A minor question about faceblindness...

[conuly]

You've all heard by now my story about the time I failed to recognize my own niece and brother-in-law, right?

Other than that one time, I haven't ever had such a bad experience. The next worst times were when it took a couple of seconds (rather than a quarter minute) to identify my sister - and at the time, she was changing her hairstyle often, dying it, cutting it, and so on, so I don't consider that too unusual.

However, I've been thinking on this lately, and I've noticed that it does take me several beats to recognize that I don't know somebody. I see my mother, I know she's my mother - but I see a random woman with hair kinda like hers, or something, and it takes me a little bit to say "nope, not Mommy!"

Is that normal, or...?

Comments

[distaff-exile.livejournal.com]

I call it normal. Sometimes I see people who look a hell of a lot like the people I know, wave at them, and then realize I've never met that person in my life.

Then again, how normal am I? ;-) But I do get the recognition problems, both ways.

[conuly]

I only have myself to compare to, which isn't really a good comparison....

So I wanna know exactly how normal it is or isn't, y'know? Maybe it's "very normal". Or maybe it's "barely normal" or "slightly weird". I have no idea.

[distaff-exile.livejournal.com]

*shrugs just as helplessly* I've never been diagnosed with any form of autism, but sometimes I wonder, so I honestly don't know if my experiences are "normal," either.

Hope you find the answers, though...

[rachelkachel]

Well, I don't think it's terribly abnormal. I'll frequently see somebody from the back and think I know them, or worse, think I should know them (worse because it takes longer to realize I don't).

The other day at the football game I nearly convinced myself that Toby Maguire was sitting a couple rows in front of me.

[ser-kai.livejournal.com]

Even after several minutes of looking at someone, I can still think someone is someone I know (well).
So embarassing.

[conuly]

Front, not back - were it from the back, I wouldn't even notice it.

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

I do that sometimes, especially with my mom...she is so BROOKLYN though, I swear everyone DOES look like her from the side/back/sometimes even the front.

[rachelkachel]

Front is rarer for me but has happened in the past.

[ladytalon.livejournal.com]

I just don't have a good visual memory, so it takes me a while to recognize people. I call it "faceblindness" sometimes just because it's a nice label, but I do actually recognize, just slowly.

However, I have experienced the accidental-recognition thing. I think, though, it's based more on how I generally recognize the people I'm with--I identify people by clothing. So if my mom's wearing a purple shirt one day, and we go someplace, I might end up trying to talk to some poor random woman with a purple shirt. That, uh.. that happens sometimes. I hate it.

Also, dying her hair? That's just not healthy. Tsk tsk.

[fjorab-teke.livejournal.com]

My husband recently let his facial scruff get so shaggy and started wearing a cheap light-beige cap that I didn't recognize him at first; I thought he was one of the people there I find REPULSIVE! *LOL* Poor guy. He shaved as soon as he got home because I told him in front of everyone that he looked like TJ. Someone else agreed! X-p

[ladyshrew.livejournal.com]

Hah! Ditto. Which is why even when I *do* recognise someone, I often don't say anything.

But actually, sometimes when I do recognise someone I haven't seen in a long time, it's more like... this feeling. And I got that with this one kid whom I haven't seen since we went on a study abroad together three plus years ago. I only saw him really briefly--barely saw his face--the other day, and I was sure it was him. And then he came by again yesterday, and we both looked at each other confused, and I said, "Shakespeare study abroad?!" And he said, "YES!" But I wouldn't have said if he hadn't looked at me like that.

But he had done the courtesy of not having changed his hair. I once (in HS) had an entire conversation with my 6th grade science teacher, and I had NO idea it was her until she walked away. She'd changed her hair so radically, and I was just CONFUSED.

[beccak1961.livejournal.com]

I see people who look familiar and it takes a moment to figure out I don't know them.
Once, years ago, I was checking out at a grocery store when the cashier began talking to me. At first I thought she mistook me for someone else, but then she started asking pointed questions about school and other aspects of my life to show she knew me, and she seemed to like me. To this day I have no idea who she was, how we met, or anything. There's a total blank in my brain. It bothered me for days and I never did figure it out.

[brownkitty.livejournal.com]

It's one of those things that everyone experiences, just to varying degrees. Sounds like you've got it worse than most, but not as bad as it can get.

[takaal.livejournal.com]

I'm one of the "lucky" ones whose total recall abandoned her at the end of puberty (otherwise known as "just in time to start hardcore technouniveristy with no study habits/skills"). The only bit I seem to have retained is the what-people-look-like files in my brain.

This means if someone changes to any degree (over, say, 0.003%) since I last saw them, I don't recognize them. Best friend, with new hair? She has to talk before I recognize her. Husband, having shaved off his beard? Well, he's the only one that *should* be in the house. Father, having grown beard? I have to wait for the "my-own-child-doesn't-recognize-me" eyeroll to be sure.

It took me about a month to realize that the nice lady who once complimented my knitting on the train was most likely my high school art teacher, trying to see if I was a former student. *sigh*

[snale.livejournal.com]

Sounds normal to me. I'm always afraid to say "hi" to people when I bump into them, because I'm not really sure if it's: a) a person I really know, or b) a person who just kinda looks like a person I know. Usually when they start talking to me (or not) I can tell whether this is a person I know.

[maladaptive.livejournal.com]

Probably normal. I once got into a conversation with a woman for five minutes... and she just stared at me, too polite to say anything. Finally she goes: "Do I know you?"

"Jen, it's Sam!"

"My name's Rebecca."

"...Oh."

I also have cases where I cannot tell two people apart unless they're in the same room. There were four of these girls in my high school, and I never knew who was who by looking at her. They didn't even look that similar beyond all having some sort of blond hair.

[distaff-exile.livejournal.com]

I call it normal. Sometimes I see people who look a hell of a lot like the people I know, wave at them, and then realize I've never met that person in my life.

Then again, how normal am I? ;-) But I do get the recognition problems, both ways.

[conuly]

I only have myself to compare to, which isn't really a good comparison....

So I wanna know exactly how normal it is or isn't, y'know? Maybe it's "very normal". Or maybe it's "barely normal" or "slightly weird". I have no idea.

[distaff-exile.livejournal.com]

*shrugs just as helplessly* I've never been diagnosed with any form of autism, but sometimes I wonder, so I honestly don't know if my experiences are "normal," either.

Hope you find the answers, though...

[rachelkachel]

Well, I don't think it's terribly abnormal. I'll frequently see somebody from the back and think I know them, or worse, think I should know them (worse because it takes longer to realize I don't).

The other day at the football game I nearly convinced myself that Toby Maguire was sitting a couple rows in front of me.

[ser-kai.livejournal.com]

Even after several minutes of looking at someone, I can still think someone is someone I know (well).
So embarassing.

[conuly]

Front, not back - were it from the back, I wouldn't even notice it.

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

I do that sometimes, especially with my mom...she is so BROOKLYN though, I swear everyone DOES look like her from the side/back/sometimes even the front.

[rachelkachel]

Front is rarer for me but has happened in the past.

[ladytalon.livejournal.com]

I just don't have a good visual memory, so it takes me a while to recognize people. I call it "faceblindness" sometimes just because it's a nice label, but I do actually recognize, just slowly.

However, I have experienced the accidental-recognition thing. I think, though, it's based more on how I generally recognize the people I'm with--I identify people by clothing. So if my mom's wearing a purple shirt one day, and we go someplace, I might end up trying to talk to some poor random woman with a purple shirt. That, uh.. that happens sometimes. I hate it.

Also, dying her hair? That's just not healthy. Tsk tsk.

[fjorab-teke.livejournal.com]

My husband recently let his facial scruff get so shaggy and started wearing a cheap light-beige cap that I didn't recognize him at first; I thought he was one of the people there I find REPULSIVE! *LOL* Poor guy. He shaved as soon as he got home because I told him in front of everyone that he looked like TJ. Someone else agreed! X-p

[ladyshrew.livejournal.com]

Hah! Ditto. Which is why even when I *do* recognise someone, I often don't say anything.

But actually, sometimes when I do recognise someone I haven't seen in a long time, it's more like... this feeling. And I got that with this one kid whom I haven't seen since we went on a study abroad together three plus years ago. I only saw him really briefly--barely saw his face--the other day, and I was sure it was him. And then he came by again yesterday, and we both looked at each other confused, and I said, "Shakespeare study abroad?!" And he said, "YES!" But I wouldn't have said if he hadn't looked at me like that.

But he had done the courtesy of not having changed his hair. I once (in HS) had an entire conversation with my 6th grade science teacher, and I had NO idea it was her until she walked away. She'd changed her hair so radically, and I was just CONFUSED.

[beccak1961.livejournal.com]

I see people who look familiar and it takes a moment to figure out I don't know them.
Once, years ago, I was checking out at a grocery store when the cashier began talking to me. At first I thought she mistook me for someone else, but then she started asking pointed questions about school and other aspects of my life to show she knew me, and she seemed to like me. To this day I have no idea who she was, how we met, or anything. There's a total blank in my brain. It bothered me for days and I never did figure it out.

[brownkitty.livejournal.com]

It's one of those things that everyone experiences, just to varying degrees. Sounds like you've got it worse than most, but not as bad as it can get.

[takaal.livejournal.com]

I'm one of the "lucky" ones whose total recall abandoned her at the end of puberty (otherwise known as "just in time to start hardcore technouniveristy with no study habits/skills"). The only bit I seem to have retained is the what-people-look-like files in my brain.

This means if someone changes to any degree (over, say, 0.003%) since I last saw them, I don't recognize them. Best friend, with new hair? She has to talk before I recognize her. Husband, having shaved off his beard? Well, he's the only one that *should* be in the house. Father, having grown beard? I have to wait for the "my-own-child-doesn't-recognize-me" eyeroll to be sure.

It took me about a month to realize that the nice lady who once complimented my knitting on the train was most likely my high school art teacher, trying to see if I was a former student. *sigh*

[snale.livejournal.com]

Sounds normal to me. I'm always afraid to say "hi" to people when I bump into them, because I'm not really sure if it's: a) a person I really know, or b) a person who just kinda looks like a person I know. Usually when they start talking to me (or not) I can tell whether this is a person I know.

[maladaptive.livejournal.com]

Probably normal. I once got into a conversation with a woman for five minutes... and she just stared at me, too polite to say anything. Finally she goes: "Do I know you?"

"Jen, it's Sam!"

"My name's Rebecca."

"...Oh."

I also have cases where I cannot tell two people apart unless they're in the same room. There were four of these girls in my high school, and I never knew who was who by looking at her. They didn't even look that similar beyond all having some sort of blond hair.