Re: how do you called a person who is seeing a number, but it is another one ?

[Anonymous]

Bonjour Al!

I work with kids and I see this kind of error all the time. In fact, I make the same errors myself. Our brains make assumptions all the time while we are reading. It doesn’t matter if it is words or numbers, our brain is putting together all the information we are reading and it is moving forward and beginning to make assumptions on what is upcoming in the text of written words or numbers. Think of this simple example- I put the hat on my __________. Which word did your brain want to fill in for you? Most likely ‘head’. The same thing happens when we are reading technical information about facets of our jobs. Your head is filled with all kinds of information that you know about everything you do.

So what happens is your brain has ‘jumped’ to the conclusion of what size you needed and that’s what it fills in when you read the number each time. It’s almost like your brain is on auto-pilot. A bit scary, eh?

Anyway, I have done the exact same thing knowing I had read a certain date for items due at work and I was dead wrong. When a colleague has pointed it out and I took a fresh look I have been stunned at seeing the actual date (that I had in fact just read!).

It just means when you get to important information, stop reading! Ask yourself a question about what you just read. What size does the plan say I need? It said I need size ‘X’. Then verify that you were in fact correct. That’s one of the reasons teachers encourage students to ask themselves questions as we read. It is to verify our actual comprehension of the important facts and events of a story or non-fiction text.

You’re as normal as anyone except your brain may be jumping to conclusions a bit too fast! It sees/reads what it thinks it already knows.

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