Remembering details about people faces and body

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leviathans
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27 Feb 2011, 7:22 am

The funny thing is that I don't know the eye color of anybody! Even if I do look in the eyes of people I'm familiar with, I never remember the color of their eyes... I don't even remember the eye color of my father or mother...

Also, when I see a cute girl, I tell my friends about it and they ask me "what was her hair color?". Most of the times I cannot remember at all (unless it is extreme blond hair lol).

I can easily visualize places I've been before or remember sounds or songs I've heard before, but I have an extremely hard time to visualize how someone looks like in my head.

Is there anybody with the same problem?



sartresue
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27 Feb 2011, 11:23 am

Face in the details topic

For me I take a screen shot of the person, and this is easier said than done, as it involves some staring and the other person does not like this. :P Strange I can do this, as eye contact is mostly uncomfortable.

I can remember the type pf specs the person is wearing, the earrings and other visible piercings, scars and other unusual features.

The facial expressions do not register as I can not figure them out. :? Eye colour must be memorized and this involves a concious effort. forget hair, as many change the colour/style. People say they remember me as my style has not changed in over thirty or forty years. :lol:


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27 Feb 2011, 1:15 pm

I don't have faceblindness or anything, but I have trouble with eyes. Once I met someone who was allergic to chalk dust, therefore, his eyes were red and I didn't even notice until he pointed it out himself. I couldn't describe what my best friend's face looked like, but I would recognize her if I saw here in the store. However, when I see someone I think I know at the mall, I will go up to them and say "excuse me, you look like my friend" or whatever because I'm worried that it wouldn't be them and then I will be like "sorry".

In regards to eye contact: I still do it, but I don't tend to remember anything about eyes unless the colour is very distinctive and if they are really big.

Yes, I have visualize what someone looks like in my head, but there are a few people that I remember looking different than they actually do. I actually visualize people before I meet them. For example, a couple years ago, a relative that I never met stayed at our house, I knew she was coming and had a picture of what I though she'd look like in head. I also got friends to guess what she'd look like. She looked quite different than I excepted. I have heard of people doing this when they have heard the person's voice, like there was this talk show on the radio that started airing some of the eposides on TV a couple years ago, a lot of people said that the hosts voice didn't go with his face. I do this even if I haven't heard the person's voice yet. I just have to hear their name. If I know a person with a name, and I will tend to picture ALL people with that looking like the person I know before I meet them.


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Amik
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27 Feb 2011, 5:07 pm

I don't notice/remember much details about people's looks either. I tend to not look at people much in the first place and I don't pay much attention to how they look. I might see someone and even talk to them face to face and if you asked me to describe their looks 2 minutes later I wouldn't be able to tell you much.



sandrana
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27 Feb 2011, 5:41 pm

I have a hard time remembering what people look like, as I often look at the parts of people that might change, such as hairstyle, clothing, facial hair, etc. as a result, when meeting people I try to respond to them as though I've already met them before (sometimes I have and I don't realize it). If nothing else, this helps me to be patient and calm with people.

I sometimes amuse myself by pointing out people on tv who look like a combination of other people; for example, someone might have eyes like Liam Neeson and teeth like Gary Busey. I started doing this believing that it might help with my facial recognition skills, but I haven't noticed any difference (and in fact gave up on watching The Departed because I kept confusing Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg and Leonardo Di Caprio)



TheCicada
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27 Feb 2011, 5:53 pm

I never have much of a problem recognizing people...if I did, that would be face blindness. However, I can relate. I definitely have trouble remembering eye color. My mom's eyes are easy to remember because we have the same color eyes, but I have a hard time remembering my dad's eyes...greenish I think. I also have been a fan of Cher since I was 10. I know the look in her eyes, but her eye color is...hazel, maybe? Cyndi Lauper I have met, but all I remember is she has very big expressive eyes. Color? Not a clue! Most of my friends' eyes I have no recollection of color or look whatsoever! Facial features are fairly difficult to remember, but eye color has to be the hardest for me!

It's funny that you mention this, since I was just thinking about it last night. I had no idea that it's an autistic trait. Is it?



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eddie82
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27 Feb 2011, 5:57 pm

One thing I thought of recently while watching America's Most Wanted... If there is a murder, you better hope I am not the witness because a sketch artist is going to probably not like me very much.


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TheCicada
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27 Feb 2011, 6:00 pm

eddie82 wrote:
One thing I thought of recently while watching America's Most Wanted... If there is a murder, you better hope I am not the witness because a sketch artist is going to probably not like me very much.



Haha! Same here! It's odd because when I sketch someone, if I have a picture I capture them really well, but I can't remember details otherwise. So unless I have a picture right in front of me, I am a terrible artist!


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