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phenomenon > memory phenomenon > butcher-in-the-bus phenomenon

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butcher-in-the-bus phenomenon

A memory phenomenon in which a person appears familiar, especially when recognized in an unusual context, without recalling specific information about him or her.

memory phenomenon

BOB experience
butcher-on-the-bus phenomenon

The phenomenon takes its name from the example given by Mandler (1980, pp. 252-253): “Consider seeing a man on a bus whom you are sure that you have seen before; you “know” him in that sense. Such a recognition is usually followed by a search process asking, in effect, where could I know him from? Who is he? The search process generates likely contexts (Do I know him from work; is he a movie star, a TV commentator, the milkman?). Eventually the search may end with the insight, that’s the butcher from the supermarket!“

Bibliographic citation(s)

• Brown, A. (2020). The butcher on the bus experience. In A. M. Cleary & B. L. Schwartz (Eds.), Memory Quirks : The study of odd phenomena in memory (p. 224‑247). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429264498-17

• Document type: literature review

• Access: closed
• MacLeod, C. M. (2020). The butcher on the bus : A note on familiarity without recollection. History of Psychology, 23(4), 383‑387. https://doi.org/10.1037/hop0000178

• Document type: historical study

• Access: closed
• Mandler, G. (1980). Recognizing : The judgment of previous occurrence. Psychological Review, 87(3), 252‑271. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.87.3.252

• Document type: empirical study

• Access: closed

Creator

Frank Arnould

phénomène du boucher dans le bus

French
expérience du boucher dans le bus

URI

http://data.loterre.fr/ark:/67375/P66-RDS0Z9TM-H

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