Why mothers confuse the names of children
Jorg ... I say Sergio! I still remember the ease with which my mother confused my brother's name. And how sometimes I exchanged my sister's name with mine. The worst thing is that years later (many years later) history repeats itself: now I am the one who confuses the names of my children. But I'm n
Jorg ... I say Sergio! I still remember the ease with which my mother confused my brother's name. And how sometimes I exchanged my sister's name with mine. The worst thing is that years later (many years later) history repeats itself: now I am the one who confuses the names of my children. But I'm not the only one. Apparently it's something that happens to most mothers ... Why? Here comes the explanation to this great dilemma.
Finally it is discovered why mothers confuse the name of their children
This great mystery gave rise to a full-fledged study. This time the managers have been psychologists and neuroscientists of the American university Duke University. The first thing they have ruled out is that the cause has to do with the age of the mothers. In fact, for the study, mothers of all ages chose. The problem was common. It is not therefore age, nor nationality, nor race ... It does not have to do with the physical resemblance of the children. What is it then?The reason is a mere cognitive error.
1. It happens above all with similar names from the phonetic point of view. It is very common to confuse Jorge with Sergio, Carmen with Raquel, Sara with Sandra ... Names that share letters, or begin with the same initial.
2. Also with pets. The study has shown that it also happens with the name of the pets. That is, mothers (and parents) also confuse the name of their children with that of pets.
3. We form groups of names according to the link. However, other times we address a son and exchange his name with that of the daughter. Why does this happen? Often a name is exchanged that has no phonetic similarity because it shares similar links with us. That is, the children share the same bond with their parents, hence when thinking about them, the brain plays a trick on us. The same thing would happen with the group of friends. Maybe it happened to you and you confused the name of a friend when talking about him with other friends ...
The conclusion of the study is this: the brain tends to relate people in our environment by groups: family, friends , the co-workers ... And it does, yes, to save space. If the brain is confused at a time when we are accelerated or our thoughts are going very fast, confusion happens, although we immediately react by mending the error.
So if it happens to you, if you ever called José, Juan ... or María, Miriam, nothing happens. The fault lies with the brain, and its peculiar way of organizing and retrieving information. Do not try to format the hard drive. You do not have an escape.
