经济学人276:动物行为 猩球探秘

 　　Science and technology

　　科学技术

　　Animal behaviour

　　动物行为

　　Planet of the apes

　　猩球探秘

　　Chimpanzees' personas seem more complex than people's

　　猩猩的行为特征，似乎比人类还要复杂

　　HUMAN personalities², it is widely agreed by psychologists, can be measured along five dimensions: extroversion³, agreeableness, conscientiousness⁵, neuroticism⁶ and openness to experience.

　　大多数心理学家都承认人类性格特征一共可分为五个维度：外向、易相处、善于动手、神经反应和继承性。

　　One person may be more extrovert⁷ than another, less agreeable, more conscientious⁴ and so on, and to an extent how well two people will get on can be predicted from how their personalities mesh⁸.

　　甲可能比乙更开朗，或者更勤劳，也可能更固执，等等；就这一点说来，两个人相处是否融洽，取决于二人性格相斥还是相吸。

　　People who don't get on, though, have the option of avoiding each other.

　　甲不愿意和乙共处一室，还有选择的余地。

　　That is not true of animals in zoos.

　　而动物园里的动物却只能逆来顺受，

　　But they too have personalities.

　　但是重点在于动物们也有自己的个性。

　　So, to prevent trouble between members of one species—the chimpanzee—Hani Freeman of Lincoln Park Zoo, in Chicago, has developed a way of assessing those personalities.

　　就拿猩猩来说，为防止其同类间发生摩擦，来自芝加哥林肯公园动物园的哈尼·弗里曼提出一套得以划定动物性格的方法。

　　In doing so, she sheds an intriguing⁹ light not only on chimpanzee psychology¹⁰, but also on the mental evolution of Homo sapiens.

　　此法一经问世，就像点亮了好奇之灯，不仅照亮了黑猩猩心理学研究之路，对于现代智人心理进化探索的影响也不容小觑。

　　As they report in the American Journal of Primatology, Dr Freeman and her colleagues started by surveying the existing literature on chimpanzee behaviour.

　　弗里曼和她的同事将研究成果刊登在《美国灵长类动物学学术期刊》上面，其中提到他们正是基于现有有关猩猩行为表现的文献而展开探索的。

　　This search threw up 55 terms, ranging from bold and jealous to stingy and sexual, that previous investigators¹¹ had applied¹² to aspects of chimpanzee character.

　　之前调查人员将黑猩猩性格划分之后，得出了55个术语，包括勇敢、嫉妒、吝啬以及性别差异思维，弗里曼的研究将这55个术语高亮显示。

　　The team then asked five experts—a mixture of scientists and zookeepers, all of whom had had years of day-to-day experiences with captive chimpanzees—to provide their own lists of terms.

　　之后研究小组找来5位专家，其中不乏有科学家，有动物园饲养员，他们都曾与笼子中的动物朝夕相处数年之久。这五位要做的是写下他们自己认为的黑猩猩性格术语。

　　These inquiries¹³ collected 71 suggestions, 45 of which overlapped¹⁴ with the 55 from the literature search.

　　他们一共给出71个描述性词汇，其中有45个与文献总结的55个术语重叠。

　　Finally, they compared their results with a review of chimpanzee behaviour carried out in 2008 by a different team. That comparison yielded two further terms.

　　最后，研究小组又与2008年另一支针对黑猩猩行为研究小组的结论作对比，结论不过增添了两个新术语。

　　Once Dr Freeman had gone through the accumulated list and merged¹⁵ into one term any set that seemed to mean the same thing, she was left with 41 that seemed robust¹⁶ descriptions of chimpanzee attitudes.

　　弗里曼曾认真研读过这一系列术语表单，然后将可以划为一类的术语总结出来。

　　This done, she gave the list to 17 people who work with chimpanzees on a regular basis at a medical-research facility in Texas, and asked them to rate the 99 chimps¹⁷ there for each of the 41 characteristics.

　　最终她留下了41个能够很犀利的描述猩猩行为的术语。归纳工作完成之后，弗里曼将41个术语的列表交给德克萨斯针对猩猩的定期健康检查研究机构，17名工作人员将用41个术语描述99个黑猩猩。

　　She found that different people rated the same animals in the same way. That suggests their assessments¹⁸ were reliable.

　　弗里曼发现即使是不同的人，对于同一批动物得出的结论仍然是相同的。

　　She also found that scores for particular terms tended to cluster together.

　　也就是说，他们的结论是可靠的。弗里曼还察觉到，一类特殊的词汇总是集中性的出现。

　　A chimp¹ that scored highly for irritability¹⁹, for example, was also likely to score highly for aggression²⁰ and for jealousy²¹, and to have low scores for calmness and relaxation²².

　　比如，一只黑猩猩在易怒一栏得分较高，那么在富有攻击性和嫉妒分栏中得分也较高，相反在稳定和缓和分栏得分较低。

　　That let her apply a statistical²³ technique called principal-component analysis to the data, to work out the dimensions of chimpanzee personality.

　　从而弗里曼在数据整理中获得一项称之为优先分析部分的统计技术，提高界定黑猩猩性格维度的工作效率。

　　It is analysis of this sort which showed that human personas have five dimensions.

　　此类分析得出的人类性格有五个维度，

　　Chimps' personas, by contrast, seem to have six.

　　但是黑猩猩性格维度似乎却达到六个。

　　These are extroversion, agreeableness and openness, which match human dimensions, and reactivity, dominance and methodicalness, which do not.

　　外向、易相处和继承性这三点能够对应人类性格特征，而条件反射、统治思维和使用工具却和人类相异。

　　Reactivity is similar to the human dimension called neuroticism, though not similar enough, in Dr Freeman's view, to justify²⁴ the same label.

　　条件反射与人类的神经反应类似，但在弗里曼看来，明确性格标签情况下，相似程度是有限的。

　　And methodicalness, which measures the way animals approach things like using tools and making the nests they sleep in, resembles conscientiousness—though Dr Freeman's raters found this difficult to assess because such activities are not much available to the chimps in Texas.

　　动物利用外物的倾向性和建造窝巢统称为使用工具，这一点和人类善于动手是类似的，尽管17位性格划分人员发现很难去评价，因为这类行为在德克萨斯的黑猩猩身上是不常发生的。

　　But there is, intriguingly²⁵, no human dimension that resembles chimpanzee dominance.

　　有趣的地方是最后一点，统治思维，这在人类性格维度里毫无对应点。

　　At the moment, it is possible to do little more than speculate about what all this means.

　　此时此刻，也应该分析分析这一切的内在意义了。

　　From a practical point of view it shows that it is probably not a good idea to put two animals with high dominance scores in the same enclosure—a discovery that addresses the question which started the research.

　　从现实角度看，将两只在统治思维一栏中得分较高的黑猩猩放在一个屋檐下，不甚明智，这一问题在研究初始阶段就已经提出。

　　From a theoretical point of view it provides a way to study the mental similarities and differences between chimpanzees and humans:

　　从理论层面看，这给对于人类和黑猩猩之间的心理相似性和差异性研究提供了机会：

　　what, in other words, is core anthropoid²⁶ behaviour, and what is species-specific.

　　换句话说，类人猿的核心行为是什么，还有不同种类的独有特征是什么？

　　1.not only 不但，不仅，不只；非但

　　A diminished franchise²⁷ is not only bad for shareholders²⁸.

　　被贬低的特许权不仅对股东有害。

　　He's not only your best hope.

　　他不仅仅是你最好的希望。

　　2.jealous to 嫉妒

　　And he is jealous to roo who can bounce better.

　　他还很嫉妒比他跳的好的袋鼠。

　　I'm with ryan and there is no reason to be jealous to gabby.

　　我和瑞安，也没有理由吃醋到饶舌。

　　3.apply to 适用于；运用；致力于

　　The same logic²⁹ could well apply to the iphone.

　　同样的逻辑或许也完全适用于iphone。

　　These passwords apply to the entire workbook.

　　这些密码可应用于整个工作簿。

　　4.work with 与…在一起干；从事…工作

　　These are all historical truths that we in the west can work with.

　　这些都是身处西方的我们能够与之合作的历史借镜。

　　China will continue to work with other countries with common responsibilities.

　　中国将继续与其他国家一道承担共同的责任。

1 chimp   

n.黑猩猩

参考例句：

• In fact,the color of gorilla and chimp are light-color.其实大猩猩和黑猩猩的肤色是较为浅的。
• The chimp is the champ.猩猩是冠军。

2 personalities   

n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There seemed to be a degree of personalities in her remarks.她话里有些人身攻击的成分。
• Personalities are not in good taste in general conversation.在一般的谈话中诽谤他人是不高尚的。

3 extroversion   

n. [心理]外向，[医]外翻 =extraversion

参考例句：

• The contrast between extroversion and introversion is entirely superficial. 在外向和内向之间所作的对比完全是表面的。
• The oft-drawn contrast extroversion and introversion is entirely superficial. 在外向和内向之间通常所作的对比完全是表面的。

4 conscientious   

adj.审慎正直的，认真的，本着良心的

参考例句：

• He is a conscientious man and knows his job.他很认真负责，也很懂行。
• He is very conscientious in the performance of his duties.他非常认真地履行职责。

5 conscientiousness   

责任心

参考例句：

• Conscientiousness is expected of a student. 学生要诚实。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Only has the conscientiousness, diligently works, can make a more splendid result! 只有脚踏实地，努力工作，才能做出更出色的成绩！ 来自互联网

6 neuroticism   

n.神经过敏症

参考例句：

• Is Neuroticism an Independent Dimension of Chinese Personality Structure? 中国人有没有独立的“神经质”人格维度？ 来自互联网
• The usual smoking behavior of male had notable correlation with neuroticism dimension. 男生经常性的吸烟行为与神经质维度显著相关。 来自互联网

7 extrovert   

n.性格外向的人

参考例句：

• A good salesman is usually an extrovert,who likes to mingle with people.一个好的推销员通常很外向，喜欢和人们交往。
• Do you think you're an extrovert or introvert?你认为你是个性外向的人还是个性内向的人？

8 mesh   

n.网孔，网丝，陷阱；vt.以网捕捉，啮合，匹配；vi.适合； [计算机]网络

参考例句：

• Their characters just don't mesh.他们的性格就是合不来。
• This is the net having half inch mesh.这是有半英寸网眼的网。

9 intriguing   

adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• These discoveries raise intriguing questions. 这些发现带来了非常有趣的问题。
• It all sounds very intriguing. 这些听起来都很有趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

11 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

13 inquiries   

n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
• I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 overlapped   

_adj.重叠的v.部分重叠( overlap的过去式和过去分词 )；（物体）部份重叠；交叠；（时间上）部份重叠

参考例句：

• His visit and mine overlapped. 他的访问期与我的访问期有几天重叠。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Our visits to the town overlapped. 我们彼此都恰巧到那小城观光。 来自辞典例句

15 merged   

（使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中

参考例句：

• Turf wars are inevitable when two departments are merged. 两个部门合并时总免不了争争权限。
• The small shops were merged into a large market. 那些小商店合并成为一个大商场。

16 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

17 chimps   

（非洲）黑猩猩( chimp的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Chimps are too scarce, and too nearly human, to be routinely slaughtered for spare parts. 黑猩猩又太少，也太接近于人类，不可以作为人器官备用件说杀就杀。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 医学的第四次革命
• And as nonprimates, they provoke fewer ethical and safety-related concerns than chimps or baboons. 而且作为非灵长类，就不会产生像用黑猩猩或狒狒那样的伦理和安全方面的顾虑。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 医学的第四次革命

18 assessments   

n.评估( assessment的名词复数 )；评价；（应偿付金额的）估定；（为征税对财产所作的）估价

参考例句：

• He was shrewd in his personal assessments. 他总能对人作出精明的评价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Surveys show about two-thirds use such assessments, while half employ personality tests. 调查表明，约有三分之二的公司采用了这种测评；而一半的公司则采用工作人员个人品质测试。 来自百科语句

19 irritability   

n.易怒

参考例句：

• It was the almost furtive restlessness and irritability that had possessed him. 那是一种一直纠缠着他的隐秘的不安和烦恼。
• All organisms have irritability while alive. 所有生物体活着时都有应激性。

20 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

21 jealousy   

n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌

参考例句：

• Some women have a disposition to jealousy.有些女人生性爱妒忌。
• I can't support your jealousy any longer.我再也无法忍受你的嫉妒了。

22 relaxation   

n.松弛，放松；休息；消遣；娱乐

参考例句：

• The minister has consistently opposed any relaxation in the law.部长一向反对法律上的任何放宽。
• She listens to classical music for relaxation.她听古典音乐放松。

23 statistical   

adj.统计的，统计学的

参考例句：

• He showed the price fluctuations in a statistical table.他用统计表显示价格的波动。
• They're making detailed statistical analysis.他们正在做具体的统计分析。

24 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

25 intriguingly   

参考例句：

• Intriguingly, she gave to the music a developed although oddly malleable personality. 最神奇的是，她的音乐具有成熟却又很奇怪地极富可塑性。 来自互联网
• Intriguingly, the patients brains were riddled with tangles, but not amyloid plaques. 有趣的是，患者的大脑中充满了各缠结，但并没有粉斑。 来自互联网

26 anthropoid   

adj.像人类的，类人猿的；n.类人猿；像猿的人

参考例句：

• Man evolved from the anthropoid ape.人是从类人猿进化而来的。
• Gorilla are the largest of the anthropoid apes native to the forests of equatorial Africa.大猩猩是栖居在赤道非洲的最大的类人猿。

27 franchise   

n.特许，特权，专营权，特许权

参考例句：

• Catering in the schools is run on a franchise basis.学校餐饮服务以特许权经营。
• The United States granted the franchise to women in 1920.美国于1920年给妇女以参政权。

28 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

29 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。