通过文学小说理解情感
这是我们每日例行的常规，但要辨识假笑与真心的微笑，或感觉某人是否不自在，或判断朋友与家人的情感需求等皆非平易之事。这些是人类社会特有的能形成复杂社会关系的至关重要的社交技能。然而很少有研究调查是什么培养了这种技能，它被称之为“心理理论”。
一项新的研究显示，阅读文学小说（即那些常被认为比主流人群所读的小说更严肃或更有学术性的作品）可能会提高成年人的“心理理论”。
在一系列的涉及阅读短篇文学性小说参与者的实验中，David Kidd与Emanuele Castano发现，阅读文学性小说可暂时性地增强心理理论。研究人员选择了获奖的作家或经典作家文学小说作品并将其对心理理论的影响与阅读非小说作品、通俗小说或什么都不读对心理理论的影响进行了比较。
例如，在某一实验中，参与者被随机指派阅读6篇短文中的1篇。参与者接着被要求观看照片并确认有着不同面部表情者的情感。那些阅读文学小说的人能比那些阅读非小说、通俗小说或什么都不读的人更为准确地判断他人的情感。
为了解释这些结果，文章的作者声称，阅读文学小说似乎可以扩展我们对他人生活的了解、迫使我们从不同的角度同时感知世界，并帮助我们认识到我们与小说人物的相似性；所有这些特征都模仿了心理理论。
虽然有关在学校中教授人文科学与艺术的必要性的争论仍在继续，但这些发现提供人们有关文学社会价值的早期的经验证据，并为了解其它形式的艺术会如何影响我们对这个世界的感受准备了舞台。
Science:Literary Fiction Promotes Understanding of Human Emotions
Girl Reading a book on laying on a cream sofa[Julia Spranger/Wikimedia Commons]
We do it every day, but discerning a fake smile from a genuine one, or sensing if someone is uncomfortable, or gauging emotional needs of friends and family is no small feat. These crucial social skills, known as "Theory of Mind," promote the complex social relationships characteristic of human societies.
A new study in the 4 October issue of Science shows that reading literary fiction (works often thought of as being more serious or high-brow than mainstream fiction) recruits the emotional components of Theory of Mind in adults.
"We hope that our research, and research like it, will play a larger role in public debates about the importance of literature in our schools," said Emanuele Castano, co-author of the paper and professor of psychology at The New School for Social Research in New York City.
"Literature is a widely available cultural resource, and our decisions about the extent to which we support and promote it should be rooted in a strong understanding of its real value," continued Castano.
Each year, more than half of American adults read a work of literature or a book (fiction or nonfiction) not required for work or school. However, adults' rates of literary reading (novels or short stories, poetry, and plays) has dropped back to 2002 levels (from 50 percent in 2008 to 47 percent in 2012), according a 2012 survey by the National Endowment for the Arts on public participation in the arts.
In a series of experiments that involved participants reading short pieces of literary fiction, Castano, along with researcher David Kidd, found that reading literary fiction can temporarily enhance Theory of Mind.
The researchers selected literary works of fiction (like a novel by Don DeLillo) by award-winning or established writers and compared their effects on Theory of Mind to reading non-fiction, popular fiction (a genre book, like something by Danielle Steel or Stephen King), or nothing at all.
For example, in one experiment participants were randomly assigned to read one of six short texts. Participants were then asked to look at photographs and identify the emotions of people with different facial expressions. Individuals who read literary fiction gauged the emotions of others more accurately compared with those who read non-fiction, popular fiction, or nothing at all.
To explain these results, the authors contend that reading literary fiction seems to expand our knowledge of others' lives, forces us to perceive the world simultaneously from different viewpoints, and helps us recognize our similarity to characters. These are all features that mimic Theory of Mind.
This work provides evidence for the value of literary fiction to society, the researchers said, and it comes at a critical time as debates over the necessity of humanities and the arts in schools continue, in particular with regard to the Common Core State Standards— a new set of education standards widely adopted in the United States that de-emphasize fiction in secondary education.
• LINKS
Read the abstract, "Reading Literary Fiction Improves Theory of Mind," by D.C. Kidd and E. Castano.
Listen to the researchers explain their study in a AAAS Podcast.
www.psychspace.com心理学空间网
