- Wait, what was I looking for again…?
You have something really important you need to do in another room. So, you get up, walk over there, pass the doorway, and…
You no longer have any idea why you came over.
We’ve all had this happen, probably more times than we can remember. But why?
What is it about doorways that makes your mind go blank? Or is there actually anything to them, or is all of this just in our heads?
Turns out, research has found out that passing a doorway really can make you forgetful. This phenomenon is known as the Doorway Effect.
As to why it happens, we have two things at play — the structure of human memory and external distractors. Here’s how the Doorway Effect works and how you can (try to) stop forgetting why you entered a room.
In the Last Episode…
So, two things must come together just right to make the doorway effect happen. The first cause lies in how human memory works.
According to a 2016 study, we all organize past events in our minds as short related series of events. You could call them “episodes,” just make it easier to wrap your head around the concept.
Let’s say you’re trying to recall that time the other day you went to the store and saw a weird bird. Your brain recalls the episode with its starting and ending point, and the significant highlights.
The episode starts with you getting in your car to drive to the store and ends with you returning home. In the middle, you have the bird and perhaps what you bought at the store.
Essentially, your brain is watching a recording of an old TV show episode.
What’s more, the brain likes to end and start memory episodes when there’s a significant change in what you perceive in your surroundings. Walking into another room, for example, could be such a change.
Finally, it’s more difficult for the brain to fetch information from past memory episodes — no matter how recent they are. All of these factors are at play when you enter another room.
When you pass the doorway, your brain hits “stop” on the old memory episode and starts a new one. However, the reason you came to the room is now stored in the previous episode and your brain loses track of it.
And just like that, you forget what you’re in the room for.
Distractions, Distractions
For a while, this was the prevailing understanding of the Doorway Effect. However, another study from 2021 suggested that this previous theory is only true if you move into a very different kind of environment.
For example, if you walk from your living room to your backyard, you might have a memory lapse due to the strikingly different environments. But going from your bedroom to your living isn’t a drastic enough change to cut the proverbial film.
That might also be why you have trouble recalling what you did if you spend all day at home, since your brain records only one excessively long memory episode. But back to the Doorway Effect.
For a memory lapse to happen, the 2021 study found that you need a distraction. If some external event happens at the same time as you cross the doorway, it will be enough for your brain to swap memory episodes.
So, if you’re going to the kitchen to get a drink and a family member asks you to pick up some chips as well, you might come with chips — but not your drink.
Honestly, this theory makes sense. Life would become living hell if you’d forget what you were doing every time you entered a different room.
How to Prevent the Doorway Effect
Now that you know why and how the Doorway Effect happens, you might wonder if there’s anything you can do to stop it. Well, the good news is that there are scientist-recommended ways to combat the memory lapse.
The bad news is that the ways are kind of useless.
You can try to fight forgetfulness by focusing really hard on the task at hand. That said, you’re probably already doing that before something distracts you and the Doorway Effect takes place.
So, is there an alternative?
Yes. The researchers suggest writing what you’re looking for on the back of your hand.
Guess you can’t really do much about your brain’s hardwired behavior.