Faces in the crowd. What types of people stick in your memory? What kind of people are the most difficult to remember in person Sometimes I can’t remember the face of a familiar person

There is a common theory that a beautiful face is hard to forget. But recently, researchers from the University of Jena (Germany) refuted it. Rather, they managed to prove that it is not entirely true.

In the study, published in the journal Neuropsychologia, scientists showed a group of volunteers pictures of various people. At the same time, half of the faces could be considered beautiful, and the second - not very, but the number of appearance features for all was approximately equal.

During the demonstration, the electrical activity of the subjects' brains was recorded. After some time, they were shown the photographs again and asked if they had seen certain people before.

As it turned out, the volunteers were more likely to remember ugly faces. They were more likely to recognize beautiful faces only in those cases when the “beauties” had unusual facial features, like Angelina Jolie. If they were shown the faces of beautiful people whose pictures they had not previously seen, then the subjects often said that they knew them.

Experts believe that when we see a beautiful face with the right features, it seems to us already familiar. Therefore, we often make mistakes in recognition. If the face is ugly, then it is easier to remember it, since usually some remarkable features, such as a long nose or a large mouth, make the appearance ugly.

"The test showed that subjects tend to remember unattractive faces if there are no remarkable features in beautiful ones," study authors Holger Wiese, Caroline Altmann and Stefan Schweinberger said.

Events

Two percent of the world's population suffers from some form of memory loss for faces.

When Jo Livingston, a former librarian, was with her grandson in the park, a woman sat down on a bench next to them. And only when the woman began to speak, Jo realized that the speaker was her daughter. Joe suffers from prosopagnosia - the inability to distinguish between faces.

Although she recognizes her children and grandchildren within her own home, she tries to do so outside of it as well.

Very little is known about prosopagnosia, but studies show that about two percent of the population suffers from some form of the disease. "Currently, a wide range of prosopagnosia is known, ranging from those people who do not remember faces well, but when they restore information about a given person, they remember him and ending with those who who doesn't even recognize themselves in the photo", - so says Dr. Brad Dushane, lecturer at the University of London College of Cognitive Neuroscience. The doctor runs a research center that studies prosopagnosia.

“People with acquired prosopagnosia used to be able to recognize faces easily, but this ability was impaired as a result of brain damage caused by head trauma, stroke, or degenerative diseases. However, in those people who developed the disease from early childhood, Facial recognition system never developed in the brain "adds the doctor.

As a child, Jo shared her problem with everyone, but as she moved into adulthood, she realized how she really fell behind.

"If you can't recognize people, you feel like you're socially incompetent. You're always worried about what people around you might think, that you're either too rude and ill-mannered, or keep to yourself. I remember once having an interview about when applying for a job, a man in a dark suit spoke to me, then he left the room, and when he entered, I continued the conversation from the moment we left off, but I never got a job because it was a completely different person in a dark suit."

Jo, now 65, has been married for about 40 years, but until recently, she didn't tell her husband about her problems. "To admit that you do not recognize your own husband is a shame. John always had a beard, but one summer he shaved it off, and I could not look at our joint photos after that, He seemed like a complete stranger to me."

Richard Russell, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, also studies prosopagnosia and its opposite, the extraordinary ability of a person to recognize in a crowd of people faces that they have glimpsed several years ago. He says that although half of the cases of prosopagnosia are to blame for genetics, the reasons for its appearance are still unclear.

“There is an area in the human brain that is responsible for face recognition, and it is hypothesized that this area is significantly reduced in people with prosopagnosia, but this is not yet confirmed conclusions. There are also suggestions that this problem is related to the activity and volume of gray matter in the brain ."

Jo first read about her condition 5 years ago and it was a turning point in her life. Now she goes to schools to explain to teachers how to detect signs of prosopagnosia in children with prerequisites for this, who may otherwise be diagnosed with autism. "I've never felt confident in myself when talking before, I stopped constantly asking for forgiveness from others for myself, instead I talk about myself, and people are very understanding."

School of Yuri Okunev

Hello dear friends! With you again Yuri Okunev.

Today we will discuss how to memorize people's faces. There are not so many lucky people in the world who can boast that they have a photographic memory for faces. Nevertheless, every person who is seriously engaged in personal and career growth should have the ability to quickly memorize, because sometimes forgetfulness can lead to the failure to sign an important contract or the loss of a significant client.

In fact, you can learn to memorize quite quickly. From this article, you will learn techniques that will help you, when you first meet a person, to reliably capture his face in memory and then remember it without difficulty.

Probably, you found yourself in this situation: you meet a person at a party or at a party, some time passes, and you meet him on the street. You are called by name, and you, blushing and trying to maintain at least some conversation, painfully remember the name of your interlocutor and what circumstances you owe to a new acquaintance. Well, if this happens once or twice in a lifetime. What if it's constant?

Many people have difficulty remembering new faces. This can be explained by the following reasons:

• Poor visual memory;
• Inability to recognize small details (if we have a representative of another nation, then we first of all pay attention to skin color and do not pay attention to eye color and nose size at all);
• Indifference to the interlocutor (“What difference does it make who is in front of me? All people have the same face”);
• Deep immersion in oneself (typical for people in creative professions or in the presence of psychological trauma).

The Tony Buzan Method

Based on the foregoing, we can assume that all the troubles come from our worldly inattention and lack of interest in the object of acquaintance. The English psychologist Tony Buzan once studied this problem. As a result, he created his famous "method of social etiquette". In his opinion, in order to remember a new person on the face, you just need:

• To be polite;
• Show genuine interest in a new interlocutor.

How to quickly remember appearance

Compliance with these rules, arising from the Buzan method, allows you to very quickly remember the appearance and face of the person you meet:

1. First of all, believe in yourself and set yourself up that remembering appearance is not so difficult;
2. Make it a rule for yourself: any person with whom you communicate is a whole universe with its own characteristics and remarkables. Show interest in the interlocutor;
3. If possible, try to keep the person's eyes in sight. Not so, of course, to look point-blank and not blinking. Nobody likes a direct look. Disperse your attention: look at the forehead, hair, eyebrows, occasionally returning to the eyes. It is the look of a person that is sometimes remembered the most;
4. Use associations to remember the image of a person (I will tell you how to create them below);
5. When meeting, many of us feel awkward and tend to hush everything up and say goodbye as soon as possible. Don't be too quick to do so. Follow the example of the Queen of England. She certainly maintained a conversation with every person who was introduced to her, exchanged a few phrases with him;
6. Don't try to remember everyone present. It is human nature to remember no more than three people in one meeting. However, for the purpose of memory training, you can apply the plus one rule. That is, with each subsequent publication, remember one more person.

association method

If the name and surname of a person can be written down in a notebook, and then, after reading, remember. You can’t take a person’s appearance and face in a nutshell under a pencil. A more radical way of remembering is needed.

Psychologists note that we usually remember not the external appearance of a person, but his internal image, that is, the character traits of this person are superimposed on the appearance. To understand what distinguishes this person from others, you need to talk with him, note for yourself:

• The manner of his conversation;
• How does this person say your name?
• Sight;
• Body movements, gestures.

1. Try to single out for yourself the most significant feature of the character of the person standing in front of you, which immediately catches your eye: arrogance, swagger, or, conversely, shyness, your interlocutor is open and sincere, or something keeps silent and keeps silent, etc.
2. Now let's take a closer look at the face. Each has its own characteristics that stand out very brightly. Find the most catchy of them. Someone has a large nose, another has expressive eyes of an oriental type, the third comically pulls his lip when talking;
3. Let's say we noticed thick, fused eyebrows. Think about what it's like. Maybe on the wings of a large bird of prey? As a portrait artist, how would you portray this trait? Exaggerate, find the most incredible images - such images-pictures will enter your memory for a long time, which means that the person will be well remembered;
4. Associate the image with the character trait that was noted earlier. Try to compare your interlocutor with some animal or bird? What is it associated with?

In the future, the image you created will be the key to recalling this person in memory. Remembering the soaring bird, you immediately remember the eyebrows, and at the same time the character traits of their owner.

Conclusion

This way you can improve your memory for faces.
You can shake up your memory in more detail by reading the article, and seriously work out the skill by passing Intensive Stanislav Matveev "Supermemory" .

That's all for today. I look forward to your comments on what other ways you know to remember faces.

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Goodbye. Sincerely, Yuri Okunev.

From children it is easy to understand. :) They are open and emotional, they run to meet with loud joy when I come home.
From my mother - it’s clear that she loves because she cares a lot, communicates respectfully, I’m glad when everything is good and lively with me (not on the record, on the machine, but always in a new way, in different ways and delves into in what I think and feel, and so on).
From a husband, love is manifested in his actions, decisions, in what he does in life and how he changes internally. Also in that he misses me. Hurry home. Strive to please and gets upset when I am hard or sad. .
From God, love is felt in constant miracles and in what changes take place in life. Tips, support, fulfillment of desires and aspirations. And also in what gives strength and opportunity.

probably not

Absolutely.

• I am a living objection to this. I achieved my goal all the same, it was not easy, however, we are together, and not a little time - 2 years.

  I am sure that at least 2 people adore me! Son and daughter! :) And as for the rest, the flag is in their hands :)

  nju ne skazu chto ljublju, no nravitsja!!!
  za chto nju vo mnogix pesnjax est "smisl (kone4no smisl est" ne tol "ko v repe)
  nravitsja takt, sound....
  a ljubimix trekov mnogo!!!

  It's about female psychology. The girl loves a young, or not very, man, but he does not reciprocate her. It clicks in the girl’s head - “YEAH! He doesn’t love me! I’m with him with all my heart, but oooh .... bastard!”
  CONCLUSION: Look for mutual love.

  neither for nor in spite of...

When communicating with industry colleagues at one of the conferences, you do not want to rely on the standard phrase: "Good afternoon, my name is ..." or on a badge with your name and surname. You want to stand out with something original to make an unforgettable impression on people. In fact, it is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance.

What is the relationship between memory and appearance?

The scientific studies that have highlighted the differences between memory and appearance tell us that non-standard details are the most likely to stand out. You can meet a person in a public place, look at him for a few seconds and remember this meeting for a long time. An older lady might amaze you with a luxurious red dress, a stranger sitting opposite you in the waiting room with a pocket watch or a pleasant compliment.

Psychologists say that the most beautiful person in the room cannot automatically be ranked among the most memorable people. Appearance types are divided by skin color, eyes and hair, and the rarest of them are the most memorable. It is unlikely that you will remember another long-haired brunette from several dozens of the same type of girls, but you will remember the red-haired lady with freckles for a long time.

Some of the most memorable people are not distinguished by the beauty of top models or article duchesses. But their unique characteristics (protruding ears, interesting eye shape or hooked nose), coupled with unusual behavior, make others pay attention to them.

Less attractive faces are remembered more

It is believed that ideal facial features and external attractiveness attract attention. However, experts are quick to debunk this myth, arguing that we most often remember less attractive faces. This became clear based on the data of a scientific study conducted in 2014. Distinguishing features or flaws (such as scars or birthmarks) are more likely to stick in your memory. These findings may explain why people remember perfectly ordinary strangers, while forgetting perfect-featured faces that most people think can be considered beautiful.

Understanding beauty

Other studies show that beautiful people can be better understood because they get the most attention when they communicate. One study found that we tend to pay more attention to attractive fellows on a subconscious level, resulting in a deeper understanding of personality. During the experiment, strangers took part, who spent three minutes with each other in a confined space. The results supported the assumption that physically more attractive individuals are more desirable to interact with.

About eye magnetism

Further analysis of the results of the study revealed the phenomenon of beauty in the eyes of the interlocutor. The author of the experiment, Dr. Lorenzo, and his team found that positive impressions are directly related to the nature of communication. Agree that not all people are lucky to be born dazzlingly beautiful, but they have good chances to please with the help of their inner charm and charm. These findings are important for all people with low self-esteem. Fortunately, interpersonal attraction is made up of a number of factors, including personality traits and personal taste preferences.

"Two of a Kind"

The researchers also found that the most adequate impression is made on each other by individuals with a typical average appearance. This can be explained by the fact that people of average attractiveness are not used to judging someone "by the cover." It is customary to treat a beautiful book more politely and read more carefully, but a regular-bound edition can be read to holes. Thus, people with attractive facial features can expect increased attention, while individuals with ordinary appearance are perceived in a more positive way.

Conclusion

Regardless of how you look, people make an intuitive impression of you. They will remember not your beautiful eyes, but the pleasant sensations that communication with you left. The first impression turns out to be a more important aspect in assessing your personality as a whole. Give a stranger a compliment and he will definitely remember you.