Studies have shown that walking through a doorway will causes forgetfulness.
In a series of studies on the “doorway effect,” researchers had subjects perform a series of simple, timed tasks. Sometimes these tasks involved staying in the same room, while other times the tasks involved walking through a doorway. Those tasks that involved walking through a doorway were slower and less accurate.
According to Discovery News:
Ever get up to retrieve something from another room only to completely forget what you needed after crossing the doorway? You’re not alone, and scientists think forgetful trips between rooms result from how our brains interpret spatial information.
Researchers already know that walking from one space to another makes people more likely to forget tasks when compared to others who don’t make such a transition. Called “location-updating effect,” the phenomenon also causes people transitioning between rooms (even virtual ones) to take more time while attempting to recall items from memory.
Sources
- Walking Through Doorways Makes You Forget (Marianne English, Discovery News: November 23, 2011)
- Why Walking through a Doorway Makes You Forget (Charles B. Brenner and Jeffrey M. Zacks, Scientific American: December 13, 2011)
