Why We Forget Names So Easily

名前を忘れるのは記憶力のせいではない。脳科学が示す本当の理由。

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Almost everyone has had this experience: you meet someone new, they tell you their name, and seconds later it is gone. You can describe their face, their job, even what they were wearing — but the name has vanished. This is not a sign of bad memory. It is a clue about how memory works. Names are unusually hard to remember because they are arbitrary. The face of a baker connects to images of bread, ovens, flour. The job of a baker connects to similar work. But the name "Naomi" connects to nothing in particular. It is a label without a story. Memory researchers call this the baker-baker paradox: people remember what someone does for a living more reliably than what they are called, even when both pieces of information are equally short and equally familiar. The trick, then, is to give the name a story. If you imagine Naomi standing in a wave (the name sounds like "a-no-me" — I see no me), you give your brain a hook. Names are not forgotten because we are inattentive. They are forgotten because they have nothing to hold on to.

重要表現と解説

この記事で押さえたい表現。タップで単語帳に追加でき、復習時に出てきます。

Almost everyone has had this experience文法
ほとんどの人がこの経験をしたことがある
〈almost everyone〉= 『ほぼ全員』、単数扱い。〈has had〉= 現在完了で『今までに経験あり』。
seconds later it is gone表現
その数秒後にはもう消えている
〈seconds later〉= 『数秒後』、時間表現の副詞句。〈be gone〉= 『消えた』、状態の be。
Names are unusually hard to remember because they are arbitrary.語彙
名前は普通に覚えにくい。なぜなら恣意的だからだ。
〈unusually + 形容詞〉= 『普通でないほど〜』。〈arbitrary〉= 『恣意的、根拠のない』。
It is a label without a story.文法
物語のないラベルだ。
〈without + 名詞〉= 『〜のない』、形容詞句的に名詞を修飾。
Memory researchers call this the baker-baker paradox表現
記憶研究者はこれを『baker-baker パラドックス』と呼ぶ
〈call + O + 名前〉= 『O を〜と呼ぶ』。専門概念を導入する標準パターン。
more reliably than what they are called文法
その人の名前よりも確実に
〈more X than Y〉の比較構文。〈what they are called〉= 関係詞 what で『呼ばれていること』を名詞化。
even when both pieces of information are equally short文法
両方の情報が同じくらい短くても
〈even when〉= 『〜の場合でも』。〈equally + 形容詞〉= 『同じくらい〜』。
The trick, then, is to give the name a story.表現
ではコツは、名前に物語を与えることだ。
〈the trick is to + 動詞〉= 『コツは〜することだ』、エッセイで教訓を提示する慣用句。〈then〉= 『では』、論理接続。
you give your brain a hook表現
脳に引っかかりを与えられる
〈give + 人 + 物〉= SVOO 構文。〈hook〉は記憶の比喩で『引っかかり、足がかり』。
they have nothing to hold on to表現
引っかかるものが何もない
〈hold on to + 名詞〉= 『〜にしがみつく』。〈nothing to + 動詞〉= 『〜するものが何もない』。

内容チェック

本文の内容を思い出してから答え合わせ。細部まで読めたか確認しましょう。

Why are names unusually hard to remember?
What is the baker-baker paradox?
What does the writer suggest as a trick?

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