Verbal Overshadowing
Posted: under Biology, Brain Science, Psychology.
http://images.google.com/images?gbv=2&hl=en&sa=1&q=face+recognition&aq=0&oq=face+rec&aqi=g4&start=0
Consider the following:
· People asked to describe a face after seeing it are worse at recognizing that same face later
· People that are asked to describe the taste of a wine after drinking it are worse at recognizing that same wine later
In psychology, this effect is known as verbal overshadowing, and it has been demonstrated in study after study. Basically, recognizing faces and tastes are nonverbal tasks. For some reason, trying to use words to accomplish a nonverbal task will make people worse at that task later. Scientists do not yet fully understand this process.
Source:
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
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Jan 25 2010