Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon

The Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon occurs when a person, after having learned some (usually obscure) fact, word, phrase, or other item for the first time, encounters that item again, perhaps several times, shortly after having learned it.

The source of the name "Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon" is not certain, but it likely originates in the St. Paul Pioneer Press. The Minnesota newspaper runs a daily column called "Bulletin Board," in which readers submit humorous or interesting anecdotes. Stories concerning the phenomenon in question are published under the heading "Baader Meinhof Phenomenon." It is likely that the term was coined when an account of the phenomenon was submitted to Bulletin Board concerning the Baader-Meinhof Gang.

There are several theories about the psychological explanation of the phenomenon, including a popular one that cites its primary cause as being the Recency Effect, in which the human brain has a bias that lends increased prominence to new or recently acquired information.

The Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon is sometimes confused with the phenomenon of Synchronicity, which is a similar but none-the-less different phenomenon.