Everyone would like to be able to remember the names of people we meet, especially people we meet in new social situations. Some of these situations are purely for enjoyment, and others have higher stakes. You’re being interviewed for a new job, for example, and as soon as you’re introduced to your potential supervisor, the name has flown completely out of your consciousness. Unfortunately, you’ll lose the job prospect as quickly as you’ve lost that name. When it comes to meeting people at parties, or even in casual conversation when introduced by a mutual friend, you also will appear to be a social klutz when you see that person again and must flounder (or fake) knowing the new people’s names.
We know it’s bad to forget names of new people, but looking at the flip side, we also know how much it means when we are able to call people by name the next time we see them. Whether it’s five minutes or five years later, that remembered name will make you seem (and feel) like someone who really cares about others. There is hardly a more impressive feat than coming up with the name of someone you met only once or twice.
Some people seem to be born with this ability to associate a face and a name. You may watch them with awe and envy, never dreaming that you could be one of these people too. They are probably also the same people who can watch a TV show or movie and recite not only the names but the previous roles of the actors, from minor characters to leading men and women. With the tips you’ll learn shortly, you’ll be well on your way to becoming one of these face memory champs. Great name memories can be made, if not born.
Interestingly, our ability to distinguish faces is much better than our ability to name those faces. Researchers estimate that we are all “face experts” who can distinguish hundreds, if not thousands, of faces we see over a lifetime. The trick is associating those many, many faces with the names that belong to them.
Before getting to those 6 foolproof name memory tips, let’s see what we can learn from a few recent studies. First, we’ll look at the role of the face itself vs. the context in which you see a face. You may think that it’s a good idea to help your face memory by looking at a person’s hair, ears, or neck and shoulders. However, British psychologist Charlie D. Frowd and colleagues (2012) found that focusing on these external cues was a bad idea. They investigated face memory using a software program that either highlighted, altered, or removed completely the external cues such as hair and even ears. The software is used in providing composite pictures of potential suspects in an eyewitness situation. In a series of experiments, Frowd and his team showed definitively that people are most likely to remember faces when they do not look at those external cues. The best recognition occurred when people saw the faces without the distraction of the surrounding information.
In the second experiment, conducted by University of Victoria neuroscientists Iris Gordon and James Tanaka (2011), participants looked at faces and names while hooked up to a brain scan that measured the brain’s electrical response to stimuli. The question they investigated pertains to the timing of our acquisition of faces and names. To make a very complex story short, Gordon and Tanaka concluded that one of the reasons we forget a person’s name is that we see the person before we know the person’s name. Knowing the name first gives you an anchor that you can use later to associate with the person’s face. This isn’t always practical, but as I’ll point out later, it’s definitely a useful strategy in many situations.
Finally, let’s look at an experiment conducted at Tokyo Gakugei University in Koganei, Japan by Takahiro Sekiguchi (2011) which shows the tricks used by people good at face memory. Participants were hooked up to an eye movement tracker while they looked at new faces. Name memory wasn’t actually measured in this study, but the findings shed light on what people with good face memory actually do. Those participants with the best face memory, when looking at the faces they would be tested on, fixated most of their attention on the eye region. They did not look significantly at any other part of the face, including the nose, mouth, chin, hair, cheeks, ears, or even forehead. To remember a face, you need to look right at the person’s eyes.
Now let’s put these studies together with some other facts about memory for our six face memory tips.
Look at the person’s eyes. The face itself, and specifically the eyes, contain the window not just to the soul, but to good face memory. The eyes are a feature of a person least likely to vary over time or under different circumstances. Apart from the aging process, which adds a few wrinkles here and there, people’s eyes don’t really change. By focusing on this nonvarying piece of anatomy, you’ll be less tricked by changes in hair length or color, clothing (which definitely changes), and even body shape and height (which also change).
Use “deep” processing of information . When you’re trying to learn a word list, for instance, you should not just look at the words, or even think about how they sound. Your best memory will be for those items whose meaning you contemplate. Put those words in a sentence or form your own associations to them, no matter how oddball they may seem. In fact, the more oddball the better. When it comes to faces, this is a trick that memory experts strongly advise. Form associations between a person’s name and that person’s face (particularly the eyes). Think of what the name reminds you of (“Tina” might turn into “tea”), and paste that association onto the person’s face. This National Geographic special shows an impressive memory expert showing his tricks for learning names (20 at once!).
Find out the names ahead of time, when possible . As the brain scan study showed, people did better at learning names when they saw the names ahead of time. This is very possible to do when you’re going on an interview (assuming you get the schedule first) or to a party where guests have RSVP’d to a public link. It’s no help if you’re meeting someone for the first time with no advance warning, unfortunately. However, since there are many more situations than you might realize that do allow advance prep, you might as well take advantage of this strategy. For example, an instructor should review the list of students on the roster prior to the first class, so at least you’ll have someplace to start. If the class is small enough. As you take attendance, write little notes to yourself next to each student’s name that will give you a unique image for each one (such as "Jim" looks like he goes to the "gym").
Really listen when you’re introduced to someone new . So often we’re distracted when we meet a new person, we might not even catch the name at all. If you’re at a large party or other social scene, you might not even hear the name very clearly. Afterwards, it’s too embarrassing to ask it again (or so you think). If you give yourself an extra second to process that name together with the face, it will increase the odds astronomically that you’ll remember the name and face better. Also, you don’t have to be embarrassed about asking for a person’s name a second time (or even third). This even can enhance your social standing because you’ll look like a person who at least making an effort. If you're lucky, people will have name tags, so add the visual to the auditory cues, and you'll be good to go.
Practice the face-name game at home. Practicing celeb’s names is a low-risk way to enhance your face memory skills. As you’re watching your favorite movies or TV shows at home, go ahead and consult a movie or TV data base, which will allow you to work on forming name-face associations with people whose feelings you can’t possibly hurt. You can also diagnose your weaknesses with this simple exercise. Perhaps you’re worse at remembering men’s names, or perhaps you look too much at the changing features of a person’s costumes and disguises. You can even work out a scoring system and track your progress as the weeks go by.
Relax! As I pointed out in an earlier blog post (which reinforces some of the points made here), when you’re stressed, your body’s endocrine system unleashes cortisol through your bloodstream. Cortisol is a definite killer of all sorts of memories, including (and perhaps especially) the type of memory involved in recalling names. In that interview situation, for example, you may be so focused on how horribly your feeling that in those first few seconds you don’t engage in deep name-face processing. As the interview goes by, your stress levels can increase to dangerous levels, particularly if you start worrying about how you’re going to bid good bye to a person whose name has completely exited your brain. That person will certainly know your name, so if you’re going to make a great impression, you should return the favor. You’ll do that fantastically if you take that one teeny extra second at the beginning to work on deep processing of that person’s name.
The most important key to name memory is to believe that you can do it. If you’ve decided that you’re a hopeless case, your lack of confidence will only make things worse. Build your name memories one person at a time, and pretty soon it’s your friends who will envy your great social skills!
References:
记住名字和脸的六个简易方法
摘要： 如何记住初次见面的人脸部及名称可不是件容易的事。尤其是在重要复杂的社交场合能够记住一个初次邂逅的人的名字更不容易。本文提供了六种简易的方法，让你可以轻松记住一个人的脸部及名字。我们每个人都希望能够记住自己遇到的人的名字，尤其是那些在新的社交场合遇到的人的名字。有的社交场合纯属娱乐，而有的则涉及到更高层的厉害关系。例如，在接受新的工作面试后你很快见到了你的未来主管，但你却早已把他的名字忘得一干二净。不幸的是，忘了他的名字就等于你将失去这份工作。在宴会上与人交往或者是经朋友介绍与人进行随意交流，当再次见到他们时你可能还会表现出笨拙的社交特征，你一定在挣扎着想知道（或假装知道）他们的名字。
我们都知道忘记新结识的人的名字可不是件好事，不过倒过来看，我们也清楚当我们下次再见到他们时能叫出他们的名字会意味着什么。无论是时隔五分钟还是五年后你依然记得住他人的名字，这会让你看起来是个真正关心他人的人。能够说出某个你仅仅见过一两次的人的名字，这着实是个少之又少的壮举。
有的人似乎天生就能够将一个人的脸部同其名字联系在一起。你对这些人的关注也许是出于敬畏与嫉妒的心理，从未想过你可能也是他们当中的一员。他们也有可能是同一类人，对于看过的电视剧或电影，无论是对其中的小人物还是大人物他们都能过目不忘地一一道出这些人物的名字和曾扮演过的角色。接下来你很快会掌握一些建议，通过这些建议你将步入让自己成为一名面部记忆高手的正轨。
这是一种趋势，我们对面部的识别能力远远胜过能对号入座呼出其名的能力。据有关研究人员估算，我们都是一生能够识别数百张乃至数千张面孔的“识脸专家(face experts)”。其中的诀窍是将这些脸与其相对应的名字联系起来（下文称联想记忆）。
在开始学习以下六个拙笨的名字记忆方法之前，我们先考察几个近期的研究案例，希望可以从中了解一些东西。首先，我们将考察面部本身的作用以及你在观察某一张脸时的背景。你也许会认为通过观察一个人的头发、耳朵、颈部或肩部来辅助你对这个人的面部记忆是个不错的想法。然而，据英国心理学家查理.弗劳德（Charlie D. Frowd）及其伙伴研究发现（2012年），注重这些外部特征不是一种理想的方法。他们通过软件来突出、改变或是彻底将头发及耳朵等这些外部特征移除后对面部记忆进行了研究。此软件用于合成由犯罪现场目击证人提供的嫌疑犯的照片。经过无数次实验，弗劳德及其伙伴得出这样一个肯定的结论：人们在忽略这些外部特征时更有可能记住被观察者的面部。也就是说，人们识别一张脸的最佳方法是没有外界信息的干扰（译注：这里所谓的外界信息主要指头发、耳朵、颈部、肩部等）。
此外，维多利亚大学的神经科学家伊利斯.戈登（Iris Gordon）与詹姆斯.田中（James Tanaka）还做了这样一个实验（2011年）。他们将实验参与者连接到测量脑电刺激响应的脑扫描仪并让他们观察他人的面部与名字，目的是研究人们获取面部信息和名字信息的响应时间。长话短说，最后戈登与田中得出的实验结论是：我们之所以会忘记一个人的名字，原因之一是我们先见其人后闻其名。事先知道一个人的名字是一种导航定位，随后你才可以将这一定位与其对应的面孔联系起来。这一方法并不是随时都实用，但正如本文后面所述，它确实在是众多场合下的一种适用方法。
最后，让我们看一组由东京学芸大学高弘山本（Takahiro Sekiguchi）所做的实验（2011年）。他们的实验目的是找出擅长于面部记忆者的诀窍。实验参与者在关注新的面孔时与眼运动跟踪器连接。该研究没有设置名字记忆测量项目，而实验结果主要是为了解释擅长面部记忆者的实际行为。结果表明那些最擅于面部记忆的实验者，在注视新的面孔时他们的注意力主要集中在眼区。他们并不关注鼻、嘴、下巴、头发、脸颊、耳朵以及前额等任何面部的其他部位。也就是说，要记住某个人的面孔，你只需要关注这个人的眼睛即可。
因此，我们将这些研究结果组织在一起，并结合其他一些事实而得出以下六条面部记忆方法。
1、注视一个人的眼
脸尤其是眼睛不仅是一个人心灵的窗口，还是面部记忆的窗口。无论在任何情况下，眼睛是一个人最不可能随时间变迁而改变的特征。除了会因岁月而留下一些皱纹外，人的眼睛实际上是不会变化的。只要留意这一不变的特征，你很少会被头发长短与颜色、着装甚至是体型及身高的等的变化而蒙骗。
2、信息的深加工
例如，在学习单词表时你不应当只关心单词本身，甚至还要考虑单词的发音。你的最佳记忆将是留给那些意义与你的期望相符的词项。尽管看起来可能很古怪，但用这些单词造句或形成你对他们的独特联想却是一种很好的记忆方法。事实上，越古怪越好。涉及到面部记忆时，记忆专家们极力推崇这一方法。在一个人的名字及其面部间形成联想。首先是联想一个人的名字给以你的提示（如从“Tina”联想到“tea”），然后再将该提示对号入座地贴到这个人的面部。据国家地理学专家表示，一个超群的记忆专家通常都是采用这样的诀窍来记忆名称的（一次可记住20个名称）。
3、尽可能提前知道名称
如脑扫描研究所示，人们对事先看到过的名称会掌握得更好。这在面试中（假如你提前作了准备）或宴会上（假如宴会提供了客人联系清单）都是可能做到的。不幸的是，对于初次见到不期而遇的人，采用这样的方法显然没用。不过，有许多场合本来是你可以提前准备的，只是你没有意识到而已，因此你还是可以采用这样的方法。例如，老师在上第一堂课前应当检查学生的花名册，这样一来你至少知道了将如何入手。如果班级不大，在点名时你就可以依次在每个学生的名字栏加以备注，这样你就会对每个名称产生一个独特的印象（如“Jim”可备注为“gym”）。
4、认真聆听新引见的人的名字
与新人见面时我们往往会受到干扰，甚至有可能连他们的名字都没听清楚。如果是在大型宴会上或社交场合，你也许连他们的名字都很难听清。但要再去问别人叫什么的话又是件很尴尬的事情（或许你是这么认为的）。只要你抽出片刻时间来处理某一名称及其对应的面孔，这会大大增加它们的独特性，以致你会更好地记住它们。另外，你没有必要因为再次（甚至是第三次）问及某人的名称而感到尴尬，这样做甚至还有可能提高你的社会地位，因为这至少让你看起来是一个在用心做事的人。在有的场合还提供有客人的姓名标签（胸牌或桌牌等），这样通过视听结合你会很好地记住他们的名字。
5、在家练习玩面孔—名称游戏
要提供高你面部记忆技能，拿名流的名称来练习是一种比较低风险的方法。在家看喜欢的电影或电视剧时，提前查阅其相关的数据库可以增强你对有关人物名称—面部的关联作用，而且这不会伤及到他们的情感。这样的简单练习还可以诊断你的缺点。比如，你也许不擅长于记住男士的名称，或你太过于关注一个人的穿着打扮等变化特征。你甚至可以制定一个计分系统，每隔几周一次测量你所取得的进步。
6、一定要放松
如我早期的博客所述，在你紧张时你的身体内分泌系统会通过血液循环释放出皮质醇。皮质醇是各种记忆的杀手，包括对名称的回忆。例如在此前提到面试情形中，你也许注重的是你的恐惧感，因此你在面前几秒内就没来得及做 名称—面孔 的信息深加工。随着进程的推进，你的紧张程度可能演变成了危险性的，特别是当你开始担心怎样对一个他名字彻底刺激到了你的脑神经的人说再见的时候。这个人肯定能叫出你的名字，如果你要加深其印象的话，你应当也要能叫出他的名字（回敬）。如果你起初就花片刻时间去对这个人的名称进行深加工，那么在后面回敬中你就会做的很好。
名称记忆的最重要环节是相信你可以做到。如果你一开始就判定自己没有希望，缺乏自信只会让事情变得更糟。一次记住一个人的名字，很快你的朋友都会羡慕你这一伟大的社交技能。
参考文献：Frowd, C. D., Skelton, F., Atherton, C., Pitchford, M., Hepton, G., Holden, L., & ... Hancock, P. B. (2012). Recovering faces from memory: The distracting influence of external facial features.Journal Of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 18(2), 224-238. doi:10.1037/a0027393 Gordon, I., & Tanaka, J. W. (2011). Putting a name to a face: The role of name labels in the formation of face memories. Journal Of Cognitive Neuroscience, 23(11), 3280-3293. Sekiguchi, T. (2011). Individual differences in face memory and eye fixation patterns during face learning. Acta Psychologica, 137(1), 1-9. doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2011.01.014
