D: Lots of people have had dreams that seem to foretell the future. Some psychologists attribute this to “retrieval cues.”
Y: Retrieval cues?
D: A retrieval cue is a coincidence in the real world that triggers a dream memory which otherwise would have gone unnoticed.For example, did you know you dreamed about a little dog before the real dog showed up?
Y: Oh, yes, I was thinking about it all morning.
D: Really?
Y: Welll, I think so.
D: Maybe, or maybe the real event triggered a recollection of a dream, which not seems like it must have been in your thoughts all along. By the way did you have any other dreams last night that didn't come true?
Y: Hmm, I don't remember what other else I dreamed.
D: Why not? Some studies suggest we have literally hundreds of dreams each night.
Y: Ok, I get the point. Maybe this dreaming the future stuff is more like picking and choosing dreams when they happen to fit.
D: Coincidences are bound to come up. And if the coincidence acts as retrieval cue, the sense that you predicted something can be pretty convincing… even if it’s just a dream.
D:許多人都做過(guò)一些好像可以預(yù)知未來(lái)的夢(mèng)。心理學(xué)家把這種現(xiàn)象歸因于“提取線索”。
Y:提取線索?
D:提取是一種巧合:現(xiàn)生活中的某個(gè)場(chǎng)景讓你回憶起一個(gè)不被注意夢(mèng)境。比如,你知道你夢(mèng)到的那只小狗出現(xiàn)在真實(shí)的狗之前嗎?
D:是的。我整個(gè)早上都在想這個(gè)夢(mèng)。
Y:真的嗎?
Y:我想是吧。
D:也許吧,有或許是真實(shí)事件讓你回憶起某個(gè)夢(mèng)境,而這個(gè)夢(mèng)境不一定一直都在你的腦海中。順便問(wèn)一下,你昨天晚上還做了其它沒(méi)有實(shí)現(xiàn)的夢(mèng)嗎?
Y:嗯,其他做過(guò)的夢(mèng)都不記得了。
D:為什么不記得了呢?有研究稱(chēng)我們每天晚上要做數(shù)百個(gè)夢(mèng)。
Y:好,我知道了。也許夢(mèng)見(jiàn)未來(lái)這種事更像是從成千上百個(gè)夢(mèng)的中挑選一個(gè)碰巧合適情景的。
D:所以,巧合就發(fā)生了。如果巧合作為提取線索,你能預(yù)測(cè)未來(lái)就相當(dāng)有說(shuō)服力,盡管那只是一個(gè)夢(mèng)。
Notes:
提取線索的心理學(xué)概念,是指當(dāng)你搜索一個(gè)特定的記憶時(shí),可以利用的刺激。可以是外部提供的,比如試卷上的選擇題題目;也可以是內(nèi)部提供,比如看到一個(gè)人時(shí),自己?jiǎn)栕约海?ldquo;我在哪兒見(jiàn)過(guò)她?”