“Flow — if it can be achieved — incurs benefits,” said Sweeny, a professor of psychology. “And video games are perfect for flow as long as it's a game that meets and slightly pushes the skill level of the player.”

心理学教授斯威尼说：“流动如果可以实现是会带来好处的。而电子游戏是完美的流动，只要这是一个能满足玩家，并能稍稍推动玩家技能水平的游戏。”

Sweeny's "worry and waiting" research has contributed much to our understanding of worry during periods of anxious waiting, such as for medical test results or the outcome of a job interview. It has suggested that optimists are as prone as pessimists to brace themselves for the worst, that worry can act as a motivator, and that many coping strategies fail us during periods of uncertainty.

斯威尼的“担心和等待”研究对我们在焦虑等待期间对忧虑的理解有很大帮助，如等待医学测试结果或工作面试结果。研究表明，乐观主义者和悲观主义者一样容易做最坏的准备，担心可以起到激励作用，在不确定性时期，许多应对策略都会让我们失败。

In the most recent study, Sweeny homed in on one of those coping strategies: distraction. Distraction is an imperfect coping strategy, because one must reach the flow plateau for distraction to work. And achieving a state of flow isn’t easy. If the activity isn’t challenging enough, you get bored. No flow. If it’s too difficult, you get frustrated. Again, no flow.

在最近的一项研究中，斯威尼专注于其中一种应对策略：分心。分心是一种不完美的应对策略，因为一个人必须到达流动的平稳状态，才能分散注意力。要达到一种流动的状态并不容易。如果这项活动没有足够的挑战性，你就会感到无聊，于是没有流动。如果太难，你会感到沮丧，再一次没有流动。

“Flow requires a delicate balance,” Sweeny said. “Flow is most readily achieved with activities that challenge the person somewhat, but not too much; have clear, achievable goals; and that provide the person with feedback about how they’re doing along the way.”

“流动需要一个微妙的平衡，”斯威尼说。“流动是最容易实现的，这些活动在一定程度上挑战了一些人，但数量不会太多；有明确的、可实现的目标；这些活动为人们提供了关于他们在此过程中所做情况的反馈。”

Enter Tetris, and 290 undergraduate students, who were Sweeny’s study subjects. When they entered the lab, the students were told the study would be about physical attractiveness. They filled out a questionnaire, after which a photo was taken of them. They were then told that students in another location would rate their. While they were ostensibly being rated, the students were then asked to play Tetris for 10 minutes.

关于俄罗斯方块，斯威尼组织了290名本科生作为研究对象。当他们进入实验室时，学生们被告知这项研究将是关于外表吸引力的。他们先填写一份调查问卷，然后被拍下一张照片。随后，他们被告知，另一个地方的学生将对他们的外表吸引力进行评分。当他们在被进行打分的时候，学生们被要求玩10分钟的俄罗斯方块。

The game was introduced at varying levels: one level was “low challenge,” i.e, easy; the second was “adaptive,” changing in difficulty as participants’ abilities increased; the third was “high challenge,” or difficult.

游戏有不同的级别：一个级别是“低级挑战”，即容易；第二个级别是“适应性”，随着参与者能力的增加，难度发生变化；第三个级别是“高级挑战”，即困难。

After the game, they completed a survey measuring flow, worry, and emotion. Finally, the study’s research assistants explained the true nature of the research.

游戏结束后，他们完成了一项测量流动、担忧和情绪的调查。最后，研究助理对该研究的本质进行了分析。

The participants who achieved flow — those in the adaptive group — experienced less negative emotion, and greater positive emotion than those who were bored, or for whom the level of play was too difficult.

实现流动的参与者，即玩“适应性”级别小组中的参与者，他们比那些玩无聊游戏或困难级别游戏的人有更少的消极情绪和更多的积极情绪。

The venerable video game was used in a recent experiment to create a state of “flow” — the term psychologists use to describe a state of mind so engaged it makes the rest of the world fall away, and time pass more quickly. UC Riverside researcher Kate Sweeny and her team have found that state of perfect disengagement may improve the otherwise-emotionally unpleasant experience of awaiting uncertain news.

在最近的一项实验中，这款经典的电子游戏被用来创造一种“流动”状态-心理学家用这个词来描述一种专注的心境，这种心境会让世界除游戏外的地方消失，让时间过得更快。加州大学河滨分校（UC Riverside）的研究人员凯特·斯威尼和她的团队发现，完全孤立状态可能会改善等待不确定消息时的情绪不愉快。

In place of Tetris, in which blocks are flipped every which way and stacked into rows, one can substitute flow activities such as rock climbing, carpentry, playing chess, or swimming. Or, Sweeny said, other video games.

俄罗斯方块每一种方式的翻转和堆叠成行都可以代替流动的活动，如攀岩，木工活，下棋或游泳，或者其他电子游戏，斯威尼说。

“The Tetris study is key because it experimentally manipulates flow and shows effects of that manipulation, which provides convincing evidence that flow actually causes well-being during waiting periods, not that it just happens to coincide with well-being,” Sweeny said.

斯威尼说：“对俄罗斯方块的研究之所以关键，是因为它在实验上操纵了流动，并显示了这种操纵的效果，这提供了令人信服的证据，证明在等待期间，流动实际上会带来幸福而不是它恰好发生在幸福的时候。”