connections and it becomes more meaningful.

令新知識同舊知識更有意思咁走埋一齊

我哋都會用圖像

We also want to use imagery. We are built for images.

因為人類天生對影像敏感

We need to take advantage of that.

我哋可以善用呢個特點

Think about things in images,

用圖像去諗嘢

write things down that way.

用圖畫記低事情

If you read a book, pull things up.

如果你睇梗一本書，就要連埋啲嘢

I just got through reading "The Great Gatsby,"

就好似之前我讀《大亨小傳》一樣

and I have a perfect idea of what he looks like

我喺腦裏面構想主角個樣

in my head, so my own version.

咁我就有咗自己對主角容貌嘅概念

The last one is organization and support.

最後一樣係組織同支援

We are meaning-making machines. It's what we do.

人類係會對事物附加意思

We try to make meaning out of everything that happens to us.

人類就係咁

我哋會喺每件事裏邊搵意思

Organization helps, so we need to structure

事情嘅組織幫到我哋搵意思

所以我哋要組織

what we're doing in ways that make sense.

令事情易於明白

If we are providing knowledge and experience,

如果我哋要向人講解知識同經驗

we need to structure that.

我哋先要有組織能力

And the last one is support.

最後係支援

We all started as novices.

我哋都係由初學者開始

Everything we do is an approximation of sophistication.

我哋做嘅每一件事都係朝著複雜進發

We should expect it to change over time. We have to support that.

因為我要知道事情會愈嚟愈難

所以我哋要加多啲支援

The support may come in asking people questions,

支援可以係向問人問題

giving them a sheet of paper that has an organizational chart on it

例如畀佢哋一張紙

上面有組織圖表或者提示嘅圖片

or has some guiding images,

but we need to support it.

我哋要支援

Now, the final piece of this, the take-home message

最後，我想帶出一個重點

from a working memory capacity standpoint is this:

喺工作記憶裏面

what we process, we learn.

我哋個腦處理嘅嘢，就係我哋要學嘅嘢

If we're not processing life, we're not living it.

假如我哋個腦冇處理過生活大小事情

我哋就從來都冇生存過

Live life. Thank you.

好好過你嘅生活。多謝

(Applause)

（掌聲）