Can You Recognize the Face but Not the Name? The Science of Forgotten Names

Forgetting people's names, where we left things, or what we meant to say is a familiar experience for all of us. But when is such forgetfulness normal, and when should it be taken seriously? A psychologist, stressing the difference between distraction and memory disorders, said: recurring lapses, their impact on daily life, and a decline in memory performance compared to the past are among the signs that should not be ignored, and steps should be taken toward treatment.

According to Arjan's ambassador, Marzieh Azizi Moin, a psychologist, stated that forgetfulness is normal at one time and should be taken seriously at another time and said: We all forget things sometimes, for example, we forget where we left our bag, the name of a person we know goes out of our mind for a few moments, or sometimes we forget what we wanted to say. These types of forgetfulness are normal and not necessarily a cause for concern, but the issue should be seriously pursued when these forgetfulness is repeated many times and negatively affects the normal course of our lives.

Ambassador Arjan wrote: He added: For example, when a person forgets important appointments such as a job interview or has problems in doing daily tasks that he could easily handle before, for example, he does not remember his home phone number, it should be taken seriously. An important point to pay attention to is the number of times these forgetfulness repeats and the amount of damage it causes to a person's life. Also, one should compare the current state of a person's memory with his past. If the person used to have a good memory and now has a decline in performance, this significant difference needs to be investigated more closely.

The difference between distraction and memory impairment

Stating that there is a difference between distraction and memory disorder, this psychologist said: distraction means that the information does not enter the mind correctly from the beginning, that is, the person does not pay enough attention and attention to the subject. For example, you may leave your bag or keys somewhere while you are talking on the phone, or a student who is talking with his friend while the teacher is teaching, does not have the necessary focus on the lesson, these are examples of distraction.

Azizi Moin continued: On the other hand, in memory disorder, a person may have received the information accurately and paid attention to it, but he has difficulty in maintaining or retrieving it. For example, a person who has already memorized his home phone number but now forgets it, does not have a problem in the "delivering" phase, but has a problem in the retention or recall phase. In short, it can be said that distraction is directly related to concentration and prevents the correct recording of information, but memory disorder is related to a defect in the system of storing and recalling information in the mind and brain.

Pointing out that sometimes we forget names or words, but later we suddenly remember them, he said: This happens to many of us. In terms of psychology, this is related to the process of retrieving information from memory. Sometimes information exists in our mind and memory, but we cannot access it at that moment. For example, we may be talking to someone and not remember the name of a familiar person, while we know his face and even know where we met him, but a few minutes later, when we stop thinking about that name, the name suddenly comes to our mind, or when we don't remember the name of an actor, but we have his face and the movies he played in our mind.

This psychologist said: One of the explanations for this phenomenon is that sometimes there is not enough connection between the information stored in the memory and the signs that we need to retrieve them, that's why we may not remember that information temporarily, but by changing the position or receiving some signs, the information can be retrieved again. This is very common with people's names and words, because names usually have less semantic connection with personal characteristics. However, forgetting a name or word does not mean that our memory is impaired, but when this problem repeats itself and is accompanied by other problems such as problems in learning, speaking disorders or even in doing daily tasks, it is better to consult a doctor and psychologist.