School is starting, and students across the country are about to spend a lot of time in the classroom and in the library. And as they crack their textbooks open, they're going to hear a lot of familiar advice about how to study right. “Sit still, in a quiet place. Avoid distractions¹. Keep your focus on the book. Put away your devices. Study in the same place every day. Practice discipline and make studying into a routine.” But that's not the only way to learn, and brain science is increasingly suggesting alternatives.

又到了开学季，全国各地的学生们很多时间都花费在教室和图书馆里。当他们打开教科书时，就又将听到一套关于如何学习的不能再熟悉的理论。“要坐得住，环境要清幽，不能分心，专注于你的书本，把电子设备拿开，每天在同样的地方学习，有规律地学习。”但是这并不是学习的唯一之路，而且我们的大脑总是会给出与之相左的建议。

Benedict Carey, who covers medicine and science for the The New York Times, is the author of How We Learn. He says that many of the old adages³ about studying and focus are outdated⁴.Take the idea of studying in the same place every day. "You don't have to have the same chair, the same cubicle⁵, the same room, to do your memorization," Carey says, "Changing context, changing environment aids retention⁶."

为纽约时报药物与科学采访撰稿的本尼迪克特· 凯里是《如何学习》的作者。她说，很多关于学习和专注的理论都已经过时了。就拿每天要在同样的地方学习这一条来说，“辅助记忆的话，没必要非得坐同一张椅子，同一个隔间，同一个房间。”凯里这样说，“换个环境反倒会有助于记忆。”

Interview Highlights

采访要点

On discipline and learning

关于自律和学习

A lot of people think learning is all discipline. And it turns out scientists have discovered, that it doesn't work that way. The brain is a foraging⁷ instrument. And once you appreciate that, you're able to take some pressure off yourself to not worry that you're doing things right all the time and to have a tactical plan when you study for something.

很多人认为学习需要自律。但是科学家发现事实并非如此。大脑是一个采集工具。如果你意识到这点，就能放松许多而不是总去担心是否做对了某件事，或者是否采取了正确的学习策略。

On how we typically study vs. how we learn life skills

关于我们如何学习以及如何习得生活技能

We know that quiet study, ritual, all those things we assume to be true, assume to be self-evident, those are only one way to study. A lot of things we've learned, whether it's to cook or ride a bicycle or socialize, we've done those piecemeal⁸. The brain is very good at learning on the fly during daily life.

我们习惯于安静地学习，我们假设这种方法是正确的，是不言而明的，但它们只是学习的方法之一。在我们学习烹饪、骑自行车或者社交时，都是一点一点学会的。大脑非常擅长在日常生活中学到新东西。

On the value of distractions — including digital ones关于分散注意力的价值——包括电子设备

Distraction² is one of those things everybody is worried about — certainly every parent, with the iPhones and people jumping on Facebook and so on. And of course if you're spending your entire time tooling around on Facebook, you're not studying, so that's a problem.

大家都在担心自己会注意力不集中，尤其是家长们，或者拿着Iphone总是刷Facebook的人们。而且如果你总是刷Facebook的话，你也不会是在学习了，这的确是个问题。

However, there's a whole bunch of science looking at problem-solving. In problem-solving, when you get stuck, you've run out of ideas, distraction is really your best friend. You need to stand up, let it go — walk around the block, go to the cafe, drink a beer, whatever it is — and that is really your best shot at loosening the gears a little bit and allowing yourself to take a different and more creative approach to the problem.

然而，有很多解决这个问题的办法。在学习中，如果你遇到了瓶颈而无计可施时，适当地分心无疑是很好的选择。站起来先不去想它，走一走，喝杯咖啡，来瓶啤酒都可以。这会让你适当放松并且能对遇到的问题有不同的、更有创意的想法。

On testing as a study tool, not just an evaluation⁹

关于将考试作为学习方法，而不是考核标准

There's a lot of interesting research now looking at using testing as a study tool ... self-examination, or even doing tests before a course starts, are both very intriguing¹⁰, interesting and possibly sort of revolutionary approaches to learning.

现在很多有意思的调查都将考试视作一种学习方法。自我检测，或者在课程开始之前就考一次试，这些都是很有趣的，并且可能成为某种改革学习的方式。