I was going to write this post a few days ago, but I apparently walked through a doorway and forgot.
Yes, that’s a legitimate excuse now. A new study tells us that walking through a doorway may be the reason for our forgetfulness once we cross the threshold.
I do it all the time. Walk into a room and forget why I’m there. Typically, I’m doing too many things at once. I remember something else I forgot. Do that. Then, I remember the original thing I went into the room for after I’m back to another room, often on a different level of my house.
Phew. It’s exhausting.
According to Gabriel Radvansky, a psychology professor at the University of Notre Dame, the act of walking through a doorway serves as an “event boundary” in our minds, separating out episodes of activity. An activity or decision is difficult to remember once we walk through the doorway because it has already been stored in our brains.
Scientist studied this phenomenon by asking college students to do various activities. In the three experiments conducted, one group of students were asked to complete tasks in two different rooms, while the other group stayed in the same room. In all cases, the students that were asked to complete tasks in separate rooms were the most forgetful.
Once we forget that one thing we needed from the kitchen or why we walked into the baby’s room, we then have to re-learn what it is our brain has compartmentalized for us.
Sounds like a good excuse for an open-concept home and/or office design to me.
Source: The Huffington Post
Photo Credit: RED ENTRY © James Horning | Dreamstime.com
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