It seems to me that there are some distinct differences in the processes you describe. With respect to the name; in social situations people are frequently not in a state that is conducive to learning/remembering. You're noticing someone attractive nearby. You're wondering if you have food in your teeth. You're thinking about how your boss ticked you off earlier in the day. On top of that, you probably aren't putting any effort into storing that name. The result is that it gets stuffed somewhere obscure.
By contrast, with Photoreading, you are going through an entire process that is aimed at helping you store the material. You are beginning to create links to the information through defining a purpose, finding trigger words, and creating mind-probing questions. Through this process, you are creating a framework that is more conducive to storing/retrieving the information. You are also getting into a state that is more conducive to storing information. Some of your process may be subconscious but it is still taking place. I believe your inner mind is using the preparation and preview information you've come up with to help it decide how to code/store the photoread information.
To me, it's a process that is just not entirely conscious. You give your inner mind a sense of what you're looking for and let it use its superior capabilities to make it happen. Kind of like running a subroutine to convert Fahrenheit to Celsius. You know the temperature you want to start with but you may not necessarily know the calculation or the end result. Part of the trick is to have faith in the capabilities of your inner mind.
