Loose Ends Column – by Carol Livingstone – Talking Out Loud

If you see me talking to myself please don’t call the padded cell people.

I’m just following the sage advice of scientific researchers who claim that hearing an object’s name can improve our effectiveness in searching for said object, should it be lost.

These guys tell us that talking out loud helps the visual search by making seemingly invisible objects suddenly visible.

The fact that they tested university students, who shouldn’t be losing stuff yet, instead of older folks who tend to lose things all the time, is not lost on me.

For more see the May 1/12 issue of the Tofield Mercury