发现:"祖先效应"有助于考试成功

　　Spending five minutes thinking about your ancestors before an exam or job interview can significantly boost your chances of success, according to researchers from University of Graz, together with colleagues from Berlin and Munich universities。

　　In intelligence tests on 80 students, researchers asked one group to spend five minutes thinking about their 15th century ancestors, their great-grandparents and asked another group to recall a recent trip to the shops。

　　Then the students were asked how confident they felt about upcoming exams. Those who remembered lost generations were more confident. Then they underwent a range of intelligence tests, and those more confident students gained 14 out of a maximum 16, compared with just ten out of 16 in the rival group。

　　The findings, published in the European Journal of Social Psychology, suggest the so-called "ancestor effect" appears to work by acting as a reminder to the brain that seemingly impossible hurdles can be overcome。

　　The effect may be rooted in the fact that those who familiarize themselves with their family history appear to gain a stronger sense of identity and self-esteem, which somehow boosts intellectual performance, according to psychologists。

　　据英国《每日邮报》4日报道，奥地利格拉茨大学以及柏林和慕尼黑几所大学的研究人员称，考试或面试前花上几分钟想想自己的祖先可以极大提升你成功的几率。

　　在针对80名学生进行的智力测验中，研究人员首先让一组学生用5分钟想想自己远在15世纪的祖先、自己的曾祖父母，并让另一组回忆最近的购物经历。

　　随后学生们被问及对于即将来临的测试信心程度如何。那些刚回忆了先辈的学生更显自信。而在随后进行的总分为16分的一系列智力测试中，更自信者得分14，而另一组得分仅为10。

　　这些刊登在欧洲期刊《社会心理学》上的研究结果显示，有种所谓的“祖先效应”提示大脑看似不可能的障碍可以逾越，从而发挥了作用。

　　心理学家们认为，而该效应可能根源于这样一个事实，即那些熟知家族史的人们似乎能获得更为强烈的认同感、自尊心，从而提升了测试表现。