Name: 考試焦慮。速成班學習技巧#8 (Test Anxiety: Crash Course Study Skills #8)
Uploaded: 2021-01-14T07:49:05.000Z
Duration: 8 min 50 s

Hi, I'm Thomas Frank, and this is Crash Course Study Skills.

嗨！我是  Thomas Frank，這裡是學習技巧速成班

Henry Fonda was a famous actor with a career that spanned 54 years and included starring roles in classic movies like 12 Angry Men and Once Upon a Time in the West.

名演員 Henry Fonda 的演藝事業橫跨了 54 年，主演的電影包括十二怒漢和狂沙十萬里

分詞構句

He was one of the most well-known and successful actors of his time, bringing home an Oscar, two Golden Globes, and even a Grammy before retiring.

他是當代最知名與成功的演員之一，在退休前抱回了一座奧斯卡獎、兩座金球獎，甚至一座葛萊美獎

So it might surprise you to learn that Fonda had a lifelong struggle with performance anxiety.

所以這件事你可能會讓你很驚訝， Fonda 一生都在對抗表演焦慮

In fact, even when he was 75 years old, with over half a century of acting experience under his belt, he would often throw up before beginning stage performances.

事實上，即使到他 75 歲，已表演超過大半個世紀獲獎無數，在開演前他還是常常想吐

But, despite his anxiety and sudden lack of lunch, Fonda would still step out from behind the curtain and give the audience the great performance they expected.

但是，即使他又餓又焦慮，Fonda 仍然會粉墨登場，呈獻觀眾們最期待的演出

That's because he understood one of the unavoidable facts of life – a fact that the author Steven Pressfield put so well in his book The War of Art:

這是因為他了解人生中無法逃避的事情－也就是作家史蒂文·普萊斯菲爾德在他的著作 The War of Art 裡寫的

The warrior and the artist live by the same code of necessity, which dictates that the battle must be fought anew every day.”

戰士和藝術家皆依同一準則而生，面對恐懼即是每日的戰鬥。」

If you're a student, you might not be performing on a stage or facing down an enemy army,

如果你是學生，你可能不需要上台表演或面對一隊敵軍

but your tests and exams are battles all their own, and they often come with the same feelings of anxiety.

但你的考試和測驗即是一場場獨立的戰鬥，而相似之處就是都伴隨著同樣的焦慮感

These feelings are normal, and you'll never truly banish them.

這種感覺很正常，而你也永遠無法擺脫

If you're doing work that's important to you, you'll always feel some amount of anxiety.

如果你在做一件對你很重要的事情，你必然會感到某種程度的焦慮

And that can actually be a good thing, because anxiety is an indicator that what you're doing IS important.

這其實是件好事，因為焦慮本身就是一種指標，代表你在做的事「確實」很重要

若不是如此，你應該會覺得很沒勁

However, too much test anxiety can hurt you.

然而，考試焦慮太過反而會傷害你

Research has shown that high-pressure situations can actually deplete your working memory.

研究指出高壓環境確實會消耗你的工作記憶

Additionally, stress caused by anxiety produces a hormone called cortisol,

此外，焦慮造成的壓力會釋放出一種叫做皮質醇的賀爾蒙

and too much cortisol can hinder the ability of the hippocampus to recall memories.

太多的皮質醇將會妨礙海馬迴回憶的能力

This means that it is crucial to learn how to manage your test anxiety.

也就是說，學習如何處理考試焦慮是非常重要的

You have to learn how to perform well in the face of it, and make sure it doesn't consume

你必須學習如何面對它，以免其消耗你的腦力

your thoughts so you can actually solve that geometry proof that's staring you in the face.

如此一來你才能好好地處理對你虎視眈眈的幾何學證明題

Fortunately, there are several techniques and mental exercises you can use to do that.

幸運地，這有好幾個技巧和意念練習可以幫上忙

Test anxiety is caused by many different factors, but today we're going to focus on the most common ones, which I call the Three Big Fears:

考試焦慮是由許多原因造成，但今天我們將聚焦於最常見的部分，我把它們稱為三大恐懼：

Number one: A fear of repeating past failures

Now, in a minute, we're going to dig into each of these fears and work to figure out how you can combat them,

在下一分鐘，我們將深入探討以上各項恐懼，以及想辦法與之對抗

but before we do that, there is one general purpose strategy I want to share with you.

但在那之前，我有一個很管用的妙計要分享給你

The next time you feel anxious going into a test, take out a piece of paper and spend a couple minutes writing out exactly what's causing you to feel that way.

下次你要上考場覺得焦慮時，拿出一張紙花幾分鐘確實寫下造成你有這種焦慮感的原因

This has been scientifically proven to reduce test anxiety.

這已被科學證實能減緩考試焦慮

A study done at the University of Chicago found that students who were given 10 minutes to write about their fears and anxieties before a test

一個在芝加哥大學的研究發現，在考試前花 10 分鐘寫下自己恐懼及焦慮的學生

improved their scores by an average of nearly one grade point compared to the control group.

和對照組相比，他們的分數可以平均增加將近一個級等

This technique works for pretty much the same reason that using a to-do list works:

這可以讓你將所有的擔憂從你的腦中移出到其他地方保存

It allows you to take all those worries out of your head and store them somewhere safe.

這可以讓你將所有的擔憂從你的腦中移出，保存到其他地方

You've probably been in a situation before where you're stressed, and a friend tells you, “Hey, just don't worry about it, man!”

你應該曾經有這種情境，就在你壓力大時，你朋友會和你說：「嘿！不要再擔心了，夥計！」

You can't just let go of the things that are worrying you – after all, your brain thinks they're important.

讓這些魂牽夢縈的煩惱就這麼隨它去是不可能的－無論如何，你的大腦覺得它們很重要

However, by writing them down, you're unloading those worries into an external system that you trust.

然而，把它們寫下來，就相當於將這些擔憂上傳到另一個你信任的外部系統儲存起來

Subconsciously, you know that they're not going anywhere.

潛意識裡，你了解到它們不會不見

And by doing this, you free up mental resources that you can then devote to doing well on the test.

經由這麼做，你就空出了許多意識資源，可以用來在考試中好好表現

So that brings us to our first big fear: the fear of repeating past failures.

所以這就引出了我們的主題，第一大恐懼：對重蹈覆轍的恐懼

Logically, everyone knows that failure is inevitable every once in awhile.

邏輯上，大家或多或少都知道這是無可避免的

“To err is human,” wrote Alexander Pope, and the realm of calculus finals is no exception.

Alexander Pope 曾寫到：「人非聖賢，孰能無過」，微積分期末考也不例外

In fact, human beings have an inherent negativity bias –

事實上，人類有種天生的負面偏誤－

a tendency to remember and give more emotional weight to negative events rather than positive ones.

相較於快樂正向的事件，我們情感上會更注重負面事件

This is a feature of the brain that's pretty useful when it comes to survival –

這是一個大腦的特性，對於生存是非常有用

after all, remembering which mushrooms made you sick or not to try to shake hands with a tiger is pretty important for survival.

畢竟，對於生存來說，記得吃哪個蘑菇會生病或是不要和老虎握手是至關重要的

But the negativity bias doesn't limit itself to poisonous mushrooms or tigers;

但是這種負面偏誤並不只侷限在毒蘑菇或老虎

any negative event can create feelings of apprehension and fear when it comes up again.

任何負面事件再次出現都會造成擔憂和恐懼

So even though almost everyone does poorly on tests and exams at least once in awhile,

所以即使每個人或多或少都偶而會考不好

when it happens to you, you might naturally fear that it'll happen again the next time around.

當你自己考爛了，你可能自然而然地會害怕下次又考不好

So how you do you actually beat this negativity bias?

所以你該怎麼擊敗這個負面偏誤？

Well, first, realize that you're not defined by your past successes or failures –

這個嘛，首先要理解你過去的成功或失敗不能定義現在的你

despite what that insidious part of your brain might try to tell you.

即使你腦中的陰暗面會試著說服你

While the path you're on right now is certainly in part a product of your past choices, it's not a path with a predetermined destination.

雖然你現在所走的道路確實部分是過去你選擇的結果，但未來的終點還未成定局

At any time, you can choose to do things differently than you did in the past.

無論何時，你依然可以選擇和過去不同的處事方式

If you're ready to do that, you need to start by analyzing your past mistakes and gathering as much information about them as you can.

如果你決定要這麼做，你需要開始分析你過去所犯的錯和盡量蒐集相關資訊

After all, you can only improve if you know what you were doing wrong before.

總而言之，只有了解過去犯了什麼錯你才有可能進步

Elite chess players understand this concept really well.

While they spend a lot of their practice time playing games and studying the openings and endgames of players at higher ranks,

他們會用很多練習時間下棋和學習高級棋士該如何開局及收官

they also dedicate a ton of time to analyzing their own past games – especially the ones they lost.

同時他們也花了大把的時間分析他們自己過去的比賽－尤其是敗場賽事

By doing so, they can start to correct bad habits and uncover patterns in their playing, which can then be tweaked or improved in the future.

經由這麼做，他們可以開始導正一些壞習慣和發掘一些自己下棋的特性，以利將來的修正和改進

So take a cue from these chess players – as well as from elite performers in pretty much any other discipline, be it opera singers or figure skaters –

所以可以效仿這些棋士－以及幾乎任何其他專業的菁英，可以士歌劇演員或特技滑板員－

and review your past exams to see how you can improve.

接著回顧你過去的考試，看看可以如何改進

Start by getting your hands on a copy of your past exam;

可以從拷貝過去的考卷開始著手

if your teacher doesn't usually hand these out or let you take them home, talk to them after class and ask if you can at least look it over.

如果你的老師通常不會把考卷發給你或讓你帶回家，下課後試著和他們談談或至少給你看一遍

And while you're talking with them, also ask for feedback –

而在和他們交談時也要請教老師是否有一些回饋－

especially if your exam contained short-answer or essay questions where there's no concrete answer.

尤其是在你的考試裡有簡答或申論題這類沒有固定答案的題目時

Once you've got a past exam in your hands, review the mistakes you made.

一旦你拿到過去的試題，先回顧你答錯的部分

Don't just acknowledge your mistakes; for each incorrect question, make sure you understand why your answer was the wrong one.

別急著承認錯誤；每一個答錯的問題，先確認你知道為什麼你的答案是錯的

If it was a complex problem – like a math equation – identify the exact point where you made a mistake.

如果這是一個複雜的問題－例如一個數學等式－先找出你犯錯的點

Additionally, make sure you know what the right answer was, and why it was right.

此外，確認你知道正確的答案是什麼，還要為什麼那樣才是對的

Before you move on, cross-reference the question with your notes, as well.

在繼續之前，也請把問題和你的筆記互相對照

If you're going to be tested on that question again – like in a final exam – highlight that section of your notes so you know it's important.

如果之後你還要再被考一樣的問題－像是在期末考的時候－把這部分在你的筆記標註起來，如次你就會知道這裡很重要

You can also create quiz questions for later review.

你也可以設計個小問題給之後複習時使用

Overall, shoot for mastery over the material so you don't make the same mistake again.

總的來說，將這份教材融會貫通，這樣下次就不會犯一樣的錯誤

The details of those incorrect questions aren't the only things that deserve reflection.

也不是只有錯誤題目的細節才需要複習檢討

You also need to figure out why you made the mistakes in the first place.

你還需要知道當初會犯錯是什麼原因

問問你自己：我沒做好準備嗎？

要是如此，為什麼我沒準備好？

Did I simply not put enough time into reviewing?

僅僅是因為我沒花足夠的時間複習嗎？

或者我用了沒效率的學習方式？

Or did I use an ineffective study method?

If you feel that you were prepared, then maybe something went wrong during the actual exam.

如果你覺得你有準備好，那麼也許考試時什麼環節出了問題

Maybe you rushed through and made a lot of careless errors.

搞不好你寫得太快結果犯了很多粗心的錯誤

Or maybe you let time get away from you and didn't actually finish the whole exam.

或你浪費了時間沒有確實把考卷寫完

Or maybe that creepy AI from Ghost in the Shell hacked your brain in the middle of the exam and forced you to spend the whole time licking your paper.

又或者是那個攻殼機動隊裡恐怖的人工智能，在你考試時駭進了你的腦袋然後害你整場考試都在舔考卷

Whatever the reason was, don't let it get you down too much.

不論當時是什麼理由，別讓它使你太灰心

Remember that failure is a great teacher – and it's a better one than success.

要記得，失敗就是一位良師－甚至可以讓你學得比成功更多

Since we remember our failures so well, every one of them is a lesson and an opportunity.

因為我們會把失敗經驗謹記在心，每次失敗就是一堂人生經驗課和一次轉機

But you need to make sure that you use that opportunity by making a plan for how you'll avoid the mistake in the future.

但是你得確保自己有利用失敗的機會，來制定避免將來再次犯錯的計畫 99

Just saying “I'll do better next time” isn't enough – you need to know exactly how you're gonna do better.

只告訴自己「我下次會變得更厲害」是不夠的－你需要知道如何確實地變得更好