原文: The Psychology of Cross Country
Introduction
When we hear about the psychology of sport, what generally comes to mind has to do with the mental preparation before a competition. For example, we have all seen books or articles that give techniques on how to "think positive," or how to handle nerves, stress or the excitement that might otherwise have a negative impact on our performance.
What is less known is that there is another area of psychology that can be applied to riding as well. It is known as cognitive psychology. This is the area of psychology concerned with how we think, learn, and solve problems. Understanding some of its basics can provide insights to many of the problems that we encounter in competition. Significantly, we can make use of these insights in adjusting our training regimen so as to avoid those problems in the future.
This article grew out of trying to understand my own riding mistakes (of which there are many). In my non-equestrian life, I am a scientist who studies the problems that people have in learning how to use technologies such as computers, fax machines and photocopiers. My belief is that much of what I observe in my science applies equally to riding.
At this stage, one might ask, "How does the process of learning to ride relate to learning a word processor?" At first glance, there is little similarity. But on reflection, what they have in common is that both have to do with the acquisition of a new skill.
介绍
当我们听说关于运动的心理学时, 通常我们的第一反应是一些和赛前准备相关的东西. 比如说, 有些书籍或者文章会告诉你如何"积极思考"的技巧, 或者怎么应对紧张, 压力和对我们的发挥有负面影响的过度兴奋.
有一种其他领域的心理学也可以被应用到骑马上, 但不太为人所知. 那就是认知心理学, 它关注我们如何思考, 学习和解决问题. 理解一些认知心理学的基础知识可以更好的帮助我们理清比赛中遇到问题的解决思路. 并且更为重要的是, 我们可以用这些知识来调整训练方法, 来避免未来再次出现这些问题.
我写这篇文章的目的是为了认清我自己骑马时的错误(有很多错误). 在我不做骑手的时间里, 我是一个科学家, 专门研究人们在学习科技, 比如计算机, 传真机和复印机中遇到的问题. 我认为, 我在科学中所观察到的很多东西同样适用于骑术.
那么现在, 有人可能就要问了, "学习骑术的过程是如何与学习文字处理器有关呢?" 初看之下它们的确没什么相似的. 但是在仔细考虑过后, 它们相同的地方就是它们都与如何习得新技能有关.
Skill and Problem Solving
Riding is a skill. Learning to ride is skill acquisition. But why use such fancy terminology when "learning to ride" seems to do just fine? After all, it is far more down to earth. My main reason is to get a bit of distance from riding per se so that we can concentrate on the learning part.
Generally, if someone tells me they want something, I assume that they know what it is. If you want a bridle, you can probably describe it to me quite clearly. But if you want a skill, can you describe what that means to the same level of detail? Yet isn't that skill at least as important as the bridle? To find out what you do know about skill, let me give you a simple test:
Before reading on, think for a moment, and tell me what is the opposite of skill?
I'll even give you a hint: I'm not looking for "unskilled."
The intended answer is, "problem solving." Now if that was your response, then you probably don't need to read this article. On the other hand, if this seems like a strange reply, then stick around - what follows may be of use to you.
技能与问题解决
骑术是一种技能. 学习骑术的过程就是习得技能的过程. 但是为什么要用"习得技能(skill acquisition)"这样高大上的名词来代替"学习骑术"这样也还不错的词语呢? 毕竟这样更加接地气一点. 我的主要理由是让它离骑术的距离远一些, 使得我们可以关注学习的那一部分.
通常情况下, 如果有人告诉我他们想要某些东西, 我会假设他们已经知道那是什么. 如果你要一根缰绳, 你可以清楚的跟我大致描述它. 但是如果你想要一份技能, 你能同样清楚的跟我讲明白那意味着什么吗?(译注: 这里的意思应该是到底怎么样才叫掌握一个技能) 而且, 难道那个技能不比一根缰绳更重要吗? 想要清楚的了解到自己对技能的认识程度, 我可以给你一个简单的测试 :
在继续阅读之前, 先思考片刻, 接着告诉我什么是技能的反面(opposite of skill)?
我可以给你一个提示; 我不想要"不熟悉技能"这个答案.
我想要的回答是, "解决问题的能力". 如果这是你的答案, 那么你可能就不需要读这篇文章了. 相反 如果这听起来很奇怪, 那么请继续读下去 --- 接下来的东西可能对你非常有用.
Automatic and Attentive Behaviour
The most important characteristic of any skilled performance, be it equestrian, musical or mathematical, is that it is automatic. That is to say, the person performing the task has done it so many times before that they literally don't have to concentrate on it while doing it. As we shall see even more later, the most important consequence of this is that the mind is therefore freed to concentrate on other things (for example, rather than thinking "are my heels down, eyes up, ...?" the mind is free to think about, "where is the best line to the next jump?").
A good way to test if someone is really skilled at a task is to see if they can do something else at the same time. A favorite example some of riding instructors is to have a student recite something difficult (such as multiplication tables or spelling their name backwards) while going over a jump. This is an excellent test. If the student is skilled at jumping, the mind will be free to focus on the recitation. If not, the two tasks will interfere with one another, and either or both will suffer.
Performing a task in which we are unskilled requires attentive behaviour. We have to think of all of the little steps that it takes to get through the task. Remember when you were unskilled at rising trot? It took all of your concentration to stay balanced and on the horse. It wasn't until this became automatic that your mind was sufficiently freed up to enable you to begin to pay attention to what diagonal you were on. And now, you don't even have to think of your diagonal. It too is automatic. It's your rhythm and pace that you're concentrating on. As skill develops, what previously required attention (and problem solving) now becomes automatic. Thus, the mind is freed so that it can attend to a new set of problems (which themselves will become automatic with practice).
自然而然(Automatic)和专注性行为(Attentive Behaviour)
对任何精湛的表现来说, 无论是骑术, 音乐还是数学, 它们最为重要的特点是它们是自然而然的. 我的意思是, 这些人在之前已经排练过千百遍, 以至于他们在做事时根本就不需要全神贯注. 我们继续观察下去, 这样最重要的结果就是他们的头脑可以放空去关注一些别的事情(比如说, 相比去想"我的脚跟是往下了吗? 我的眼睛往上抬了吗?"这样的问题, 他们可以自由的思考"在下一次起跳之前哪里是最好的起跳线?").
一个好的方式来测试一个人是否熟练掌握一个技能是看他能否在完成这项任务的同时干其他事情. 一个很好的例子是有的骑术教练让一名学员在障碍跳跃的时候背一些有难度的东西(比如说乘法表或者倒着拼写他们的名字). 这是一个优秀的测试. 如果学生掌握了跳跃技术, 他们的脑袋就有空去集中注意力在背书上. 如果他们的骑术不熟练, 那么这两项任务就会冲突, 互相干扰, 至少有一项任务会失败.
执行一项不熟练的任务需要专注性行为. 我们必须去想完成这项任务的每一个细节. 还记得你还不熟悉让马小跑(rising trot)的时候吗? 你必须将你的全部注意力集中在平衡和你的马上. 只有在这变得自然而然的时候你的脑袋才会有充足的余地去注意你是不是走歪了. 而现在你甚至不需要注意走得直不直. 这也是自然的了. 你在关注的是你的节奏和脚步. 当技术积累之时, 之前需要集中注意力的地方如今已经成了自发的行为. 所以, 你的脑袋不再费力注意这些东西, 它可以去思考一些新的问题(经过练习后这些问题也会成为自发的).
The Power Law of Practice
For me, I think that the most frustrating thing about acquiring a new skill, such as riding, is that I know intellectually what I am supposed to do. I read all the books, magazines and watch the top riders. But when I get on a horse, I just can't put it all together.
This is just a round about way of saying that acquiring any skill is hard. And if there is anything that we know about leaning a new skill, it is that the only way to develop it and keep it is to practice: do it over and over and over again, then do it some more. Recognizing this leads us to one of the keys to a good instructor: someone who can have you do something over an over again while keeping it fresh, interesting and challenging (for you and your horse - who is also acquiring new skills).
Now when I say over and over again, just how many "overs" do I mean? Well, this is expressed in something called the power law of practice. Simply stated, this says that if it takes 2 hours to get one step, it will take 4 hours to get two steps, 8 hours to get three steps, 16 hours to get 4 steps, etc. Of course this is a generalization. The message to take away is that those riders on the Olympic team have put in an unbelievable number of hours, and at that level, every incremental improvement in technique comes at the cost of a large number of hours of practice.
练习的幂法则
对我而言, 我认为在习得一个新技能(比如骑马)中最让人灰心丧气的事情就是即使我清楚的知道我应当如何去做, 我可以看所有关于骑马的书和杂志, 可以看顶级骑手的比赛, 可当我在马背上的时候还是不知道怎么把它们结合到一块儿去.
这等于兜了个圈子说获得任何技能都是有难度的. 而且如果说我们知道什么东西可以帮助学习新技能的, 那就是唯一学习和掌握一门技能的方法就是练习 : 重复重复再重复. 认识到这一点将帮助我们理解到一个好的教练是什么样的: 他能让你重复做一些事情, 同时可以让他保持新鲜, 有趣, 有挑战性(对你和你的马而言都是重要的 - 你的马也在学习).
那么当我说重复重复再重复的时候, 我们到底需要"重复"多少遍呢? 好吧, 它可以用练习的幂法则来讲明白. 简单点讲, 这就是说你需要花2个小时来登上第一级, 花4个小时来登上第二级, 花8小时来登上第三级, 花16小时来登上第四级, 以此类推. 当然这只是通常的情况. 这个法则背后的信息是那些参加奥林匹克运动会的骑手会投入夸张的时间花在练习上, 并且到了那个等级, 任何一点技术的进步都会花上大量的时间联系.
Task Interference, and its Avoidance
"Interference" is the term that I used earlier to describe the cause of any degradation in performance that results from an attempt to perform one task at the same time as another. Interference results when different tasks compete for the same limited resources, or attention, of the brain. Remember, if I'm unskilled at a task, its performance demands attentive problem solving. Consequently, there is likely not enough processing power left to simultaneously perform the additional problem solving required by some other task in which I am also unskilled.
Now let us see how this affects us in an equestrian activity, such as riding a jump on a cross country course. In this case, one could argue that we need to perform at least three different tasks:
- Basic equitation: Simply put, we need to stay on our horse in a balanced position, while galloping over uneven and unfamiliar terrain.
- Answer the question demanded each specific jump: In a well designed course, each jump is designed to ask a specific question of the rider - a question whose difficulty is determined by the level of competition.
- Navigate the course: We need to remember the course and the specific line which we plan to follow, and all of us have made mistakes in this department.
The potential for task interference here is immense. If I am preoccupied with staying on my horse, I won't be prepared to deal with the specific problem of the next jump when I get there. And if I'm not thinking about where I go next while going over the jump (because I'm preoccupied with riding the jump itself), I will be well beyond it before I get my mind back to riding my planned course. And because I consequently found myself off of my planned course after the jump, the problem of adjusting my plan is introduced, which takes my mind off of basic equitation, which means I get to the next jump off balance. And the cycle continues - hopefully without a fall.
After our run we inevitably ask ourselves, "What went wrong? How did that happen? I walked the course. I can handle any of the jumps on their own. And I certainly can canter over that terrain!" Of course, all of that may well be true. But what we seem slow to appreciate is that, psychologically, doing all three together is a very different thing than doing each in isolation. The situation is similar to one that many would-be musicians have encountered: they can sing the lyrics and they can play the accompaniment on guitar, but they can't do the two together. In both cases, the problem is classic task interference.
任务干扰(Task Interference)和怎样避免
"干扰"是我之前用过的一个词, 用来形容表现变得不好的原因的, 它是尝试同时做两件事的结果. 当不同的任务在争取有限的资源, 注意力和脑力时, 干扰就会出现了. 记住, 如果你做一件事情不够熟练, 那么这件事情最终做得怎么样需要足够专注的问题解决能力. 因此, 当你同时解决不同的问题, 而且还是你所不熟悉的领域的时候, 你可能并没有这么多处理能力.
现在让我们看一下干扰会怎样影响我们骑马的. 就比如说在越野课程上骑马跳跃吧, 在这个例子中, 你应该意识到我们需要完成至少三项任务:
- 基础马术: 简单的说, 当我们驰骋在不平坦不熟悉的地形时, 我们需要长时间坐在马上并且保持平衡.
- 完成任务要求的每个跳跃：在一个精心设计的课程中，每一个跳跃都被设计成一个对骑手的特定任务 --- 一个难度取决于比赛级别的任务。
- 导航路线：我们需要记住我们打算遵循的路线和具体路线，我们所有人都在这个部分犯过错误。
在这时, 任务干扰有非常巨大的潜在影响. 如果我专心于如何保持在马背上, 当我到了下一个起跳位置的时候, 我就没法准备好应对跳跃的问题. 如果我在跳跃的时候没在思考接下来要往哪里走, 我就会偏离目标位置直到我重新重视起这个问题. 接下来, 因为我在跳跃之后偏离的计划的路线, 这时出现了怎样调整我的路线这个问题, 我的大脑会没法儿处理基本的骑马技巧, 这也意味着我的下一个跳跃将会失去平衡. 然后这个恶性循环持续进行 --- 庆幸的是我没有摔下马背.
我们跑完之后会不可避免的问自己一些问题, "哪里出了毛病? 是怎么发生的? 我跑完了全程. 我可以独自完成任何跳跃, 而且我非常确定我可以在那样的地形慢跑!" 当然了, 所有的这些都可能是对的. 但是我们仔细观察到的是, 从心理学上讲, 这三件事一起做比分开做难得多. 这个情况和很多想要成为音乐家的人遇到的情况想类似: 他们可以唱歌词，也可以用吉他伴奏，但他们不能一起演奏。在这两种情况下，问题都是典型的任务干扰。
Practice, Preparation and Speed
"Putting it all together," from the psychological perspective means being sufficiently skilled in each of the tasks that there are sufficient cognitive resources to deal with each without interference. Now there are at least three strategies that can be applied to bring us to this state:
- *Practice: *This is the obvious strategy. As we have discussed earlier, practice is the key to skill acquisition, and with skill comes the transition from attentive, demanding problem solving to automatic task performance.
- *Preparation: *No matter how skilled we are, the unexpected will inevitably occur. Due to heavy rain, you may find yourself on footing unlike anything you or your horse have ever encountered. You may get a run-out in the middle of a combination where you never expected it. In these, and many similar situations, you are (often suddenly) confronted with an "extra" problem. The psychological danger here is that this "unexpected" problem may make extra cognitive demands which interfere with the performance of other ongoing tasks, and have the knock-on effect of causing additional problems.
The key to minimizing interference in these kinds of circumstances lies in appreciating the difference between unexpected and unplanned! Just because the footing or a runout is unexpected does not mean that we should not have planned for the eventuality. Despite having a cozy indoor arena, periodically we should school dressage, cross country and stadium outside in the most miserable weather. That way, we are prepared to deal with cold fingers, slippery reins, poor visibility and slick footing when the weather is unexpectedly bad. The resulting practice means more skill and less interference when (not if) these same conditions are encountered in competition.
Likewise, when we unexpectedly get a run-out in the middle of a combination or in some other situation, we can minimize the consequences through preparation. Even though we expect to go clear, we should have a "Plan B" (and "C," "D," ...) for each fence. Each is a planned response to a possible problem that we can anticipate. Some of these plans can be practiced at home, others not. This planning is one of your main tasks in walking a course. If you've done your planning well, then when (again, not if) the "unexpected" happens, you will be ready. You will have fewer problems to solve. Consequently, the interference with other tasks will be reduced and the damage will be contained. You can get on and ride the rest of the course without the knock-on effects that might otherwise occur.
3.* Speed:* Of all of the things that we can do to improve our performance, perhaps slowing down is the one that gives the most gain for the least pain. All novices have heard variations of this theme before, yet excessive speed is still one of the most common causes for problems that one sees on course. Now notice that I said speed was not the problem, but the cause. What is the underlying psychology?
In the physical world, we are used to describing the performance of machines in terms of how much they can do in a given unit of time. Hence, we say that a car can go so many miles per hour, a motor run at so many revolutions per minute, or a generator provide so many kilowatts per hour. For our purposes, let us think of the brain in the same way. Let us say that our brain can answer X questions (or solve X problems) a minute. Let us further assume that in riding between two jumps, we need to answer Y questions. If I get to the second jump without answering all Y questions, I am likely going to have a problem. I can avoid this easily. By stretching out the time between the two jumps, I buy myself time. I therefore arrive at the second jump with all Y questions answered, and am far less likely to make an error. (Recalling all of the alternate plans for the upcoming fence are, of course, some of the questions that are required during the approach.)
Cross country speeds are normally given in metres per second. Of far more value, from the psychological perspective, would be for us to think of it in questions answered per metre. Because of skill, the expert can answer more questions more rapidly, and therefore safely cover the same distance in a shorter time, but having answered at least the same number of questions over the distance! As novices, our goal should be to match the question answering, not the speed, of the expert. This leads not only to more clean rounds, but safer and more enjoyable rounds as well.
One important caveat: there are obvious limits to what I am saying, otherwise the logical conclusion would be that sitting still, giving yourself all the time in the world to problem solve, would be the sure path to a perfect round. Keep in mind that approaching a fence at the proper pace and making your round within the time limit are two of the key problems that you have to take into account. There are limits to everything!
练习, 准备和速度
"把它们放在一块儿一起做," 这句话从心理学的观点出发就意味着对每个任务充分熟悉, 这样你就有足够的认知资源(cognitive resources)来不冲突的去处理中间任何一个任务. 现在我们至少可以用三种策略来让我们达到"放在一块儿"这样的境界:
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练习: 这个对策是显然的. 就像我们在前文中所探讨的那样, 练习是习得技能的过程重要的一部分, 接着你的获得的技能可以促使从你的任务表现从需要细致考虑和问题解决的状态向着自然而然的状态转变.
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准备: 不论我们是多么的熟练, 意外总会不可避免的发生. 由于下着大雨, 你可能会发现你的立足点不同于你和你的马会遇到的任何其他情况. 你可能在组合跳跃(?)中在你从未意料到的地方run-out. 在这里或者其他相似的场景里, 你会(经常会是突发的)被"额外的"问题阻碍. 这里的心理困难点在于, 这些未预料到的问题可能会造成额外的脑力需求, 从而影响到其他这在做的事情, 并引发连锁效应, 造成更多的问题.
在这样的情况下, 减小干扰的关键在于认识到未意料到(unexpected)和未计划(unplanned)的不同点在哪里! 仅仅是因为立足点或者run-out未如预期并不代表我们不该在之前为结果做好计划. 除了在舒适的室内场地训练, 我们也应该阶段性的进行花式骑术训练, 越野赛跑和在最恶劣的天气下进行室外训练. 这样, 即使天气比想象的更糟, 我们也做好了应对自己冰冷的手指, 湿滑的缰绳, 低视距和光滑的立足点的准备. 这些针对性练习可以让我们在比赛中遇到相同条件的时候表现出更多的技巧和更少的干扰.
类似的是, 当我们未如预期般的在组合跳跃中run-out了, 或者在其他什么情况出了问题, 我们可以通过提前准备尽可能的减轻恶果. 即便我们希望做事流程是简洁的, 我也应该为每一个栏杆设一个"Plan B"(还有"C","D"...). 每一个计划都是一个预设的针对我们可能预料到的问题的响应措施. 有些计划可以在家里练习, 有些则不行. 那些没法再家里练习的计划将是你走完全程的重要任务. 如果你很好的完成了计划, 那么当(注意, 这里不是"如果")"未意料到的"情况发生时, 你已经做好了准备. 你将只有一点点问题需要解决. 因此, 其他任务的干扰将会减少, 它们的损害将会得到控制. 你可以持续走完接下来的路程而不必担心连锁反应会发生.
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速度: 在所有你能做到的提高表现的事情里面, 也许放慢速度是其中最少痛苦最多成就的一个. 每个新手都听过各种各样的放慢速度的话, 但是过高的速度仍然造成训练中问题的一个最常见的原因. 需要注意的地方是, 速度不是问题, 而是原因. 那么潜在的心理学是什么呢?
在物理世界里, 我们常常用单位时间内一个机器能做到的事来衡量这个机器的表现. 因此, 我们常说一辆车每小时可以开多少公里, 一辆摩托可以每分钟跑多少圈, 或者一个发电机可以每小时产生多少千瓦的能量. 那么我们以相同的方式来类比一下大脑, 假设我们的大脑每分钟可以回应X个问题(或者解决X个问题). 接着, 我们假设当我们骑着马处在两个跳跃中间的时候, 我们需要回应Y个问题. 如果我在进行第二个跳跃的时候没有处理完所有的Y个问题, 我将很可能遇到些问题. 但是我可以轻松的避开这种情况. 只要延长两个跳跃之间的时间, 就可以获得更多的时间来处理这些事情. 因此我回应了所有问题, 抵达了第二次跳跃, 并且几乎不可能犯错. (回忆所有关于下一个栏杆的替代方案肯定是一个必定要处理的问题之一)
越野的速度经常用多少米每秒来表示. 为了更有价值, 从心理学的角度讲, 越野的速度应该是我们所认为的每一米回应问题的数量. 由于掌握了专项技能, 专家一般来说可以更迅速的回应更多问题, 因此也就能在更短时间内安全的跑更多距离. 但是他们至少回应了整个行程中所需要的全部问题! 作为一个新手, 我们的目标应该是达到专家们回应问题的数量, 而不是达到专家们的速度. 这不仅可以引领你完成更多的clean rounds, 并且还更安全, 也更舒适享受.
重要说明: 我所说的话有明显的局限性, 否则, 合乎逻辑的结论是, 坐着不动, 把自己的所有时间花在不断地解决问题上, 这将是通往完美结果的必然之路. 记住, 有两个关键问题你必须考虑到, 分别是用合适的速度接近栅栏, 以及在时间限制内完成跑圈. 所有的事情都有局限!
Chronological vs Perceptual Time
In the arithmetic of the physical world and chronological time, if I only answered half of the questions demanded of me between two fences, the conclusion might be that in order to answer them all, I should cut my speed in half (that is, double the amount of time between jumps). Here is the good news: perceptual time does not follow the rules of chronological time. One of the most interesting things about it is that it only takes about 10% more time, to more-or-less double the available problem solving time! Of course, the opposite is also true: if you speed up by only 10%, you run the risk cutting the number of questions that you can answer in half. A speed increase of about 10% comes close to doubling the difficulty and likelihood of error. Cutting speed by 10% about doubles your chances of going clear (as long as you also keep in mind my caveat, above). Making the right decision here isn't rocket science: a 10% reduction in speed makes a lot of sense if you are currently having troubles going clear.
顺序时间 vs 感觉时间
在物理世界和时间顺序的计算中, 如果我只回应了跨越两个栅栏所要求的问题的一半, 而我的目标是为了回答所有的问题, 那么我应该把我的速度减少一半(即当前中间时间的两倍). 这里有个好消息: 感受时间不遵从顺序时间的法则. 最有意思的是, 你只需要多花10%的时间, 就可以或多或少的将大脑解决问题的时间减半! 当然, 反过来也是对的: 就算你的速度只增加10%, 你也会面临一种风险, 那就是你的问题解决的数量减半了. 速度增加10%大致相当于将难度和出错的可能性翻倍. 减速10%相当于将你跑的好的概率翻倍(只要你依然留心我之前的重要说明). 做出正确的决定并不是什么黑科技: 如果你现在正面临一些麻烦, 10%的减速可以让你跑出更好的成绩.
Summary
We are all problem solving when riding. (If the amount of problem solving is negligible, then we are competing well below our ability and should move up a level or two.) Where we get into trouble is when we become overloaded, and the mental effort of solving one problem makes demands on the mind which cause interference with solving the problems associated with some other task.
Through practice, we can build up our level of skill in as many areas as possible. In so doing, the performance of those tasks will become automatic. Consequently, they will not interfere with problem solving associated with other tasks.
Through preparation we can anticipate the unexpected. In so doing, we can have a prepared "recipe" for each eventuality that might occur at any point on course. By so doing, we eliminate the need to "make up" the recipe on the fly. By reducing the amount of problem solving demanded by unexpected situations, we reduce the amount of task interference compared to what would otherwise result, and therefore reduce the likelihood of knock-on effects. If something happens, we deal with it according to plan, then get on with the rest of our ride.
Finally, by controlling our speed, we buy ourselves time to answer all of the questions demanded from obstacle to obstacle on course. By recognizing that psychological time is not linear, we can take advantage of the fact that it only requires about a 10% slow-down to double the problem solving time available.
Riding is as much a mental as a physical activity. To ride effectively and safely requires an understanding of both of these components. Hopefully this discussion has shed some light on the mental side, and makes it so that the process of solving all of these problems does not interfere with the most important task of them all: enjoying the sport.
总结
所有人在骑马时都需要问题解决(problem solving). (如果需要解决的问题的数量是可忽略的, 那么我们的能力已经远超比赛所要求的了, 我们应该参加更高级别的比赛.) 我们遇到麻烦的地方就是我们感受到负担的时刻, 解决一个问题会花费心思, 导致大脑负担的增加, 也就更容易与其他大脑任务产生冲突.
通过练习, 我们可以尽可能的在多个领域增加技能的熟练程度. 保持长时间的话, 这些任务的表现就会成了一件无需思考的, 自然而然的事情. 因此, 它们不会干扰到与其他任务的问题处理.
通过准备, 我们可以预测一些突发情况. 这样做的话, 我们可以针对每一个可能发生的结果拥有一个准备好的"对策".由此, 我们不再需要在进行的过程中匆忙的准备对策. 通过降低未预料到的情况下所需的problem solving, 相对于未准备的结果来说, 我们降低了任务干扰, 由此降低了连锁反应的可能性. 如果意料之外的事情发生了, 我们可以按计划处理, 并且可以继续接下来的行程.
最后, 通过控制速度, 我们获得了多余的时间来回应路程上每个障碍物的问题. 通过认识到心理时间不是线性的, 我们可以从仅仅降低10%的速度中获得好处, 它可以使解决问题的有效时长翻倍.
骑马既是一个物理上的运动, 也是一个心理上的运动. 想要有效并且安全的骑马, 需要同时理解这两种运动. 希望我这篇文章能够在心理那一面上指明一些思路, 并且有所帮助, 使得解决所有问题的过程不会干扰到所有任务中最重要的那一个: 享受运动.
Bill Buxton is Head of Research at Alias | Wavefront, a computer graphics company that - among other things - built the tools which were used to create the dinosaurs in the film, Jurassic Park. He is also Chief Scientist for Siicon Graphics Inc., a computer company specializing in computer graphics systems, and a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Toronto. His specialty is the human aspects of technology. He recently began competing at the preliminary level on his 8 year old buckskin clyde/thoroughbred mare, Matinee Performance, and is coached by Ian Roberts and Kelly Plitz of Dreamcrest Equestrian in Port Perry, Ont.
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