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Were you scared of the dark growing up? Or maybe you still are!
你在成長過程中害怕過黑暗嗎？或者你仍在害怕黑暗！
It's not too uncommon for adults either.
這對成年人來說并不罕見。
When you're young, being afraid of the dark goes hand in hand with some other fears,
你在小的時候，除了害怕黑暗之外，還害怕其他一些伴隨而來的恐懼，
like of ghosts, monsters, or other spooky things.
比如幽靈、怪物或其他恐怖的東西。
And as you get older, you might not use that sort of explanation anymore.
隨著年齡的增長，你可能不再使用這種辯解了。
But these irrational fears still stick around, because there are a lot of ways we learn to be afraid.
但這些非理性的恐懼仍然存在，因為很多方法能讓我們學(xué)會害怕。
The good news is: research has found out that there are ways to fight those fears, too.
好消息是：研究已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)，很多辦法能夠消除這些恐懼。
The way we usually develop fears is a well-understood part of psychology.
我們產(chǎn)生恐懼的常用方式是心理學(xué)中一個很容易理解的部分。
Most of the time, it's through classical conditioning.
大多數(shù)時候，它是通過經(jīng)典條件反射產(chǎn)生的。
This is when you pair a neutral stimulus, something that doesn't make you feel anything,
經(jīng)典條件反射是指當你配對一個不會讓你有任何感覺的中性刺激時，
with something that you have an automatic reaction to.
你會有一種無意識的反應(yīng)。
Like, imagine a person who's generally cool with dogs.
比如，想象一下，一個人通常對狗很喜愛。
But then, a dog bites her and she has to go to the hospital. That'd make anybody freak out a bit.
但是后來，一條狗咬了她，她不得不去醫(yī)院。這件事會讓任何人產(chǎn)生一點兒害怕。
Then, the neutral stimulus can become a conditioned stimulus, which gives you the same automatic reaction.
隨后，中性刺激會變成條件刺激，后者會產(chǎn)生同樣的自發(fā)反應(yīng)。
In other words, after that experience, this person is more likely to be afraid when she sees a dog.
換句話說，這次經(jīng)歷之后，這個人在看到狗時更有可能害怕。
Some phobias, which are extreme or irrational fears,
一些恐懼癥，即極端或非理性的恐懼，
can be caused by classical conditioning, including a fear of the dark.
可能會由經(jīng)典條件反射引起，其中包括對黑暗的恐懼。
Research in animals and humans has found that conditioned responses are probably linked with the amygdala.
關(guān)于動物和人類的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，條件反射可能與杏仁核有關(guān)。
That's a brain region that becomes active when people are afraid,
該大腦區(qū)域在人們害怕、
or have a lot of high-arousal emotions, like excitement and anger.
或有很多高喚醒情緒，比如興奮或憤怒時會變得活躍。
So conditioned fears kind of make sense: they're based on something that happened to you.
所以，條件性恐懼是有點兒道理的：它們是根據(jù)你身上發(fā)生過的事情產(chǎn)生的。
And some surveys have found that most children have had a bad experience with the thing they're scared of, like spiders or the dark.
一些調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，大多數(shù)孩子對他們害怕的東西，比如蜘蛛或黑暗都有過糟糕經(jīng)歷。
But other phobias are of things that you've never actually experienced.
但是其他的恐懼癥來自你從未經(jīng)歷過的事情。
Like, arachnophobia is one of the top fears in the world, but most people haven't actually been attacked by spiders.
比如，蜘蛛恐懼癥是世界上最大的恐懼之一，但是大多數(shù)人并沒有被蜘蛛攻擊過。
Some survey results, including one sample of over 1,000 children and teenagers,
一些針對1000多名兒童和青少年的樣本調(diào)查的結(jié)果
suggest that we might learn these fears because of modeling.
表明我們學(xué)習(xí)這些恐懼可能是因為建模。
Like, when your older brother sees a spider and freaks out, so you do too.
比如你的哥哥看到一只蜘蛛并感到害怕時，你也會害怕。
Or when you watch a Jaws where shark attacks are a huge threat,
或者當你看《大白鯊》電影里面的鯊魚襲擊是一個巨大威脅，
or a horror movie where the killer lurks in the darkness.
或者一部恐怖電影里殺手潛伏在黑暗中時，你都能學(xué)習(xí)到恐懼。
Even more common in that survey was learning through instructional fear acquisition,
調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，學(xué)習(xí)恐懼更常見的方式是教學(xué)恐懼習(xí)得，
when someone tells you to be afraid of something.
有人會告訴你要害怕的某些東西。
This can happen if your mom warns you to watch out for snakes,
如果你的媽媽警告你小心蛇，
or when news broadcasters talk about terrorist attacks,
或者新聞媒體談?wù)摽植酪u擊，你就可能學(xué)習(xí)到恐懼，
even though the actual statistics say you're much more likely to die of something like a heart attack.
即使實際統(tǒng)計數(shù)據(jù)顯示你更有可能死于心臟病等疾病。
This is because people tend to use an availability heuristic in their reasoning,
這是因為人們傾向于在他們的推理中使用可得性啟發(fā)法，
meaning they use what's readily available to their mind.
也就是說，他們用的是他們頭腦中現(xiàn)成的東西。
It's hard to remember the exact statistics about terrorism and heart disease,
我們很難記住恐怖主義和心臟病的確切數(shù)據(jù)，
but boy, that last story you saw on the news sticks with you.
但是，你在新聞上看到的最后一個故事留下了你的腦海中。
And it probably wasn't about a heart attack.
它可能不是關(guān)于心臟病的。
In fact, when researchers run studies and try to condition people to fear something neutral,
事實上，當研究人員進行研究并試圖讓人們適應(yīng)害怕中性事物時，
like associating a certain tone with a mild shock,
比如將某種音調(diào)與輕微的震動聯(lián)系起來，
they're more successful if they tell people what to be afraid of beforehand.
如果他們事先告訴人們該害怕什么，他們會更成功。
Now, across all these studies, some psychologists noticed a weird pattern:
現(xiàn)在，縱觀所有這些研究，一些心理學(xué)家發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個奇怪模式：
some phobias are easier to create than others in certain species.
人們對某些物種更容易產(chǎn)生恐懼癥。
For example, scientists have observed that it's easier for primates to develop a fear of snakes or spiders,
例如，科學(xué)家們發(fā)現(xiàn)靈長類動物更容易對蛇或蜘蛛產(chǎn)生恐懼，
but not of something like rabbits.
而不是兔子這樣的物種。
They call this phenomenon biological preparedness.
他們稱這種現(xiàn)象為生物準備。
We can't say for sure why it happens,
我們不能肯定為什么會這樣，
but one idea is that these fears are somehow ingrained from our ancestors' behaviors.
但有一種觀點認為，這些恐懼在某種程度上源自我們祖先的行為。
Like, all mammals might be more wary around snakes and lizards,
比如，所有哺乳動物在遇到蛇和蜥蜴時會更加小心，
because the first mammals could've been eaten by ancient reptiles.
因為最早的哺乳動物可能是古代爬行動物的食物。
Some ecologists looked into an evolutionary reason for fearing the dark, based on a risk from predators,
一些生態(tài)學(xué)家研究了黑暗恐懼的進化原因，它根據(jù)的是來自捕食者的危險，
by studying some regions of Tanzania where lion attacks are a threat to humans.
他們研究了坦桑尼亞的一些地區(qū)，那里獅子的攻擊對人類是一種威脅。
Using data from over two decades and over a thousand lion attacks,
他們通過使用20多年來1000多次獅子襲擊的數(shù)據(jù)，
they found that most attacks occurred right after sunset, when it's dark but people are still wandering around.
發(fā)現(xiàn)大多數(shù)襲擊發(fā)生在日落之后，此時天黑了，但人們?nèi)栽谒奶幱问帯?/div>
But they also found that attacks were up to four times more common in the ten days after a full moon than the period before,
但他們也發(fā)現(xiàn)，滿月后十天內(nèi)發(fā)生襲擊的幾率是滿月前十天的四倍，
which is when the darkest part of the night is also right after sunset.
夜晚最黑暗的時候也是在日落之后。
So if that pattern of lions attacking humans in the dark was also true millennia ago,
如果這種獅子在黑暗中攻擊人類的模式在幾千年前也是真的，
it's possible that some early humans became conditioned to fear the dark or the full moon.
那么有可能一些早期人類已經(jīng)習(xí)慣于害怕黑暗或滿月。
Scientists have guessed that people might be predisposed to be afraid of the dark
科學(xué)家們猜測，人們傾向于害怕黑暗，
because we adapted to a risk of predator attacks.
可能是因為我們適應(yīng)了捕食者的攻擊風險。
But this is one of the first studies suggesting that darkness actually increased that risk.
這是第一批表明黑暗實際增加了這種風險的研究之一。
But it's worth taking these evolutionary hypotheses with a grain of salt.
但對這些進化假說持懷疑態(tài)度是值得的。
It's not like anyone's run a study where they assigned some people to a lion-risk condition and others to a no-lion condition,
任何人都不可能做這樣的研究，研究中他們把一些人分成了獅子風險組，而另一些人則是無獅子風險組，
and then waited for generations to see what fears develop.
然后等幾代來觀察恐懼的發(fā)展。
So we've got a couple good ideas about where phobias come from.
關(guān)于恐懼癥的來源，我們有幾個很好的觀點。
And if you have a phobia, psychologists have found ways to treat them.
如果你有恐懼癥，心理學(xué)家們已經(jīng)找到了它的治療方法。
Many randomized trials show that one of the most effective treatments is called exposure therapy,
許多隨機試驗表明，最有效的治療方法之一叫做暴露療法，
which is essentially just conditioning in reverse.
它本質(zhì)上是反過來的條件作用。
You slowly expose yourself to what you're afraid in small doses, like turning off the light for five seconds,
你慢慢地把自己暴露在小劑量的害怕事物中，如把燈關(guān)掉五秒鐘，
being in the same room as a spider, or meeting groups of strangers until you don't have a bad reaction anymore.
和蜘蛛待在一個房間或者和一群陌生人見面，直到你不會再有糟糕反應(yīng)。
Then you move the spider a little closer, leave the lights out longer, or meet more people,
然后你把蜘蛛移近一點，關(guān)燈的時間變長點兒，或者見更多的人，
until the phobia has less power over you.
直到恐懼對你的影響越來越小。
Now, fear is a really complicated thing.
恐懼是一件非常復(fù)雜的事情。
So if you love being scared by things like horror movies,
如果你喜歡被恐怖電影等嚇到，
check out our video about why psychologists think that happens.
看看我們那期“心理學(xué)家為什么認為會發(fā)生這種情況”。
And if you want to keep learning about other brain things,
如果你想繼續(xù)學(xué)習(xí)大腦的其他知識，
you can go to youtube.com/scishowpsych and subscribe.
可以登錄youtube.com/scishowpsych點擊訂閱。
