You can remember the face, but can't put a name to it.

你记得一个人的长相，但就是想不起来这个人的名字。

Many of us have been caught in this embarrassing situation. But researchers say it is often easier to remember someone's name than what they look like.

许多人遇到过这样的尴尬场面。但研究人员称，记住某人的名字往往比记住其长相更容易。

24 volunteers were shown 40 pictures of strangers, paired with random¹ names.

研究人员给24名志愿者展示了40张陌生人的照片，并随机给这些人起了名字。

They were given time to memorize the faces and names before being tested on which they thought they had seen before.

志愿者有一段时间可以来记住这些人的名字和长相，然后就他们所看到的内容接受测试。

The participants could remember up to 85% of the names but only 73% of the faces, according to the study, led by the University of York.

这项由约克大学主导的研究显示，志愿者能够记住多达85%的人名，但只能记住73%的长相。

That may be because faces are only recognized visually, while names can be both spoken and written down so appear in our visual and audio memory.

这可能是因为长相只能通过视觉来辨认，但名字既可以念出来，又可以写出来，因此能够以视觉和听觉两种记忆形式出现。

When people were shown celebrities², they also remembered their names with slightly more accuracy than their photographs.

当人们看到名人时，人们记住他们的名字的准确率也比他们的照片略高。

Co-author Dr Rob Jenkins, from the university's psychology³ department, said: 'Our study suggests that, while many people may be bad at remembering names, they are likely to be even worse at remembering faces.'

该研究的合著者、来自约克大学心理学系的罗布·詹金斯博士表示：“我们的研究表明，虽然许多人在记住名字方面可能不好，但在记忆面孔时他们可能会更糟糕。”