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Pigeons are… smarter than they look. Admittedly, that's not a super high bar to clear.
鸽子比它们看起来要更聪明。不得不说，这一点不难解释。
But you may have heard that these supposed birdbrains are so smart that they can actually read. Is that true?
但是你可能听说过这些小脑袋非常聪明，还能识字。这是真的么？
The main study behind this claim was published in 2016, and it looked at orthographic processing,
这一说法背后的主要研究发表于2016年，该研究对正字法加工进行了观察，
which is the ability to visually recognize what a given word looks like. And it found that pigeons can do that.
即从字形上认字的能力。该研究发现鸽子可以。
But despite a slew of news stories suggesting that pigeons can read or kind of read,
但虽然大量新闻故事表明鸽子能够识字之类的，
this research didn't show that pigeons can actually read, like, at all. Here's what it did show.
但该研究并没有表明鸽子真的识字。以下是该研究。
Researchers put eighteen pigeons through a training regimen designed to teach them
研究人员对18只鸽子进行特别训练，旨在教它们
to distinguish four-letter words from four-letter strings of gibberish.
区别四个字母的单词和四个字母的非单词。
It was a follow-up to a similar 2012 study on baboons,
这是2012年对狒狒进行类似研究的后续，
which showed that non-human primates have the ability to recognize words as visually-distinct shapes.
该研究表明非人灵长类动物有根据不同字形识别单词的能力。
But baboons are still primates, like us.
但是狒狒还是和人类一样是灵长类动物。
So the real question was, can anything that's not a primate do this?
所以真正的问题是有哪些非灵长类动物能如此呢？
The pigeon researchers drew four-letter words from a pool of 308 words previously used in the baboon study.
鸽子研究员从先前狒狒研究中的308个单词中选取了4个字母的单词。
A screen in front of each pigeon displayed words and non-words one at a time, along with a small star.
鸽子面前的每一块屏幕每次都会显示一个单词和一个非单词，还有一个小星星。
If the sequence of letters on the screen was a real word, the pigeons were supposed to peck the word.
如果屏幕连续出现的字母可以组成真正的单词，那么鸽子就应该啄一下这个单词。
If it was a jumble of letters, they were supposed to peck the star. If they were right, they got a treat.
如果只是混乱的一堆字母，它们就应该啄一下小星星。如果它们答对了，就会获得奖励。
If not, they got to try again until they got it right and got their treat.
如果错了，就要再试一次，直到它们选对了并获得奖励为止。
The researchers taught the pigeons one word at a time until they could reliably recognize it.
研究人员一次教一个单词直到鸽子可以完全认识它。
Then, once they mastered that word, the researchers introduced another one,
然后一旦它们掌握了这个单词，研究人员就教下一个，
while also quizzing them on older words to keep their memories fresh.
同样也会考察之前的单词，让它们不会忘记。
After a grueling 8 months, the researchers identified the top four word-learners.
经过了疲劳的8个月后，研究人员选出了四名最佳单词学习者。
These feathered savants had learned to recognize anywhere from eight to twenty-three words.
这些有羽毛的学者学会了8到23个单词。
These word-pecking prodigies then continued their training,
这些啄单词的奇才继续着它们的训练，
after which the sharpest pigeon of the bunch eventually learned to distinguish /fifty-eight/ words.
此前其中最聪明的鸽子最终学会了区分58个单词。
But they didn't just learn to distinguish words from non-words.
但是它们不仅仅只是学会了区分单词和非单词。
To the researchers' surprise, the pigeons could also tell the difference between words they knew
让研究人员惊讶的是，鸽子们还能够区别认识的单词
and mixed-up versions of those words like V-E-R-Y vs. V-R-E-Y.
和易混淆单词，如V-E-R-Y和V-R-E-Y。
This so-called transposed letter effect is considered a hallmark of orthographic processing.
这种所谓的调换字母效应被认为是正字法加工的标志。
This means that not only can pigeons recognize words from non-words,
这意味着鸽子不仅能够识别单词和非单词
they also grasp the statistical properties of letters and their distribution within words - like, where the letters are supposed to go.
还能掌握字母的统计特征以及单词内的分布，比如哪个单词应该排在哪。
Which is impressive, but it's not the whole deal when it comes to reading.
这令人印象深刻，但识字并没有那么简单。
Along with orthographic processing, reading involves several other systems working in tandem.
和正字法加工一样，识字涉及几个其他体系的协同工作。
As human kids learn how to talk and read, they learn how sounds correspond to spoken and written words.
人类儿童在学习如何说话和识字时，他们要学习声音和口语以及书面语如何相对应。
That's known as phonological processing. Semantic processing is how we get to the meaning of words.
这被称为语音加工。语义处理是我们理解字义的方式。
It's what our brains use to conceptualize, say, the word "water" as that refreshing liquid that we crave when we're thirsty.
我们的大脑正是利用这种方式将单词，比如“水”概念化称我们口渴时所渴求的清凉液体。
There's also syntactic processing, which involves the position and arrangement of words in relation to each other,
还有句法加工，就是单词彼此的位子和排序
and morphological processing, which deals with the smallest meaningful bits of words.
以及词素处理，处理单词的最小意义部分。
Pigeons haven't been shown to engage in, yeah, any of those additional processes that are crucial to actually reading.
并没有发现鸽子运用了任何这些额外的识字关键处理方式。
But just because pigeons can't be taught to appreciate Shakespeare or fanfic depending on what you're into
但是鸽子不可能学会欣赏莎翁或同人文
that doesn't mean that the study's findings aren't exciting or important.
也并不意味着这项研究的发现并不令人振奋或重要。
This pigeon study gives us new insight into fundamental questions about the origins of reading and language.
这项鸽子的研究给了我们探究有关识字和语言起源根本问题的新视角。
Like, there's a region of our brain called the visual word form area that activates when we read.
比如，我们大脑有个区域叫作视觉词性，在我们阅读时，这块区域会激活。
But humans have only been reading for 5000 years.
但是人类识字历史仅有五千年。
That's way too recent for a special, reading-specific part of our brain to have evolved,
对于我们大脑这块特殊的识字区域进化来说，时间太近了，
so scientists hypothesize it must have started out doing something else.
所以科学家假设这块区域一开始是用于其他功能的。
Pigeons' brain architecture and visual systems are distinctly different from human brains,
鸽子的脑结构和视觉系统和人脑明显不同，
yet they're capable of what seems to be a similar kind of orthographic processing.
但是它们拥有和正字法加工类似的能力。
That means that visual systems that aren't genetically or physically similar to humans'
这意味着在基因上或生理上，和人类不同的视觉系统
can somehow use the brain wiring that helps animals recognize objects and pictures to also recognize words and word structure.
竟然可以利用大脑布线帮助动物识别物体和图画，也能识别单词和词的结构。
And that provides a clue that our own reading-specific brain center could actually have an older function in recognizing visual information
这为我们提供了线索—我们的特殊识字脑中心存在识别视觉信息的旧功能
something pigeon brains can do, too, even though they're so different.
而鸽子的大脑也能做到，即便它们是如此的不同。
So perhaps we just co-opted that function for reading, in what's known as the neuronal recycling hypothesis.
所以可能我们只是借助了这种功能用于识字，正如神经元循环假说所述。
Maybe they can't read, but these pigeons and their birdbrains have a lot to teach us.
也有可能是它们不会识字，但是我们仍可以从它们和它们的小脑袋中学到很多。
Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow, which is produced by Complexly.
感谢收看本期《科学秀》，本期节目由Complexly出品。
We produce over a dozen channels, including Nature League, which recently celebrated its first birthday.
我们有十几个频道，包括刚刚过完一周岁生日的Nature League。
Host Brit Garner explores life on Earth and questions what we think we know about the natural world.
主持人Brit Garner会探索地球上的生命并质疑我们对地球自以为的理解。
Each week she strives to critically examine the relationship between humans and the other species that share this planet like pigeons.
每周她都会批判性地探求人类和其他共享地球生物，如鸽子之间的关系。
For a taste of what you can expect, we've linked to their "Best of" playlist in the description below.
下方有他们最佳节目的连接以供观看。
