Why Remembering Names Is Hard — And What to Do About It

Source : Time :Maia Szalavitz : January 13, 2012 :




Can't remember people's names but can rattle off phone numbers without a hitch? 
There's a reason for that..

I’m utterly horrible at remembering names, something that always seemed odd to me because my memory is otherwise quite decent. Give me a statistic or an odd fact and generally it will stick— but introduce me to someone and milliseconds later, the name is gone.

That’s why I was delighted to see this round-up of research on the issue on an excellent British psychology blog, PsyBlog. So why are names so tricky even for people with good memories to recall?

The author writes:

The most popular explanation in the research is that names are essentially arbitrary and meaningless.

For most of us our names give away few clues about our appearance, our personalities or anything about us, except maybe a rough age, ethnicity, social class and whether our parents were celebrities (hello ‘Moon Unit’, ‘Tu Morrow’ and ‘Moxie Crimefighter’—yes, all real names of celebrity offspring).

If, for example, I was called ‘The Pink Panther’, and I happened to look like a pink panther, you’d almost certainly find it easy to remember my name.

Similarly, names that link people to their occupations are also more easily recalled. And oddly, people who have names that link them to a job (either humorously or seriously) tend to be more likely to actually engage in that line of work. Indeed, for years, the British magazine, New Scientist has made a sport of finding the best examples of what it labeled “nominative determinism.”

Some highlights: Eric Hacker is a computer security specialist and Dr. Eric Sade, a dentist; Priscilla Feral is an animal rights activist; Jonathan Treat Paine is a neurological surgeon; Dr. Richard Payne is a pain medicine doctor; Chris Moneymaker, a poker star. I’ll leave it to you to Google for the many urologists with double entendres.

Even stranger, other research has found that the first letter of one’s name is also linked to occupational and geographical preferences. For example, women named Virginia are more likely to live in Virginia Beach and Philadelphia has more than its share of Philips. This holds true for last names as well, so it’s not just that parents choose names that link to locations. If you are named Dennis, you are more likely to become a dentist; Larry and Laura’s are overrepresented in the legal profession.

These names— since they are not just arbitrary— are easier to remember.

I always thought that unusual names—like mine— have an edge, making my own lack of reciprocation in remembering other people’s names even more obvious. Apparently, however, the research is conflicting on this and one study finds more common names are actually easier to bring to mind.

So how can you counter this embarrassing deficiency? There’s a hint in the name/occupation connection— that is, if you can find something, particularly something humorous or vivid that links a person to their name, you’re more likely to recall it. Of course, proceed with caution on this to avoid embarrassment.

Repetition also works: if you repeat someone’s name back after you are introduced and try to use it at least once in conversation, that, too, can help fix it in mind.

My own name recall deficiency is so bad that I thought perhaps I had trouble with faces, too— and that this was what made me particularly weak. However, after taking this online test, I discovered that I performed slightly above average, so I think the problem may be one of comparison.

I have both an unusual name and unusual looks—I’m short with long, curly red hair. This probably makes it easier for others to remember me— but often leaves me at an even greater disadvantage when I can’t remember them. It’s hard not to take it personally when someone seems not to remember you, but fortunately it usually reflects a memory flaw, not one of personality or manners.

Maia Szalavitz is a health writer for TIME.com.

What Your Eyes Say About Who You Are

Source :Time :Annie Murphy Paul : January 11, 2012 | 

Using eye-tracking technology, scientists are discovering clues to how we think and learn

As you read these words, try paying attention to something you usually never notice: the movements of your eyes. While you scan these lines of text, or glance at that ad over there or look up from the screen at the room beyond, your eyes are making tiny movements, called saccades, and brief pauses, called fixations. Scientists are discovering that eye movement patterns — where we look, and for how long — reveals important information about how we read, how we learn and even what kind of people we are.

Researchers are able to identify these patterns thanks to the development of eye-tracking technology: video cameras that record every minuscule movement of the eyes. Such equipment, originally developed to study the changes in vision experienced by astronauts in zero-gravity conditions, allows scientists to capture and analyze that always-elusive entity, attention. The way we move our eyes, it turns out, is a reliable indicator of what seizes our interest and of what distracts us. Scientists are now using eye-tracking technology to explore how we learn from text and images, including those viewed onscreen.

In a study published last year in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, for example, Finnish researchers examined how the type and placement of advertisements affects online reading. Not surprisingly, data from their eye-tracking equipment showed that the sudden appearance of an ad or motion within an ad (think of all those advertisements with frenetically dancing figures,) distracted readers in a way that interfered with their comprehension of the text. But study author Jaana Simola, a cognitive scientist, and her colleagues were able to refine these observations further: ads placed low and to the right of the text were more distracting than those located above the text, and multiple ads containing both animated and static elements were harder to ignore than groups of ads that were either all still or all moving.

Of course, disrupting our attention is what advertising is all about. Scientists are also using eye-tracking technology to discover how to eliminate distraction and improve focus. In a study published in the journal Psychological Science, researchers Elizabeth Grant and Michael Spivey tracked the eye movements of experimental subjects as they viewed a diagram and tried to solve a hypothetical problem: If you were a doctor, how would you use a laser to destroy this patient’s stomach tumor without harming the healthy tissue around it? People who successfully solved the problem, Grant and Spivey found, looked more often at a certain part of the diagram. In round two of their experiment, they visually highlighted this feature — and doubled the number of participants who got the problem right. Showing people’s eyes where to go can actually promote insight and improve reasoning, the authors concluded; in their words, “guiding attention guides thought.”

The ability to focus on the relevant features of a visual scene is one of the most important differences between experts and novices in any field — an ability that is developed over years of looking at countless similar scenarios. But what if the characteristic eye movements of experts could be recorded and then replayed for beginners, giving them a model for how and where to look? That’s what scientists at the University of Exeter in Britain did in a study published last year. The eye movements of an experienced surgeon were captured by eye-tracking equipment and then mapped onto a video of a simulated surgical task, showing where the expert’s gaze would be directed as he performed the operation. Trainee surgeons who watched the video learned much more quickly than students who were taught in more traditional ways, like showing them how to move the surgical instruments with their hands.

Eye movements are so closely tied to the way we think and act that they can even reveal information about our personalities. In a study published this month in the journal Cognition, researcher Aaron Risko and his coauthors asked experimental subjects to complete a questionnaire gauging their levels of curiosity, defined as a desire for new knowledge and new experiences. The scientists then used eye-tracking equipment to record the eye movements of participants as they viewed a series of scenes. People who tested as highly curious, Risko reported, looked at many more elements of the pictures, restlessly moving their eyes around the scenes. “Who a person is,” he concluded, “relates to how they move their eyes.”

Paul, the author of Origins, is at work on a book about the science of learning. The views expressed are solely her own.

4 obsolete things your business should ditch now

  

Source :CBS News:Dave Johnson:5 Jan 2012

As we start 2012 -- a year that sounded like science fiction to me when I was a kid, wondering when jetpacks and flying cats would arrive -- it's a good idea to reflect on whether we're making the best use of available technology or if our offices are mired in obsolete gadgets that slow us down. After taking a survey of this office, here's a list of no-brainer tools and tech that linger on for no good reason. Eliminating these could save time and money, as well as improve productivity:

 

1.The landline. This office still has a landline phone despite the presence of much better alternatives. Small and home businesses can easily ditch a landline for mobile phones only, while larger business can consider switching over to far more cost effective Voice Over IP communications.

2.Filing cabinets. This office used to have about a dozen filing cabinets; now we're down to just two. Cliches aside, businesses really are going paperless, and these days there's no need for paper storage at all. Everything of consequence can be stored online digitally, and there are evencloud storage systems available to automate and back up your virtual paperwork.

3.Business cards. Do you still print and distribute business cards? If so, you might be identifying yourself as someone mired in antiquity. Thanks to QR codes, LinkedIn, Web sites, and virtual business cards, there's no reason to clog anyone's pocket with paper anymore.

4.Fax machines. They're simply... done. And have been for a decade. If the unthinkable happens and you actually need to send or receive a fax, don't worry; there are online fax services ready to get the job done.

How does my list compare to yours? 

Sound off in the comments -- do you agree with my list, or are any of these items still essential for your business?

 What did I forget that can easily be sent to the cornfield once and for all?

Apple stops sale of iPhone 4S in China after crowd trouble

Source : The Hindu : Anand krishnan:Beijing:13 Jan 2012

The usually spotless shop windows of the sprawling Apple flagship store in the heart of Beijing were left covered in egg yolk on Friday, after Apple halted sales of its new iPhone 4S in the Chinese capital citing security fears triggered by the turnout of a huge and unruly crowd.

Hundreds of customers – joined by organised groups of scalpers – lined up for two days outside the Apple store braving freezing temperatures, to be the first to snap up the limited 4S phones going on sale.

Before the 7 am launch on Friday, scuffles broke out, witnesses said, echoing the chaotic release of the iPhone 4 last year, which saw clashes between customers and staff that left a shattered glass door in front of the store.

Friday’s scuffles were reported to have taken place between rival gangs of scalpers, who have emerged as key conduits for much of Apple’s lucrative business in China. Apple restricted sales of the phone to two per customer in Beijing and Shanghai, but scalpers have turned out in large groups in both cities to circumvent the restrictions.

Apple's restricted sales have led to its launches becoming chaotic events, often preceded by a week-long media circus and huge turnouts.

After Apple decided not to go ahead with the opening because of the huge crowd and safety fears, a mini-riot erupted, with customers and scalpers pelting the store with eggs. Dozens of police were deployed around the store on Friday morning, sealing off its entrance.

“We were unable to open our store at Sanlitun [in Beijing] due to the large crowd, and to ensure the safety of our customers and employees, the iPhone will not be available in our retail stores in Beijing and Shanghai for the time being,” Apple spokeswoman Carolyn Wu was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.

She said the iPhone would be sold through the online store, authorised resellers and its local carrier, China Unicom. Apple's five stores in China – there is another store in west Beijing and three in Shanghai – had sold out the 4S, Ms. Wu said, with trouble only reported in one Beijing store.

Apple's five stores in China are reported to have the highest average revenue and highest traffic of any Apple store in the world. Last year, CEO Tim Cook said China was Apple’s fastest growing market, generating one-sixth of sales and growing four times over the previous year.

Amid the chaos of Friday's mismanaged release, a silver lining for Apple was the clear evidence of the huge popularity of its products in China, which have emerged as a status-symbol for the newly-wealthy and young urban middle-class.

Many of the more than thousand shoppers outside its store were thought to be scalpers, who dominate much of Apple’s business here despite the prevalence of many authorised resellers. Many Chinese prefer to pay an additional $100 to $150 for the $800 phone, instead of signing up to two-year contracts offered by Apple’s local carrier, China Unicom.

“We have waited two days, all for nothing,” said one scalper from northeastern Liaoning, who was among a group of dozen men hired by a local company to snap up the phones for resale.

“It has been a tough and long wait,” he said. “But I will be back tomorrow”.

Will these 10 jobs disappear in 2012?

Source :Louise Tutelian:cbsnews:Dec 15,2011




It may come as no surprise that the job of newspaper reporter is going the way of the buggy whip maker -- but the forces of modernity have placed some unexpected occupations on the endangered species list as well. Using statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Outlook Handbook 2010-2011, we identified 10 of the most surprising job categories whose numbers are projected to shrink in the coming years, plus a few that will grow so slowly that you might as well be sending your resume to Greece for a civil service job.

Judge

Politicians can argue whether the best quality for a judge is empathy or an ability to call balls and strikes, but here's a different perspective: What you really need is patience. By 2018, the BLS predicts that there will be 700 fewer jobs for judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates, than there were in 2008, thanks mainly to budget cuts. And since the average tenure for a judge is 14 years, turnover is glacial. "Years ago, some left to become general counsel in the private sector, where they could triple their salary, but since the economic downturn, they're staying longer on the bench," says Tamara Dillon, who researches the occupation for the BLS.

Fashion designer

Call it Project Turnaway. By 2018, only 200 more designers will find work in a field that employed 22,700 people as of 2008. That's about 2 percent of the number who applied to become Project Runway contestants in 2009, estimates Carol-Hannah Whitfield, who was a finalist on the show that year. "The world doesn't need another designer," Whitfield says.

Insurance underwriter

Blame it on the software. New programs allow underwriters to take on three times as much work as in the past, collapsing the need for more hires. As a result, the BLS projects that the number of people employed in the field will decline by 4 percent, or 4,300 jobs, by 2018. "[The underwriter] just punches in data, and it spits out, say, whether a potential homebuyer is approved or not," says Henry Kasper, supervisory economist at the BLS. Growth in the insurance industry isn't exactly exploding either, further undermining the career outlook for underwriters.

Travel agent

Call it the Attack of the Roaming Gnome: Online sites such as Travelocity, Priceline.com, Expedia, and Orbitz have decimated the ranks of travel agents as consumers increasingly book their own trips. The BLS expects 1,200 fewer travel agents to be employed in 2018 than in 2008. And the number of traditional travel agencies has been sliced in half -- from a peak of 44,000 in 1997 to about 20,000 today, according to Douglas Quinby of PhoCusWright, a travel industry research company based in Sherman, Connecticut.

Newspaper reporter

Read it and weep: According to the BLS, a whopping 4,400 jobs will disappear by 2018 (out of 69,400 total in 2008). That's more than three times the number of newsroom employees at The New York Times. The bad news for print can be summed up in one word: Internet. "Some of the print people are finding jobs online," says Lauren Csorny, an economist at the BLS. But there aren't enough to make up for the losses. No wonder that newspaper reporters ranked No. 184 out of 200 jobs, one slot above stevedore, in CareerCast.com's annual JobsRated survey.

Broadcast announcer

The play-by-play for this occupation isn't pretty. Consolidation has eliminated many jobs already, and technology is hijacking off-air tasks, such as editing, once performed by announcers (and future announcers paying their dues). Add the increased use of syndication and the growth of satellite radio and the picture is even bleaker. By 2018, broadcasting is expected to lose 2,400 radio and TV announcer jobs.

Plant manager

Automation and offshoring will decimate the ranks of production managers by 2018. According to the BLS, employment will drop by 11,900 jobs from a 2008 total of 156,100. With faster machines and better productivity, one plant can do the work of two, squeezing managers out. Increased imports of manufactured goods will do additional damage. With 50 percent of the textile industry moving off-shore, for example, half the plant managers in that sector are at risk of losing their jobs. The outlook is equally bleak for managers in the computer, electronics, and auto parts industries.

Chemist

Nearly half of all chemists are employed in manufacturing firms -- plastics, pesticides, and paint, to name a few. And that's a bummer for them, because manufacturing companies are continuing to outsource their R&D and testing to small, specialized firms, cutting job opportunities for in-house chemists. The profession lost 42,000 jobs from 2008 to 2009, according to Chemical and Engineering News, and the BLS projects only a 2 percent rise in the total number of chemists employed by 2018.

Economist

The Federal government is the largest employer of economists in the country. More than half -- 53 percent -- of all economists in the U.S. work for declining government sectors, so Uncle Sam's not hiring a lot of economists just now. "Econ" is a hot college major, but most of those newly-minted grads won't find work as traditional economists. Instead, they'll end up in niche sectors in business, finance, insurance, and education. Those set on working as conventional economists better have a Plan B, or a Plan Ph.D, because they'll need one. The economists at BLS do tell us that by 2018, an additional 900 economists will be employed -- so the outlook is not as dismal for dismal scientists as it is for, say, travel agents. But if current trends continue, the future isn't promising. "You look at the last 10 to15 years and it has been flat," says Henry Kasper of the BLS. "There's little reason to think it's going to get better."

CEO

OK, it's not a profession, but it's worth keeping in mind if you aspire to the corner office: Mergers and streamlining will make the climb to the top harder than K2, as companies combine and jobs are eliminated. The BLS projects that there will be 5,500 fewer CEOs by 2018. To boost your odds, consider Rosetta Stone; CEO candidates should be fluent in at least two languages, says Patricia Tate of the BLS. So if you speak Spanish, Arabic, or Chinese, félicitations.