人与动物的关联
** 薄荷阅读《心理学百科》笔记整理
** 【文章解读】
人与动物的关联
** 有史以来,哲学家(和后来的心理学家们)始终在思考人与动物之间的关联。
>> 5th century,Ancient Greek philosophers Aristotle and Plato claim that animals have a low level, distinctly non-human consciousness. Aristotle claims that only humans have self-awareness and are capable of higher-level cognition.
** 五世纪时,古希腊哲学家柏拉图和他的学生亚里士多德认为动物们拥有一种低等的、与人类截然不同的“意识”。
>> Aristotle believed that there are three kinds of mind: plant, animal, and human. The plant mind is concerned only with nutrition and growth.
** 亚里士多德相信世界上有三种不同的“心灵”:植物心灵、动物心灵和人类心灵。它们三者的功能有一种包含关系:植物心灵只关心营养和生长;动物心灵在此基础上还能体验「感觉(sensations)」、并且发起动作(initiating motion);人类心灵拥有以上所有功能,除此之外,还能进行思辨(reason)。
>> Aristotle claims that only humans have self-awareness and are capable of higher-level cognition.
** 亚里士多德认为——从「自我意识」和「认知」的层面来说,人类是更为高级的。
>> In the 17th century, the French philosopher René Descartes claimed that animals are no more than reflex-driven, complex machines.
** 1630年代,笛卡儿说,动物只是没有感觉的精密机器,始终受到本能的驱使。
>> According to René Descartes, observing animals could tell us nothing about our own behaviour.笛卡儿的观点完全否定了人与动物的关联性,这样一来,动物研究也就无法为我们探索人类自身的种种行为带来帮助了。
>> 1859 British biologist Charles Darwin links humans to animal ancestors.
** 1859年,英国生物学家查尔斯·达尔文(Charles Darwin)的《物种起源》将人类和动物祖先联系在了一起。
>> This was the position held by the German physician, philosopher, and psychologist Wilhelm Wundt, who described a continuum of life from even the smallest animals to ourselves. In his book Principles of Physiological Psychology, he claimed that consciousness is a universal possession of all living organisms, and has been since the evolutionary process began.
** 冯特相信达尔文的理论。他认为,从最小的生命,一直到人类自身,之间存在着一种连续。因此,「意识」应是从进化之初就普遍存在于所有生命体之中的。
>> Wilhelm Wundt Even single-celled organisms have some form of consciousness, according to Wundt. He suggested the amoeba's ability to devour food items indicates a continuity of mental processes.
** 冯特认为,阿米巴原虫等单细胞生物拥有吞吃食物的能力,这显示了心理过程的持续性。图为一只阿米巴原虫。
** 为了证明上述理论,冯特建立起实验心理学的方法论。
>> 【1】 Observing behaviour: external and internal observation
客观、可量化的观察法
>> Wundt believed that “the exact description of consciousness is the sole aim of experimental psychology”.
** 他认为实验心理学的唯一目标即是对意识进行准确的描述和解释。
>> Although he understood consciousness as an “inner experience”, he was only interested in the “immediately real” or apparent form of this experience.
** 如何对意识进行探究呢?冯特认为意识虽是一种「内在体验」,但是这种体验是有可以即刻显现的形式的——通过观察实验对象的行为,我们就可以一窥他的意识所在。
>> Wundt said that there are two types of observation: external and internal
** 冯特的观察方法主要有两种:
外部观察(external observation)
>> External observation is used to record events that are visible in the external world, and is useful in assessing relationships such as cause and effect on physical bodies – for example, in stimulus and response experiments.
** 通过记录外部事件(肉眼可见的、发生在现实世界中的事件),来勘测生物体与种种现象的关联,例如一种行为的因与果。刺激-反应实验就是其一。
** 膝跳反射实验(knee-jerk reaction)
!
人与动物的关联** 内在观察(internal observation = introspection/self-observation):
>> Wundt’s second type of observation, termed “introspection” or “self-observation”, is internal observation. This involves noticing and recording internal events such as thoughts and feelings.
** 这种观察方式也称作“内省”。它通过记录内部事件(如内心思想和感受),以供人们总结出心灵的运作模式。
>> Wundt was interested in the relationship between the inner and outer worlds, which he did not see as mutually exclusive, but as interactive, describing it as “physical and psychical.
** 冯特认为「内部」和「外部」并非相互隔绝,而是不断交互影响的。
>> He began to concentrate on the study of human sensations, such as the visual sensation of light, because these are the agencies that link the external physical world and the internal mental world.
** 为了追寻这层联系,他开始着重研究人的感觉——感觉常常是内外沟通的媒介。
>> In one experiment, Wundt asked individuals to report on their sensations when shown a light signal – which was standardized to a specific colour and a certain level of brightness, and shone for a fixed length of time. This ensured that each participant experienced exactly the same stimulus, enabling responses of different participants to be compared and the experiment to be repeated at a later date, if required. In insisting upon this possibility for replication.
** 冯特努力在自己的实验中贯彻科学性和客观性。以其中一个探究人对光信号感知的实验为例:过程中,冯特使用「控制变量法」,使被测者接收的光的颜色、亮度和感光时长完全一致。由此,每个被测者的反馈就具有可比性了。同时,因为严格控制了实验参数,冯特也确保了实验的「可重复性」。
** 除此之外,冯特致力于「量化(quantify)」实验结果。他试图用数据来刻画人对刺激的反应,并且采用多种仪器,使结果尽可能准确。
>> 【2】The three components of pure sensations.
纯感觉的三种元素
>> Pure sensations, Wundt suggested, have three components: quality, intensity, and “feeling-tone”.
** 上面的实验让冯特总结出了纯感觉的三种元素:品质、强度和情感基调。
** 这些感觉元素就像一堆积木,通过归集和组合,便形成一个外部事物或行为过程的「表征」。冯特将这种感觉组合而成的产物称为「图像」——而这就是我们的「意识」。
** pure sensory information:纯感觉信息就像一堆散装积木,长短不一、颜色各异
>> All consciousness originates in sensations.:纯感觉信息经过搭配组合被我们内化,从而构成了完整的意识。
>> Categories of consciousness
意识的三种类型
>> Based on his sensory experiments, Wundt claimed that consciousness consists of three major categories of actions – representation, willing, and feeling – which together form an impression of a unitary flow of events.
** 冯特顺着自己的一系列感觉实验循序渐进,最终总结出了意识的三种类型:
> > Representation
Representations are either “perceptions”, if they represent an image in the mind of an object perceived in the external world (such as a tree within eyesight), or “intuitions” if they represent a subjective activity (such as remembering a tree, or imagining a unicorn
** 「表征」:可以是我们见到一个事物后产生的客观认知(perception,例如观察一具恐龙化石),也可以是主观层面的直觉与回想(intuition,例如想象一条中国龙)。
>> He named the process through which a perception or intuition becomes clear in consciousness apperception.
** 表征逐渐在我们的心中变得明晰的整个过程被冯特称为「apperception 统觉」:从我们最初对某事物形成意识,到最后可以对它作出反应,就是一个统觉的过程。
>> Willing
>> The willing category of consciousness is characterized by the way it intervenes in the external world; it expresses our volition, or “will”, from raising an arm to choosing to wear red.
** willing即是「意愿」。它可以是身体上的行为倾向,也可以是某种愿望(今晚要吃一斤小龙虾)。这种意识是无法通过实验来探测和衡量的。
>> Feeling
>> However, Wundt found that the third category of consciousness, feeling, could be measured through subjective reports from experimental participants, or through measuring levels of behaviour such as tension and relaxation or excitement.
** feeling即是「感受」。获得被测者感受的方法有两种:被测者主观汇报,以及对某些行为(如紧张、放松、激动……)的水平进行测量。
>> which together form an impression of a unitary flow of events.Representation,Willing和Feeling
** 三者结合,就让我们对事物形成了一个统一的印象。
>> Cultural psychology: the complex social and cultural influences
** 文化心理学
>> For Wundt, the psychological development of a person is determined not only by sensations but also by complex social and cultural influences, which cannot be replicatedor controlled in an experimental situation.
** 除了「感觉」,冯特认为社会环境和文化背景也会对一个人的意识产生影响。晚年的冯特著成长达10册的《文化心理学(Culture Psychology)》,讨论了宗教、语言、神话、历史、艺术、法律和习俗等对意识的作用。其中,语言是一个尤为重要的部分。
>> Languages
>> “In the course of normal speaking… the will is continuously directed to bringing the course of ideas and the articulatory movements into harmony with each other.
** 在正常讲话的过程中,「意愿」持续不停地指引着思维和发音动作之间的配合。”
>> Whoever is listening has to understand the meaning that the speaker is trying to convey, but the actual words may not be as important as the general impression, especially if strong emotions are involved. As evidence of the fact that we use this process.
** 语言满足人的表达需要。作为倾诉一方,我们不断甄选最恰当的词汇和句子,来尽可能地向他人阐明意思;而倾听一方从有声的词句和无声的肢体语言中接收到这层意思,并对此建立起一个基本印象。
> > The fundamental question of which animals have self-awareness or consciousness remains unanswered, although few psychologists today would assume.
** 心理学界对意识的热议仍在持续,但是自冯特始,这门学说已经基本定型。如今,人们关心的话题依然是人与动物的联系:动物有意识吗?动物能像人一样体验到不适、恐惧和痛苦吗?
>> 1949 Konrad Lorenz changes the way people see animals by showing their similarities to humans in King Solomon’s Ring.
** 1949年,奥地利动物学家、生态学家和鸟类学家康拉德·劳伦兹在著作《所罗门王的指环》中通过展现人与动物的相似性,转变了大众对动物的看法。
>> King Solomon's Ring
** 这本书的书名来源于Seal of Solomon的传说。故事中,所罗门王得到了一枚可以使他与动物交谈的戒指。Lorenz通过饲养动物,和它们形成了交流,就像得到了所罗门王的戒指一般。
** 例如在动物之中普遍存在的“印随行为(imprinting)”,其意指动物在初生的一段时间内倾向于把自己接触最多的移动物体当作自己的父母。这种学习对于动物初期的生活甚至以后的择偶行为都会有明显的影响。
>> 2001 American zoologist Donald Griffin argues in Animal Minds that animals have a sense of the future, complex memory, and perhaps consciousness itself.
** 2001年,美国动物学家Donald Griffin在作品《动物心灵》中说,动物们有对未来的感觉以及复杂的记忆,也许同样拥有自我意识。
>> This has led to the formation of special Codes of Ethics for animal experiments, intensive farming, and blood sports such as fox hunting and bull fighting.
** 基于对动物意识的认识,许多国家出台了针对动物的道德准则,来约束和规范动物实验、集约型农业、以及猎狐和斗牛等血腥的运动。
** 难以避免的,人与动物还有一层最为浅显直接的食物链上的关系。人类无法完全摈弃消费动物的需要,便努力思考如何能让动物在被屠宰和烹饪的时候少些痛苦,避免“在没有更高利益为缘由之下无故给动物造成负荷(引自德国《动物保护法》)”。
** 许多国家倡导宰杀牲畜时使用电击而非放血;甲壳类动物能否感受到痛苦也一度在热烈的讨论当中。2018年1月,瑞士修正《动物保护行政法令》,其中将动物屠宰的规定扩展到螯龙虾科动物,不许餐饮商家对它们进行活煮。