The Frequency Illusion

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, this is Shay in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

Hello, Shay. Welcome to the show.

Hi, Shay.

I was talking with my parents about two weeks ago, and my mom asked my dad the pronunciation of a certain word, the word being Sutton Floyd. When you, you know, you kind of get a secret pleasure out of someone else’s pain, and I’d never heard of it, or so I thought, you know. And then within that week three times I heard it on NPR, I heard it on a podcast I was listening to, and I saw it online like in an article title. So obviously that word is out there. I had assumed it was not as common, and I’ve had that happen many times before, and I think it’s just, I guess, and, you know, we sort of have the tendency to gloss over things, use context clues. And it’s almost like my brain wasn’t registering the word until I knew its meaning. And then I became aware of it. And I was wondering if there’s a term for this phenomenon.

Yeah, there are a couple of terms for that. And it’s a cool feeling, isn’t it?

Yeah, and it’s cool, but also like, how did I miss this?

Right. Well, probably the best term for it is the frequency illusion. And it has to do with the selective attention that you have when you notice something for the first time, and then you’re kind of on the lookout for it. And then you get this confirmation that it’s out there more than it really is because you’re primed to be looking for it. And Shay, you hit on something really important. After we reach a certain level of literacy, we do start to gloss over words.

We absolutely do, and we only need the barest hints that context can give us about meaning in order to just move along and not look a word up. And so you really nailed it. That’s what’s happening. You are seeing a word, defining it, and then it suddenly becomes activated. It has evolved from a non-functioning word to a functioning word for you.

Okay. I really haven’t considered what Martha said. I figured it was somewhat related to the idea of confirmation bias, but I do priming that makes sense. You know, like your brain’s sort of, I guess, trying to lock in this new information. Like, oh, yes, I know this.

Yeah, yeah. And confirmation bias is certainly a factor there. You have that right.

Yeah, because you’re constantly seeking information to confirm the things that you’ve just learned.

Right, right. Our brains are always looking for patterns and that kind of thing.

Yeah.

All right. Thank you so much.

Thanks, Sherry. I really appreciate it.

Have a word for it.

Yeah, you do.

Take care now.

Excellent. Take care.

Thanks. Have a good day.

Bye-bye.

Bye.

You know, Grant, some people call it synchronicity, but it’s not, I mean, it’s maybe a form of synchronicity. I think of synchronicity more like if you dream about somebody and then they call you the next day or something like that.

Right. That was the Carl Jung’s thing, right?

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah, it’s not quite synchronicity.

Right. I mean, you might have circumstances that are both.

Right. But it’s more your perception. It’s not things that happen. And there are occasions, we should say, where a word does just kind of pop onto the scene and you do see it everywhere.

Yeah, that’s true. And it’s not just you.

That’s true. Let’s think about twerking in 2013.

Or not. Let’s not think about it.

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