研究顯示 我們更善於記住名字而不是面孔

You can remember the face, but can't put a name to it.

你記得一個人的長相，但就是想不起來這個人的名字。

Many of us have been caught in this embarrassing situation. But researchers say it is often easier to remember someone's name than what they look like.

許多人遇到過這樣的尷尬場面。但研究人員稱，記住某人的名字往往比記住其長相更容易。

24 volunteers were shown 40 pictures of strangers, paired with random names.

研究人員給24名志願者展示了40張陌生人的照片，並隨機給這些人起了名字。

They were given time to memorize the faces and names before being tested on which they thought they had seen before.

志願者有一段時間可以來記住這些人的名字和長相，然後就他們所看到的內容接受測試。

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The participants could remember up to 85% of the names but only 73% of the faces, according to the study, led by the University of York.

這項由約克大學主導的研究顯示，志願者能夠記住多達85%的人名，但只能記住73%的長相。

That may be because faces are only recognized visually, while names can be both spoken and written down so appear in our visual and audio memory.

這可能是因爲長相只能通過視覺來辨認，但名字既可以念出來，又可以寫出來，因此能夠以視覺和聽覺兩種記憶形式出現。

When people were shown celebrities, they also remembered their names with slightly more accuracy than their photographs.

當人們看到名人時，人們記住他們的名字的準確率也比他們的照片略高。

Co-author Dr Rob Jenkins, from the university's psychology department, said: 'Our study suggests that, while many people may be bad at remembering names, they are likely to be even worse at remembering faces.'

該研究的合著者、來自約克大學心理學系的羅布·詹金斯博士表示：“我們的研究表明，雖然許多人在記住名字方面可能不好，但在記憶面孔時他們可能會更糟糕。”