Naming very familiar people : when retrieving names is faster than retrieving semantic biographical information

[en] One of the most reliable findings in the literature on person indentification is that semantic categorization of a face occurs more quickly than naming a face. Here we present two experiments in which participants are shown the faces of their colleagues, i.e., personally familiar people, encountered with high frequency. In each experiment, naming was faster than making a semantic classification, despite the fact that the semantic classifications were highly salient to the participants (Experiment I highest degree obtained; Experiment 2: nationality). The finding is consistent with models that allow or parallel access from faces to semantic information and to names, and demonstrates the need for the frequency of exposure to names to be taken into account in models of proper name processing e.g. Burke, Mackay, Worthley and Wade (1991).

Disciplines :

Theoretical & cognitive psychology

Author, co-author :

Brédart, Serge ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences cognitives > Psychologie cognitive

Brennen, T.

Delchambre, Marie ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Centre interfacultaire de formation des enseignants (CIFEN)

McNeill, A.

Burton, A.

Language :

English

Title :

Naming very familiar people : when retrieving names is faster than retrieving semantic biographical information

Publication date :

May 2005

Journal title :

British Journal of Psychology

ISSN :

0007-1269

eISSN :

2044-8295

Publisher :

British Psychological Soc, Leicester, United Kingdom

Volume :

Issue :

Pt 2

Pages :

205-214

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Available on ORBi :

since 06 January 2009

Statistics

Number of views

170 (10 by ULiège)

Number of downloads

496 (6 by ULiège)

More statistics

Scopus citations^®

Scopus citations^®
without self-citations

OpenCitations

OpenAlex citations

Bibliography

Abdel Rahman, R., Sommer, W., & Olada, E. (2004). I recognize your face, but I can't remember your name: A question of expertise? Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 57A, 819-834.
Abdel Rahman, R., Sommer, W., & Schweinberger, S. R. (2002). Brain-potential evidence for the time course of access to biographical facts and names of familiar persons. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 28, 366-373.
Brédart, S., Valentine, T., Calder, A., & Gassi, L. (1995). An interactive activation model of face naming. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 48A, 466-486.
Brennen, T. (1993). The difficulty with recalling people's names: The plausible phonology hypothesis. Memory, 1, 409-431.
Brennen, T. (1999). Face naming in dementia: A reply to Hodges and Greene (1998). Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 52A, 535-541.
Brennen, T., David, D., Fluchaire, L., & Pellat, J. (1996). Naming faces and objects without comprehension - A case study. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 13, 93-110.
Bruce, V., & Young, A. (1986). Understanding face recognition. British Journal of Psychology, 77, 305-327.
Burke, D. M., Locantore, J. K., Austin, A. A., & Chae, B. (2004). Cherry pit primes Brad Pitt: Homophone priming effects on young and older adults' production of proper names. Psychological Science, 15, 164-170.
Burke, D. M., MacKay, D. G., Worthley, J. S., & Wade, E. (1991). On the tip of the tongue: What causes word finding failure in young and older adults. Journal of Memory and Language, 30, 542-579.
Burton, A. M., & Bruce, V. (1992). I recognize your face but I can't remember your name: A simple explanation? British Journal of Psychology, 83, 45-60.
Burton, A. M., Bruce, V., & Hancock, P. J. (1999). From pixels to people: A model of familiar face recognition. Cognitive Science, 23, 1-31.
Burton, A. M., Bruce, V., & Johnston, R. A. (1990). Understanding face recognition with an interactive activation model. British Journal of Psychology, 81, 361-380.
Cohen, G. (1990). Why is It difficult to put names to faces? British Journal of Psychology, 81, 287-297.
Cohen, G. (1994). Age-related problems in the use of proper names in communication. In M. L. Hummert, J. M. Wiemann, &J. F. Nussbaum (Eds.), Interpersonal communication in older adulthood (pp. 40-57). London: Sage.
Cohen, G., & Faulkner, D. (1986). Memory for proper names: Age differences in retrieval. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 4, 187-197.
Durso, T. D., & O'Sullivan, C. S. (1983). Naming and remembering proper and common nouns and pictures. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 9, 497-510.
Hanley, J. R., & Cowell, E. S. (1988). The effects of different types of retrieval cues on the recall of names and of famous people. Memory and Cognition, 16, 545-555.
Hay, D. C., Young, A. W., & Ellis, A. W. (1991). Routes through the face recognition system. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 43A, 761-791.
Hodges, J. R., & Greene, J. D. W. (1998). Knowing about people and naming them: Can Alzheimer's disease patients do one without the other? Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 51A, 121-134.
Hollis, J., & Valentine, T. (2001). Proper name processing: Are proper names pure referencing expressions? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 27, 99-116.
Johnston, R. A., & Bruce, V. (1990). Lost properties? Retrieval differences between name codes and semantic codes for familiar people. Psychological Research, 52, 62-67.
Kampf, M., Nachson, I., & Babkoff, H. (2002). A serial test of the laterality of familiar face recognition. Brain and Cognition, 50, 35-50.
Mandel, D. R., Jusczyk, P. W., & Pisoni, D. B. (1995). Infants' recognition of the sound patterns of their own names. Psychological Science, 6, 314-317.
McWeeny, K. H., Young, A. W., Hay, D. C., & Ellis, A. W. (1987). Putting names to faces. British Journal of Psychology, 78, 143-149.
Papagno, C., & Muggia, S. (1999). Naming people ignoring semantics in a patient with left frontal damage. Cortex, 35, 537-548.
Scanlan, L. C., & Johnston, R. A. (1997). I recognise your face, but I can't remember your name: A grown-up explanation. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 50, 183-198.
Schweinberger, S. R., Burton, A. M., & Kelly, S. W. (2001). Priming the access to names of famous faces. British Journal of Psychology, 92, 303-307.
Sergent, J. (1986). Microgenesis of face perception. In H. D. Ellis, M. A. Jeeves, F. Newcombe, & A. W. Young (Eds.), Aspects of face processing (pp. 17-33). Dordrecht: Nijhoff.
Stevenage, S. V., & Lewis, H. G. (2002). Understanding person acquisition using an interactive activation and competition network. Visual Cognition, 9, 839-867.
Valentine, T., Brennen, T., & Brédart, S. (1996). The cognitive psychology of proper names. London: Routledge.
Valentine, T., Hollis, J., & Moore, V. (1998). On the relationship between reading, listening, and speaking: It's different for people's names. Memory and Cognition, 26, 740-753.
Young, A. W., Ellis, A. W., & Flude, B. M. (1988). Accessing stored information about familiar people. Psychological Research, 50, 111-115.
Young, A. W., Hay, D. C., &.Ellis, A. W. (1985). The faces that launched a thousand slips: Everyday difficulties and errors in recognizing people. British Journal of Psychology, 76, 495-523.
Young, A. W., McWeeny, K. H., Ellis, A. W., & Hay, D. C. (1986). Naming and categorizing faces and written names. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 38A, 297-318.