I believe that there is no father on earth with more than one son who has not ever called them by the name of his brother. There are even those who mention the entire offspring before coming up with the proper name. Does it happen to you often? Do you often confuse the names of your children? Don’t worry, it ‘s normal, and it has a scientific explanation.
According to experts, this confusion is due to a cognitive failure that causes our brain to store the names of our loved ones by categories or social group . If it were a computer, folders of “loved ones” would be created that would include family, children, partners, friends, and even pets.
The study, published in the journal Memory and Cognition, highlights that this confusion between names, or mixture of them, occurs among those who are categorized within the same social group for whom they are pronounced.
In this way, it is normal for a mother to confuse the names of her children unconsciously, or for a group of friends to confuse or mix the names of one and the other, as long as these names belong to people who in our unconscious are They are in the same category of personal relationship.
“Confusing names is a cognitive mistake we make, which reveals something about who we consider to be part of our group,” explained David Rubin, professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University and co-author of the research.
People who tend to get confused about names generally follow certain patterns . When someone calls another person by the wrong name, they do so by replacing the name with someone who is part of the same social group .
Contrary to what may be believed, physical appearance has nothing to do with siblings. The researchers found that this was not a determining factor regarding the phenomenon of confusing names.
The explanation consoles us, since it is not at all attributable to age. We are not the first nor will we be the last parents to confuse the names of our children. To the despair of our children and grandchildren, it will continue to happen.
Vía | Memory and Cognition
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