If you forgot why you walked into the room, don’t worry, it’s not you, it’s the doorway

You walk into a room. But you suddenly draw a blank.

“Wait. Why did I come in here?”

I’ve got good news. It’s not just you. And it’s not even a “senior moment.”

No…it’s the doorway.

A University of Notre Dame psychology professor conducted three experiments. Each one was a little involved, so I’ll spare you the details. But all three proved his theory…

A doorway represents an “event boundary.” When you cross that boundary, your mind offers up a clean slate for the room you enter. Meanwhile, your mind compartmentalizes a plan you made in another room.

That’s why you forget that you walked into the kitchen looking for your glasses.

And I’ll bet you’ve done this too… When you can’t remember why you went to the kitchen, you return to the room where you had the idea to go looking for something in the kitchen.

And that’s exactly the right thing to do. Research also shows that you retrieve information more easily in the environment where it originated.

And now for the best part… The UND professor conducted his experiments with college students. So your minor forgetfulness is NOT a senior moment. It’s a human moment.

Watch those doorways. It’s all their fault!

Sources:
“Walking through doorways causes forgetting, new research shows” Susan Guibert, Notre Dame News, news.nd.edu