标题:ThisFoodPsychologyExperimentWasNearlyFoiledByChronicPoliteness source:io9丨EstherInglisArkell 翻译请保留原文链接哦 欲翻译的小伙伴,可评论领稿,并把已完成的译文发在自己的心理圈or个人主页的日志内。请领稿的小伙伴,尽量在一个星期内完成翻译,谢谢!! Psychologyexperimentshavetostraddlethelinebetweenlettingpeopleactnaturally,andforcingthemtoactoutanextremelyspecificsituation。Sometimesthatdoesn’tworkout。Here’sanexperimentthatdrovepsychologistscrazy。Why?BecausetheyunderestimatedthepolitenessofMinnesotans。 PsychologistTraciMannrunsafoodlabattheUniversityofMinnesota。ShehelpedNASAdevelopastudycurrentlytestingthestressreducingabilityofcomfortfoodinspace。That’sacomplicatedproposition,butoneofherexperimentsprovided(accidental)proofthatevensimpletestscanmakeexperimentersteartheirhairoutwithfrustration。 Mannandherstafftestedoutwhetheraperson,workingona“project”withtwofriends,wouldspecificallychoosehealthyfoodsandignoreunhealthyfoodsiftheirfriendsdidthesame。Unsurprisingly,theywould。Surprisingly,thiswasatoughexperimenttotest。Thescientistshadtoputoutaspreadofmeats,cheeses,veges,andpastriesforeachexperimentaltrio。They’dcoachedthetwofriendstoonlyputvegesontheirplate,andplannedtoseewhatthelast,uncoachedpersonwouldeatiftheyobservedtheirfriendsbeinghealthy。Thesubjects,studentsfromtheuniversity,gotcolorcodedplates,andthefoodhadcolorcodedtoothpicks。Byobservingwhichtoothpickswereleftonwhichplatesthescientistscouldleavetheroom,letthestudentsbehavecompletelynaturally,andthenfigureoutwhoatewhatafterthestudentsleft。 Afterthefirstgroupleft,theresearchersenteredthelabandfoundthatboththeplatesandthetoothpickshadbeengatheredupandconsideratelythrowninthetrash。Allthey’dmanagedtododuringthefirstexperimentwasfeedthreestudents。 Theresearcherstookthetrashcanoutoftheroom,andwelcomedthenextsetofsubjects。Theyplannedtocomebackafteraperiodoftimethatwouldgivethestudentsplentyoftimetoeatandworkontheirproject。Beforetheycouldreturntotheroom,theyheardsomeonecallingthem。Astudenthadcomelookingforthem,alltheplatesandtoothpicksjumbledtogetherinherhands,askingwherethetrashcanwassoshecouldthrowtheplatesandtoothpicksaway。 Afterthat,theresearchersstartedtellingthestudentstojuststayintheroomuntiloneofthescientistscametogetthem。Afterthenextexperiment,thescientistcameintofindalltheplatesandtoothpicks,piledinaneatstackatthecenterofthe。 Eventually,theresearchersrealizedtheyhadnochoicebuttocrouchneartotheroomandinterruptthestudentsaftertheyhadfinishedthedummyprojecttheywereworkingon,butbeforetheycouldstarttryingto“help”theexperimentersbycleaningupafterthemselves。Finally,theycouldstartcollectingdata。 Theremustbesomeresearchersreadingthiswhohavehadexperiments,especiallyexperimentsinvolvinghumans,veeroffcourseinsillyways。Tellushowyourexperimentwashijackedbyaccident,misadventure,orwellmeaningMinnesotans。