(本文發表於2022年9月23日☁▩◕✘▩,作者來自達特茅斯學院和芝加哥大學)

Imagine the Monopoly Man.
Is he wearing a monocle or not?
If you pictured the character from the popular board game wearing one, you’d be wrong. In fact, he has never worn one.
If you’re surprised by this, you’re not alone. Many people possess the same false memory of this character. This phenomenon takes place for other characters, logos and quotes, too. For example, Pikachu from Pokémon is often thought to have a black tip on his tail, which he doesn’t have. And many people are convinced that the fruit of the Loom logo includes a cornucopia. It doesn’t.

想象一下“大富翁”↟₪。
他是否戴著單片眼鏡╃☁•✘₪?
如果在你的腦海中☁▩◕✘▩,這個熱門棋盤遊戲中的人物是戴著單片眼鏡的☁▩◕✘▩,那你就錯了↟₪。事實上☁▩◕✘▩,他從來沒有戴過↟₪。
如果你對此感到驚訝☁▩◕✘▩,那你並不孤單↟₪。很多人對這個人物的記憶同樣是錯誤的↟₪。這種現象也發生在其他人物↟·││☁、標誌和引語上↟₪。比如☁▩◕✘▩,人們常會以為《口袋妖怪》中皮卡丘的尾巴上有一個黑色的尾巴尖☁▩◕✘▩,而他並沒有↟₪。很多人都篤信水果織機(Fruit of the Loom)的品牌標誌中包含一個豐饒之角↟₪。然而並沒有↟₪。
原創翻譯│▩·☁:龍騰網 http://www.ltaaa.cn 轉載請註明出處


We call this phenomenon of shared false memories for certain cultural icons the “visual Mandela Effect.”
People tend to be puzzled when they learn that they share the same false memories with other people. That’s partly because they assume that what they remember and forget ought to be subjective and based on their own personal experiences.
However, research we have conducted shows that people tend to remember and forget the same images as one another, regardless of the diversity of their individual experiences. Recently, we have shown these similarities in our memories even extend to our false memories.

我們把這種對特定文化圖示的共同錯誤記憶現象稱為“視覺曼德拉效應”↟₪。
當人們得知他們與其他人擁有相同的錯誤記憶時☁▩◕✘▩,往往會困惑不解↟₪。這部分是因為他們以為自己的記憶和遺忘應該是主觀的☁▩◕✘▩,而且是基於自己的個人體驗↟₪。
然而☁▩◕✘▩,我們開展的研究表明☁▩◕✘▩,人們往往會和身旁人一樣記住和遺忘同一批形象☁▩◕✘▩,無論他們的個人體驗多樣化程度如何都是如此↟₪。最近☁▩◕✘▩,我們已經證明了我們記憶中的這些相似存在甚至會延展為我們的虛假記憶↟₪。

What is the Mandela Effect?

什麼是曼德拉效應╃☁•✘₪?

The term “Mandela Effect” was coined by Fiona Broome, a self-described paranormal researcher, to describe her false memory of former South African president Nelson Mandela dying in prison in the 1980s. She realized that many other people also shared this same false memory and wrote an article about her experience on her website. The concept of shared false memories spread to other forums and websites, including Reddit.

“曼德拉效應”一詞是由自稱是超自然現象研究者的菲奧娜·布魯姆創造的☁▩◕✘▩,用來描述她的“南非前總統納爾遜·曼德拉在八十年代死在了監獄中”這段虛假記憶↟₪。當時她意識到其他很多人也同樣擁有這段虛假記憶☁▩◕✘▩,於是在她的網站上寫了一篇有關她經歷的文章↟₪。這種共有虛假記憶的概念播散到了其他論壇和網站☁▩◕✘▩,包括紅迪論壇↟₪。

Since then, examples of the Mandela Effect have been widely shared on the internet. These include names like “the Berenstain Bears,” a children’s book series that is falsely remembered as spelled “-ein” instead of “-ain,” and characters like Star Wars’ C-3PO, who is falsely remembered with two gold legs instead of one gold and one silver leg.

自那時起☁▩◕✘▩,曼德拉效應的例子就在網際網路上廣為轉發↟₪。這些例子包括“the Berenstain Bears(貝倫斯坦熊)”之類的名字☁▩◕✘▩,這是一個少兒讀物系列☁▩◕✘▩,其拼寫被錯誤地記憶為“-ein ”而不是“-ain”☁▩◕✘▩,以及像《星球大戰》中C-3PO之類的人物☁▩◕✘▩,被錯誤地記憶為有兩條金色的腿而不是一條金色的腿和一條銀色的腿↟₪。



(譯註│▩·☁:《貝倫斯坦熊》曾被拍成動畫喜劇系列☁▩◕✘▩,播放於2003-2006年)

The Mandela Effect became fodder for conspiracists – the false memories so strong and so specific that some people see them as evidence of an alternate dimension.
Because of that, scientific research has only studied the Mandela Effect as an example of how conspiracy theories spread on the internet. There has been very little research looking into the Mandela Effect as a memory phenomenon.
But understanding why these icons trigger such specific false memories might give us more insight into how false memories form. The visual Mandela Effect, which affects icons specifically, was a perfect way to study this.

曼德拉效應成為了陰謀論者的素材│▩·☁:虛假記憶如此根深蒂固☁▩◕✘▩,如此鬚眉畢現☁▩◕✘▩,以至於有些人將其視為存在另一個維度的證據↟₪。
正因如此☁▩◕✘▩,科學研究只是將曼德拉效應作為陰謀論在網際網路上擴散的一個例子來研究↟₪。很少有研究會將曼德拉效應作為一種記憶現象來研究↟₪。
但去理解為什麼這些圖示會觸發宛然如生的虛假記憶☁▩◕✘▩,也許能讓我們更深入地洞悉虛假記憶是如何形成的↟₪。專門影響圖示的視覺曼德拉效應是研究這個問題的一個完美方法↟₪。

A robust false memory phenomenon

一種非常堅挺的虛假記憶現象

To see whether the visual Mandela Effect really exists, we ran an experiment in which we presented people with three versions of the same icon. One was correct and two were manipulated, and we asked them to sext the correct one. There were 40 sets of icons, and they included C-3PO from the Star Wars franchise, the Fruit of the Loom logo and the Monopoly Man from the board game.
In the results, which have been accepted for publication in the journal Psychological Sciences, we found that people fared very poorly on seven of them, only choosing the correct one around or less than 33% of the time. For these seven images, people consistently identified the same incorrect version, not just randomly choosing one of the two incorrect versions. In addition, participants reported being very confident in their choices and having high familiarity with these icons despite being wrong.
Put together, it’s clear evidence of the phenomenon that people on the internet have talked about for years: The visual Mandela Effect is a real and consistent memory error.

為了檢視視覺曼德拉效應是否真的存在☁▩◕✘▩,我們做了一個實驗☁▩◕✘▩,在實驗中向參與者展示同一個圖示的三個版本↟₪。一個是正確的☁▩◕✘▩,另兩個經過了篡改☁▩◕✘▩,我們要求他們選出正確的那張↟₪。有40組圖示☁▩◕✘▩,包括《星球大戰》系列中的機器人C-3PO↟·││☁、Fruit of the Loom的品牌標誌和棋盤遊戲中的大富翁↟₪。
在已經被認可並發表於《心理科學》雜誌的實驗結果中☁▩◕✘▩,我們發現參與者在其中七張圖示上的表現非常差☁▩◕✘▩,選出正確圖示的情況只有大約或不到33%↟₪。對於這七張圖示☁▩◕✘▩,參與者認出來的一直都是同一個錯誤版本☁▩◕✘▩,而不是隨機選出兩個錯誤版本中的一個↟₪。此外☁▩◕✘▩,參與者報告說對自己的選擇非常有信心☁▩◕✘▩,而且儘管選錯了☁▩◕✘▩,但對這些圖示的熟悉度是很高的↟₪。
歸總來看☁▩◕✘▩,這就是網民們多年來所談論現象的明確證據↟₪。視覺上的曼德拉效應是一個真實存在而前後一貫的記憶錯誤↟₪。


The correct version of Pikachu is the one on the left. Most participants in the study not only chose a wrong version of the popular cartoon character, but they also chose the same wrong one – the Pikachu with the black tip on its tail.

(圖解│▩·☁:皮卡丘的正確版本是左邊的那個↟₪。該項研究中的大部分參與者不僅選擇了這個流行卡通人物的錯誤版本☁▩◕✘▩,而且選出的還是同一個錯誤版本│▩·☁:有黑色尾巴尖的皮卡丘↟₪。
選後三問│▩·☁:
b.你對自己的選擇有幾分信心╃☁•✘₪?
c.你對皮卡丘有多熟悉╃☁•✘₪?
d.你以前見過皮卡丘幾次╃☁•✘₪?)

We found that this false memory effect was incredibly strong, across multiple different ways of testing memory. Even when people saw the correct version of the icon, they still chose the incorrect version just a few minutes later.
And when asked to freely draw the icons from their memory, people also included the same incorrect features.

我們發現☁▩◕✘▩,在多種不同的記憶測試方式中☁▩◕✘▩,這種虛假記憶效應都極強↟₪。就算人們看了正確版本的圖示☁▩◕✘▩,他們也還是會在僅僅幾分鐘後的選擇中選出錯誤版本↟₪。
而當被要求根據他們的記憶自由地畫出這些圖示時☁▩◕✘▩,人們的畫中也包含了同樣的錯誤特徵↟₪。

No universal cause

不存在天下共通的原因

What causes this shared false memory for specific icons?
We found that visual features like color and brightness could not explain the effect. We also tracked participants’ mouse movements as they viewed the images on a computer screen to see if they simply didn’t scan over a particular part, such as Pikachu’s tail. But even when people directly viewed the correct part of the image, they still chose the false version immediately afterward. We also found that for most icons, it was unlikely people had seen the false version beforehand and were just remembering that version, rather than the correct version.

是什麼導致了這種對特定圖示的共享錯誤記憶╃☁•✘₪?
我們發現☁▩◕✘▩,顏色和亮度等視覺特徵無法解釋這種效應↟₪。我們還跟蹤了參與者在電腦螢幕上檢視圖示時的滑鼠動作☁▩◕✘▩,以瞭解他們是否只是沒有掃到某個特定部位☁▩◕✘▩,比如皮卡丘的尾巴↟₪。但是☁▩◕✘▩,就算參與者直接查看了圖示的正確部分☁▩◕✘▩,他們還是會在看完之後立刻選出錯誤版本↟₪。我們還發現☁▩◕✘▩,對於大多數圖示來說☁▩◕✘▩,參與者不太可能事先見過那個錯誤版本☁▩◕✘▩,然後就順勢記住了那個版本(而不是正確版本)↟₪。
原創翻譯│▩·☁:龍騰網 http://www.ltaaa.cn 轉載請註明出處


It may be that there is no one universal cause. Different images may elicit the visual Mandela Effect for different reasons. Some could be related to prior expectations for an image, some might be related to prior visual experience with an image and others could have to do with something entirely different than the images themselves. For example, we found that, for the most part, people only see C-3PO’s upper body depicted in media. The falsely remembered gold leg might be a result of them using prior knowledge – bodies are usually only one color – to fill in this gap.

也許並不存在一個天下共通的原因↟₪。不同的圖示可能會出於不同的原因而在視覺上引發曼德拉效應↟₪。有些可能和事先對圖示的期待有關☁▩◕✘▩,有些可能和事先對某圖示的視覺體驗有關☁▩◕✘▩,還有一些可能和與圖示本身完全沒有關係的東西有關↟₪。比如我們發現☁▩◕✘▩,在大多數情況下☁▩◕✘▩,人們在媒體中看到的C-3PO只有上半身↟₪。錯記成金色的腿☁▩◕✘▩,可能是他們沿用了之前的知識來填補這一空白的結果☁▩◕✘▩,即身體通常只有一種顏色↟₪。


But the fact that we can demonstrate consistencies in false memories for certain icons suggests that part of what drives false memories is dependent on our environment – and independent of our subjective experiences with the world.

但是☁▩◕✘▩,我們可以證明對特定圖示的虛假記憶存在一致性☁▩◕✘▩,這一事實表明│▩·☁:驅動虛假記憶的部分原因取決於我們所處的環境☁▩◕✘▩,而與我們對這個世界的主觀體驗無關↟₪。

原創翻譯│▩·☁:龍騰網 http://www.ltaaa.cn 轉載請註明出處