It's not uncommon to see pedestrians using their smartphones. It's actually uncommon to see pedestrians not using their phones. Whether they're hailing an Uber, figuring out which corner they should be on with a map app, or just scrolling through Instagram while waiting for the brunch squad to arrive, it seems walking and finger-typing are the peanut butter and jelly of, well, life.
现在人们边走路边玩手机的现象已经十分普遍了。看到人们走路不玩手机才是稀罕事儿呢。不管人们是在叫优步，看着导航思考自己所在的角落，还是边等早午餐小伙伴边刷Instagram，边走路边打字好像都已经成为了生活中的好基友。
People may think that they're multitasking maestros, but a new study shows that they're wrong. Mental Floss reports that texting while walking slows down both activities.
也许，大家都以为自己是多任务处理大师，但一项新研究表明他们都错了。《心理牙线》杂志报道：边走路边发短信会同时降低这两个行为的效率。
The study, conducted by scientists at Anglia Ruskin University in the U.K. and published in PLOS One, challenged a small sample of people to use their phones while traversing a short obstacle course. No, this was not some Spartan Race-style mix of fire pits and barbed wire, it was just an "18-foot-long walkway that contained a fibreboard a few inches high and a step-up box." The subjects braved the course while talking on their phones, reading a message, composing a message, and, finally, phone-free. Each test subject travelled the entire thing 12 times.
英国安吉利亚鲁斯金大学的科学家们开展了这项研究，并于PLOS One期刊发表。这项研究对一小群人发起了挑战，挑战他们在玩手机的同时通过设有障碍物的短途路程。不，这不是斯巴达比赛式的火坑和铁丝网，只是一条18英尺长的走道，走道上有几英寸高的纤维板和升压箱。受试者分别在拿着手机聊天、看短信、发短信和没有手机的情况下勇往直前。每位受试者走这条路走了12次。
Of course, having the distraction of a phone slowed the subjects down. The researchers found that subjects also changed the way they walked while they used their phones. Steps were higher and strides were shorter, something the scientists called a "cautious stepping strategy." So not only does a phone slow things down all-around, it makes pedestrians look silly, too.
当然，被手机分散注意力的受试者速度有所减慢。研究员们发现：走路玩手机的那些人，他们的走路方式也发生了改变。脚抬得更高、但却迈的更短，科学家将其称之为"谨慎的走路策略。"所以，手机不仅减慢了他们的整个速度，还让他们看起来傻乎乎的。
The test subjects took twice as long to traverse the course while writing a message and 67% longer when reading one. Talking on the phone slowed them down, too, but not as much as composing a text. Surprisingly, nobody fell down during the study.
边走路边发短信的受试者需花费2倍的时间才能走过这条路，而看短信则需要1.67倍的时长。虽然打电话也会让他们放慢脚步，但却没有发短信的影响大。令人惊奇的是，研究中居然没有人跌倒！
The findings show that it's probably a good idea to separate the two activities if accuracy and actually getting places are the end goal. Not only does multitasking actually slow down the tasks at hand, everyone looks strange when they're craned over their phones, rushing to get from place to place.
研究结果表明：如果准确度和实际到达的地点是最终目标，那最好还是走路就认真走路、发短信就认真发短信吧。多任务不仅会减缓你处理手头事务的速度，而且低着头玩手机并急匆匆从这一点赶到另一点的行为也很奇怪。
