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Naming very familiar people: When retrieving names is faster than retrieving semantic biographical information
Author(s) -
Brédart Serge,
Brennen Tim,
Delchambre Marie,
McNeill Allan,
Burton A. Mike
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
british journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.536
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 2044-8295
pISSN - 0007-1269
DOI - 10.1348/000712605x38378
Subject(s) - categorization , psychology , salient , semantic memory , face (sociological concept) , semantic similarity , semantics (computer science) , proper noun , cognitive psychology , natural language processing , linguistics , information retrieval , artificial intelligence , cognition , computer science , philosophy , neuroscience , programming language
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 1: 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).