做决定也有科学道理：慢慢来

A recent study shows that when faced with a decision, it's best to take some time--relax and cool off--so logical thinking can guide us to the best choice.
最近的一项研究表明，当人们面临做出决定的时候，最好还是留出一些时间---让自己放松和冷静---这样逻辑思维就能帮助我们做出最佳选择。

Making a Decision? Take Your Time

Ah to sleep on it, the classic delay tactic. Recent research out of Maastricht University School of Business and Economics shows that indeed delaying a choice, in general, can help us make better decisions.

Researchers presented subjects with an ultimatum game, where player A offers a portion of 10 dollars to player B. If B accepts the offer, both parties get the suggested amounts. And if B refuses, both parties receive nothing. Low offers (say two dollars) are almost always rejected, even though one dollar is better than none.

They paired up 168 subjects and found that responders who made a decision immediately after receiving a one-dollar offer always rejected it. But acceptances skyrocketed to 75 percent for those players who took 10 minutes to fill out a questionnaire after receiving the lowball offer.

Brain imaging studies show that low offers activate the anterior insula, an area associated with feelings of disgust or anger. So the authors note that the delay allows us to chill out and accept the most logical and best option even if we're dealing with cheapskate partner.

要做决定了？请慢来

嗯，还是放一放吧，这是我们常用的拖延策略。目前来自马斯特里赫特（Maastricht）大学经济与工商管理学院的研究表明，一般来说，推迟决定确实能帮助我们做出更好的选择。

研究者们让受试参加一项最后通牒博弈，在该博弈中，A方拿出提议，分出10美元中的一部分给B方。如果B接受提议，那么双方按照提议得到各自的钱。如果B拒绝，那么双方都拿不到一分钱。当A给出的提议很低的时候（比如2美元），这样的提议几乎都被B拒绝，即便是B能拿到一美元。

研究人员把168名受试分别结成对，他们发现当响应者在接受到一美元的分成提议后，如果立即做出决定的话，他们往往拒绝这个分成提议。但是如果让这些响应者在接到这个低分成提议后花10分钟填一份问卷调查，他们接受这个分成提议的比例迅速攀升到75%。

大脑成像研究表明，低的分成提议激活大脑中的前脑岛（anterior insula）区域，该区域与厌恶和愤怒情绪相关。因此，该研究的作者们注意到，推迟做决定能让我们冷静下来，从而让我们即使在和小气鬼伙伴做交易的时候，接受最有逻辑和最佳的选择。

Vocabulary:

Delay：拖延
Tactic：战术；策略
Ultimatum：最后通牒
Responder：响应者
Skyrocket：猛涨
Questionnaire：问卷调查
Lowball：虚假低价
Activate：激活
Anterior insula：前脑岛
Disgust：厌恶；反感
Cheapskate：小气鬼

英语原文来自SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN《科学美国人》http://www.sciam.com 作者：Christie Nicholson