Chinese and Americans literally view the world differently，according to a new study，which found that the two groups tend to move their eyes in distinctly different patterns when looking at pictures.

　　“It people are literally looking at the world differently，we think it would be natural for them to explain the world in different ways，” said Richard Nisbett，a psychologist at the University of Michigan.

　　Over the past decade，research by Nisbett and his colleagues has surprised social scientists with numerous studies showing that Westerners and East Asians think differently.

　　Westerners tend to be analytical and pay more attention to the key，or focal objects in a scene — for example， concentration on the woman in the “Mona Lisa”，as opposed to the rocks and sky behind her.

　　“East Asians，by contrast，tend to look at the whole picture and rely on contextual information when making decisions and judgments about what they see，” Nisbett said.

　　The new study was designed to determine if the difference in the thought processes of East Asians and Westerners affects how each group physically looks at the world. To find out，the researchers measured eye movements of 45 U.S. and Chinese students as they looked at photographs that featured single focal objects against complex backgrounds. For example，one image showed a tiger by a stream in a forest. Another image showed a fighter jet flying over a mountainous landscape.

　　“When test subjects looked at the pictures，differences emerged between the U.S. and Chinese students within the first second of an average viewing，” Nisbett said. “Americans look at the focal object more quickly and spend more time looking at it，” he said. “The Chinese have more saccades （jerky eye movements）.They move their eyes more，especially back and forth between the object and the background field.”

　　The finding suggests that East Asians literally spend more time putting objects into context than Americans do. The differences are not just reflected in how individuals recall and report their memories but in how they physically see an image in the first place.

　　Nisbett says that any explanation for the cultural differences is，at this point，speculation. However，he and his colleagues suggest that the differences may be rooted in social practices that stretch back thousands of years.

　　“Westerners are taught to pay attention to objects that are important to them，to have goals that they can follow，” he said. “East Asians are more likely to pay attention to the social field.”

　　By John Roach

　　一顶最新的研究表明，中国人和美国人的世界观的确不同。 研究表明当这两个民族的人在注视图画时，他们使用眼神的方式截然不同。

　　“如果人们的世界观的确不一样，我们认为他们用不同方式解释事物也就不足为奇了，”密歇根大学的心理学家理查德·尼斯伯特说。

　　在过去的十多年中，由尼斯伯特和同事们进行的研究使社会科学界大吃一惊，大量的研究成果表明西方人和东亚人的思维方式确实不同。

　　西方人倾向于分析问题，更加注意某一现场的关键或焦点问题——例如他们会更加留意蒙娜丽莎本人，而非她后面的岩石和天空。

　　“与此相反，当东亚人对所看到的画像做出判断和决定时，他们则倾向于看整个画像，并借助于背景信息，”尼斯伯特说。

　　新的研究被设计采断定在东亚人和西方人之间存在的思维过程上的差异是否会影响到他们如何从自身看待事物。为了能够得出结论，当 45 位美国学生和中国学生在审视复杂背景下能够反映单个焦点物体的时候，研究人员对他们的眼波运动进行了测量。例如，有一张老虎在森林中小溪旁的照片。另一张是战斗机飞越高山时的照片。

　　“当受试者看这些照片的时候，美国学生和中国学生通常在观看的第一秒钟内就表现出他们之间的差异，”尼斯波特说。“美国人更快地把视线移到画面前景中的主要物体上，其视线停留在上面的时间也更长，”他说。“中国人则有更多的快速眼波运动。他们会更经常地移动视线，尤其是在物体和背景的前后之间。”

　　结果表明：东亚人显然要比美国人花费更多时间将物体放入背景之中。这些差别并不仅仅表现在个体如何回忆和报告他们的记忆内容上，而且还表现在他们如何在第一地点观察一个图画的时候。

　　尼斯伯特说，从这个角度看，任何对文化差异的解释都是一种推测。然而，他和同事暗示说，差异或许扎根于数千年来的社会实践活动之中。

　　“西方人被教育要注意对他们来说重要的物体，要有能够遵循的目标，”他说。“东亚人更可能对社会领域给予关注。”