To forget names is a common failing. Many people can remember faces but
fail when it comes to recalling the name. This is mostly the result of
inattention. Remembering names is more difficult than remembering some
other things, and for this reason many have fallen into the habit of
not trying.
One thing which contributes largely to this neglect is a lack of
definite knowledge of how to accomplish the result. The principles of
memory, as given previously in this book, can be applied to prevent
this common failure.
While children do not have to remember names as much as adults do they
should have the principles well in mind and be trained in the use of
them. They should form the habit of paying attention to the names
and remembering them. Parents should require them to call the people
they meet by name and to realize the value of being able to do so.
Almost every one can remember faces of strangers more easily than they
remember names. This is because of the difference in strength of the
two senses used in making the impressions. The eye nerve carries the
picture of the face to the brain. The ear carries the sound of the
name. As we have learned, the eye impression is nearly twenty times
stronger than the one made by the ear.
=Eye impressions are lasting and can be recalled when the
impressions by the other senses can not.=
It may be helpful to illustrate the result of your meeting with a Mr.
Penn in the following graphic way. In the following drawing let the
curve represent the surface of the brain, and the depth of the groove
the comparative impressions made by the two senses.
[Illustration]
This could illustrate the strength of the two images under the
conditions, where the face was seen only as the name was heard. On the
other hand, this is not usual, as a rule you hear the strange name but
once, but you see the face for several minutes, sometimes for half
an hour. During the time that you are looking at the face the eye is
making a deeper and deeper impression upon your brain.
The ear never has had and never can have the same ability to impress
the brain as the eye. It will never be possible to remember names
as easily, or for as long a time as faces, if you depend upon the
impressions as normally placed upon the brain by the senses.