Putting Names to Faces
By Emma Norman
Ever have strong urges to call someone a name other than their own? (Offensive ones not included). Do you always mix people’s names up or struggle to remember them? Well, once again science saves the day and provides you with an excuse for your continuing social faux pas.Research at Miami University, led by Robin Thomas, has shown that certain names are often associated with certain facial features. The name Bob, for example, commonly conjured up images of a round, larger face than for the name Tim or Andy.
The study’s participants were a mixed gender group of students who were asked to create faces for 15 men’s names using face construction software, similar to that used by police to create facefits. The chosen names were names that appeared with equal frequency within their age group and only white male faces with the same hairstyle were used, as gender and race have large impacts on perception. A second study group commonly applied the same names to certain facial types.
Thomas says that the association between names and facial features can impact how well we remember people’s names. A further study showed that if a name fits the face, it is remembered far more frequently than if it doesn’t conform to the expected facial features.
The Miami research team did not know why people seem to associate certain facial features with particular names. It could be due to the sound of the name - Bob being a round sounding name. This could well be the next study the team undertakes.
Apparently the most widely predicted name-face matches were Bob, Bill, Jason and Brian. So, named criminals had best beware.
Put a name to a face at Emma's page.
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- Do Stuff - Listen to the voices of Null and imagine our faces
- News - Bra face
Image: Burak Tuna
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