Memory for faces

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I was repairing our mail box when an old school kid from 4th grade recognized me and came up to me and said "remember me, I went to school with you I am Ray Jiles". And oh yes I thought, little Raymond (he would have been only age 9 at the time) I certainly remembered the name well but not the face. Especially with extra 40 years of age added on it, not and chance. How could he recognize me after all those years was truly amazing. But that is not where it ends. He bumped into me a week later in the mall car park and I still did not recognize him.

Paul

I rarely forget faces. Names on the other hand....

I remember faces. I have some difficulty associating the name to the face though. It is dependent on how often the stimulus is reinforced.

I remember when I was mugged as a kid in the 1960s , my dad wanted to take me down to the local police station to give a discription. The best description I could come up with was that they were wearing black school shoes. Just about two thirds of the general junenile population wore black school shoes then so that was no help at all. There was no chance I could recognise their faces.

...although I think as this is the choice that sits between 'average' and 'bad', the poll question should have said "not very good"?

Depends. I find it very difficult to recognise my own son if he's in a crowd, which is tricky when I pick him up from activity schemes. Some faces are very recognisable and I don't have a problem with them, but I simply never recognise people I pass in the street - they are always the ones who have to say "Hi" to me. I'm really bad with names too, no matter what I try. I've tried all the mental word-games and picture-games things that are supposed to help, but nope, nothing. It takes a lot of times of meeting someone to know what they're called.

I'm proberbly below average when it comes to recognizing faces.
When it comes to remembering names i'm awfull though.

Absolutely terrible and both faces and names. I recognize people initially if they look very 'distinctive' (different than all those generic looking people) or wear the same clothes every day or have a particular gait. Hair helps too. Sometimes I will recognize a person's voice (I know that I know it, but I have no idea who the person is). Some people who are very "generic" I never recognize. I sometimes wonder if the reason I have lost touch with old friends is becuase I saw them somewhere and didn't say hi becuase I didn't recognize them, and they were offended. If I do recognize a face, I often don't remember the name or where I know them from. It always astonishes me when people come up to me and know who I am, sometimes when they haven't seen me since I was a kid!

In college there would usually be a couple people in a series of classes with me every quarter who I would start to recognize, but I wouldnt remember their names. I would go through names in my head to find one that "fit," and apply it to them in my mind and when referring to them to people who didn't know them. Sadly, sometimes I'd finally get their real name down months later and forget which was the real name and which was "my" name for them, or use the wrong one in conversation.

I also have the problem of calling up a complete image of a person's face in my mind. It helps if I have a photo, preferably with name attached if it's not a member of my immediate family. Sometimes it really bothers me when someone dear to me is not there and I am thinking about them and I can't peice together their entire face... like I am forgetting them :S. Then I go refer to the photos.

I've got an excellent memory for faces. To my knowledge, I've not met anyone who has a better memory for faces than I do. Either in person or on tv/movies. Even when an actor has aged incredibly, I almost always recognize the person, though it might take me awhile for me to place them.

http://www.icn.ucl.ac.uk/facetests/index.php

I got 100% of the Famous Faces Test I got 100% and on the Old-New Faces Test I got 96%.

My memory for faces is ok... my memory for names just beyond sucks, though.

I can recognize a face quite easily so long as Ive seen them within the last month (past that its hit or miss) but if you asked me to describe someone (anyone.. even myself) I cant picture them.. at all.

And I seem to be able to associate a name with a voice but not with a face I never remember names unless I hear them say something.

I have to meet someone four or five times before I'll remember their face properly. Any less than that and the memory 'fades' to nothing within a matter of days.

I am absolutely hopeless at picking up and remembering names. I find this very frustrating and embarrassing. It is particularly difficult at work where there are many people who we only see every couple of months: just long enough for me to forget who they are and what they do. I have to bluff my way through conversations, which is stressful, and my colleagues get fed up with me saying "Who was that?". They must think I'm some kind of idiot.

This is really embarassing...we have "fill-in" staff that I may havemet a month early her seem very offended when I "reintroduce" myself...One staff who I worked with for several hours came back(third time of meeting her)and I still didnt know who she was....I dont mean to be racist but it is much more difficult for me with the staff we have from Africa...I expend most of my energy just trying to understand what they are saying I dont have enough time to focus on memorizing their facs...(I hate for them to think of me as fitting this stereotype...but its true)

Reminds me of a coworker who had worked here for years but I hadnt seen for a couple months.. I suddenly bumped into her again in the hallway and couldnt remember her name (faked my way through it). It bugged me for days until finally I had to go up to her and very apologetically ask what her name was and tell her about how much anguish I was having trying to remember.. she took it well and thought it was funny I kid her about it now when we pass in the hallway "Hi there whatsyername nice day huh? " and a good giggle is had by all

I have an excellent memory for faces and names. I remember the face and name of almost everyone in my grade at school, even though I barely ever talk to any of them. It would probably come off as very creepy though, so I keep this concealed from absolutely everyone.

My memory for names is horrid. I have "nomagnosia", lol.

I have no problem recognizing people's faces as long as they're seven feet tall with a long red beard. Other than that, I'm hopeless unless I know the person really well. I often get confused in movies because I can't tell which characters I'm watching. I'm fine with names, though.

I can often fake it. When somebody recognizes me and I have no idea who they are, I'll pretend I know, then ask, "What was your name again?" For some reason I can't comprehend, people get really offended when you forget their face, but it's perfectly ok to forget their name.