Senior citizens, don't believe the hype. Because a new study finds that older folks who accept that seniors' memories get worse do worse on memory tests. The finding was published in the journal Experimental Aging Research.
老年人们，不要相信那些年纪越老记忆力越差的说法，因为最近一项新的研究发现，那些接受这种说法的老年人真的自暴自弃，在记忆力测试中一塌糊涂。这个发现发表在《老龄化实验研究》这份期刊上。
Scientists interested in the effects of stereotype on memory enlisted 103 seniors between 60-and 82-years-old to take a memory test. Before the test, some subjects were told that the test checked the effects of age on memory. Researchers call this a threat—it reminds participants of the stereotype. That group was also asked to write down their age after reading the instructions, again homing in on the stereotype. The other group was told that the test controlled for biases. This could make them feel more secure. Researchers also gave participants a stigma consciousness questionnaire to test how strongly they bought into negative stereotypes.
一些关注老龄化对记忆力影响的科学家们邀请了103位年纪在60岁和82岁之间的老年人参与了一次记忆力测试。在测试前，一组老年人被告知这次实验的目的就是测试年龄对记忆力的影响。科学家们把这个称为消极暗示，让参与者们把年龄和记忆力联系到了一起。这组老年人也被要求在阅读完测试说明之后写下自己的年纪，再次强调了先前的暗示。另一组老年人则被告知，这次实验的目的是纠正年纪越大记忆力越差的说法，这属于积极暗示。科学家们也向参与者们提供了一份自我意识的测试问卷，以调查他们对老龄化消极作用的看法。
The results: participants who got reminded of their age and the old age, poor memory stereotype did significantly worse. Those who say they feel stigmatized also performed more poorly. So your memory may function better just by believing that it will. In which case, you really will eventually figure out where you left your car keys.
实验的结果是：那些被暗示上了年纪记忆力就会变差的人在记忆测试中明显表现的更糟糕；那些觉得老龄化消极作用大的人也表现得比没有这种看法的人更差。所以，你相信自己的记忆力能有多好，它就有多好。那么，下次你就不用为找不见车钥匙而着急了，只要相信自己能想起来，你最终会找到的。