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科学美国人60秒 SSS Screams Heard Round the Animal World

时间:2017-08-21 09:22:14

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(单词翻译)

Screams Heard Round the Animal World

人类与生俱来的尖叫声识别能力

What does panic sound like? <clip of Homer Simpson scream> Like that, for sure. But also like this <pig sound>. And this <chickadee sound >. But maybe you already knew that. Because a new study shows that humans are actually good at identifying vocalizations that are emotionally intense…even when those outcries come from other species. The findings are communicated in the Proceedings1 of the Royal Society B.

你知道恐慌的声音吗?<荷马·辛普森的尖叫声>毫无疑问,它是这样的。也会是这样的<猪叫声>。还有这样的<山雀的叫声>。也许这些是你早就知道的。一项新的研究表明,人类其实很擅长识别带有强烈感情色彩的声音……即使那些尖叫声是来自其他物种。相关发现发表在《皇家学会学报B》。

It was Charles Darwin who first mused2 about the evolution of emotional expression.

第一个思考情感表达演变的是查尔斯·达尔文。

As he wrote in the Descent of Man:

正如他在《人类的由来》中写道:

\"All the air-breathing Vertebrata necessarily possess an apparatus3 for inhaling4 and expelling air.... When the primeval members of this class were strongly excited and their muscles violently contracted, purposeless sounds would almost certainly have been produced."

“所有的吸气式脊椎动物门都必有一个吸入和排出空气的器官……当此类物种的这一器官异常兴奋、肌肉剧烈收缩时,便会毫无疑问地发出这种无目的的声音。”

Now, if producing those seemingly purposeless noises turned out to be beneficial…by warning others of predators5, summoning protection, or enticing6 a mate…the behavior would persist and, over time, become selected for.

如果发出那些看似无目的的声音被证明是有益的——比如,可以警告捕食者、召唤同伴的保护或者吸引配偶……那么这种行为就会持续下去,而且随着时间的推移可能还会成为一种主观选择的行为。

Of course, for that to happen, the meanings behind those utterances7 would have to be clearly understood. To explore this question, researchers asked 75 volunteers to listen to vocalizations produced by nine different species, from black-capped chickadees to American alligators8. The recordings9 included sounds made by animals when they were relatively10 relaxed…like this hourglass tree frog <clip low arousal>…or in some way excited…say, reacting to an aggressor or competing for a mate, like this hourglass tree frog <clip high arousal>.

当然,为了实现这一目的,这些话语背后的含义必须被清楚地理解。为了探究这一问题,研究人员要求75名志愿者聆听从黑冕山雀到美洲短吻鳄等9种不同物种发出的叫声。志愿者听到的录音包括在动物们相对轻松时录制的声音,比如沙漏树蛙发出的<低唤醒声>;或者在动物们比较兴奋的时刻录制的声音,比如在面对侵略者或争夺配偶时发出的声音,例如沙漏树蛙发出的<高唤醒声>

The listeners were then asked to identify which of the paired recordings from each species represented a sound of distress11 or “emotional arousal.”

然后,志愿者被要求识别每个物种发出的两种声音中,哪一种声音代表着痛苦声或“情绪性唤醒”。

The result?

结果呢?

“We found that, yes, humans recognize higher levels of emotional intensity12 in species which span across all of these classes.”

“我们发现,人类的确能够识别跨越所有这些物种的生物所发出的情绪强度较高的声音。”

Piera Filippi of the University of Aix-Marseille in France and the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in the Netherlands, who led the study.

法国艾克斯-马赛大学和荷兰马普心理语言学研究所的皮耶拉·菲莉比领导了这项研究。

“Interestingly, we did not find any effect of language background on the human’s accuracy.”

“有趣的是,我们没有发现语言背景对人类判断的准确性有任何影响。”

Participants who spoke13 English, German or Mandarin14 all did equally well at pointing out which chirps15, squeals16, and hoots17 were emotionally charged. They were also able to tell when actors speaking in Tamil, a language none of them had ever heard before, sounded upset.

那些说英语、德语或普通话的参与者都能很好地辨别出那些唧唧声、尖叫声和叫嚣声所表达的情绪。他们甚至能够听出来说泰米尔语的演员们言语中的沮丧感,而泰米尔语是一种他们均从未听过的一门语言。

“The finding thus suggests that humans’ ability to recognize higher levels of emotional intensity in animal vocalizations is biologically universal.”

“这一发现表明,人类识别动物发出的情感强度较高的声音的能力,在生物学上是普遍的。”

The listeners seem to be tuning18 in on the higher frequency of alarm calls, the researchers say. These shifts in pitch are perhaps clearest in the vocalization of infants, such as the piglet <pig sound high arousal> used in this study. That suggests that we may be hardwired to recognize babies in distress.

研究人员表示,志愿者似乎对高频率的警报声更加敏感,而这些音调的变化在婴儿的发声中可能是最明显的,例如在此次研究中使用的小猪的录音<小猪的高唤醒声>。这表明,我们可能天生就能识别出处于困境中的婴儿。

We’re not necessarily horse whisperers…but it seems we all feel for that little piggy when it goes <pig sound> to make its emotions known.

我们不一定是马语者……但似乎当这只小猪发出这种声音<小猪的高唤醒声>来传达情绪时,我们都能感受到它的情绪。


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 proceedings Wk2zvX     
n.进程,过程,议程;诉讼(程序);公报
参考例句:
  • He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
  • to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼
2 mused 0affe9d5c3a243690cca6d4248d41a85     
v.沉思,冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 );沉思自语说(某事)
参考例句:
  • \"I wonder if I shall ever see them again, \"he mused. “我不知道是否还可以再见到他们,”他沉思自问。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • \"Where are we going from here?\" mused one of Rutherford's guests. 卢瑟福的一位客人忍不住说道:‘我们这是在干什么?” 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
3 apparatus ivTzx     
n.装置,器械;器具,设备
参考例句:
  • The school's audio apparatus includes films and records.学校的视听设备包括放映机和录音机。
  • They had a very refined apparatus.他们有一套非常精良的设备。
4 inhaling 20098cce0f51e7ae5171c97d7853194a     
v.吸入( inhale的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • He was treated for the effects of inhaling smoke. 他因吸入烟尘而接受治疗。 来自辞典例句
  • The long-term effects of inhaling contaminated air is unknown. 长期吸入被污染空气的影响还无从知晓。 来自互联网
5 predators 48b965855934a5395e409c1112d94f63     
n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 );奴役他人者(尤指在财务或性关系方面)
参考例句:
  • birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
  • The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》
6 enticing ctkzkh     
adj.迷人的;诱人的
参考例句:
  • The offer was too enticing to refuse. 这提议太有诱惑力,使人难以拒绝。
  • Her neck was short but rounded and her arms plump and enticing. 她的脖子短,但浑圆可爱;两臂丰腴,也很动人。
7 utterances e168af1b6b9585501e72cb8ff038183b     
n.发声( utterance的名词复数 );说话方式;语调;言论
参考例句:
  • John Maynard Keynes used somewhat gnomic utterances in his General Theory. 约翰·梅纳德·凯恩斯在其《通论》中用了许多精辟言辞。 来自辞典例句
  • Elsewhere, particularly in his more public utterances, Hawthorne speaks very differently. 在别的地方,特别是在比较公开的谈话里,霍桑讲的话则完全不同。 来自辞典例句
8 alligators 0e8c11e4696c96583339d73b3f2d8a10     
n.短吻鳄( alligator的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Two alligators rest their snouts on the water's surface. 两只鳄鱼的大嘴栖息在水面上。 来自辞典例句
  • In the movement of logs by water the lumber industry was greatly helped by alligators. 木材工业过去在水上运输木料时所十分倚重的就是鳄鱼。 来自辞典例句
9 recordings 22f9946cd05973582e73e4e3c0239bb7     
n.记录( recording的名词复数 );录音;录像;唱片
参考例句:
  • a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
  • old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐
10 relatively bkqzS3     
adv.比较...地,相对地
参考例句:
  • The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
  • The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。
11 distress 3llzX     
n.苦恼,痛苦,不舒适;不幸;vt.使悲痛
参考例句:
  • Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
  • Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。
12 intensity 45Ixd     
n.强烈,剧烈;强度;烈度
参考例句:
  • I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
  • The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。
13 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
14 Mandarin TorzdX     
n.中国官话,国语,满清官吏;adj.华丽辞藻的
参考例句:
  • Just over one billion people speak Mandarin as their native tongue.大约有十亿以上的人口以华语为母语。
  • Mandarin will be the new official language of the European Union.普通话会变成欧盟新的官方语言。
15 chirps 6a10ab5f46899527c1988cd37ebb3054     
鸟叫,虫鸣( chirp的第三人称单数 ); 啾; 啾啾
参考例句:
  • The linnet chirps her vernal song. 红雀吱喳鸣叫着她春天的歌。
  • She heard nothing but the chirps and whirrs of insects. 除了虫的鸣叫声外,她什么也没听见。
16 squeals 4754a49a0816ef203d1dddc615bc7983     
n.长而尖锐的叫声( squeal的名词复数 )v.长声尖叫,用长而尖锐的声音说( squeal的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • There was an outburst of squeals from the cage. 铁笼子里传来一阵吱吱的叫声。 来自英汉文学
  • There were squeals of excitement from the children. 孩子们兴奋得大声尖叫。 来自辞典例句
17 hoots 328717a68645f53119dae1aae5c695a9     
咄,啐
参考例句:
  • His suggestion was greeted with hoots of laughter. 他的建议引起了阵阵嗤笑。
  • The hoots came from the distance. 远处传来呜呜声。
18 tuning 8700ed4820c703ee62c092f05901ecfc     
n.调谐,调整,调音v.调音( tune的现在分词 );调整;(给收音机、电视等)调谐;使协调
参考例句:
  • They are tuning up a plane on the flight line. 他们正在机场的飞机跑道上调试一架飞机。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The orchestra are tuning up. 管弦乐队在定弦。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

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