The Bermuda Triangle

My brain is like the Bermuda Triangle. Information goes in, and then is never found again.” (DespicableMeMinions.org)

Left your keys on the kitchen counter again? No problem. Just go and get them. Walk through the house, into the kitchen, and what was it you needed to do again? Why are you in here? In less than thirty seconds, you’ve managed to forget the entire purpose of your errand.

Have you ever had that feeling of walking into a room, and having no idea what you're doing there? This forgetful phenomenon has a name. It is referred to as the Doorway Effect. This sort of forgetfulness isn’t due to laziness or apathy.  It actually means that your brain is in good working order. 

Scientists used to believe that memory was like a filing cabinet. You have an experience, and it gets its own little file in your brain. Later, you can go back and open the file, which is unchanged and where it should be. It’s a nice, tidy image, but it’s wrong. Your brain is much more complicated and sophisticated than that. It’s more like a super-high-powered computer, with dozens of tasks and applications running at once.

It was observed that whenever participants walked through an open doorway, their memory performance was poorer than the times when they covered the same distance within the same room. The Doorway Effect shows how memories are linked to the location we are in. Often things you haven’t thought about for years will burst into your head.

Researchers also tested the Doorway Effect using real rooms. Participants travelled in a real-world environment. The same observations were recorded as people had a hard time recalling the previous object once they passed through a door.

“One of the keys to happiness is a bad memory.”  (Rita Mae Brown)

Our brain is far more sophisticated and complicated, and as recent studies have shown, it possesses the ability to change throughout an individual’s life. Human memories are episodic (as opposed to being clear, linear narratives) which means that they are split into segments and hugely depend on the person who is forming them. For instance, how you recall a particular incident will most likely be different from how another person recalls the exact same incident.

Is there a way to avoid the Doorway Effect? Try this idea if you struggle with this. Write yourself a list (manually or electronically) for each errand you need to do in the appropriate room to help you remember the required task. Hopefully, this will give you some assistance in your time of forgetfulness. The moral of the Doorway Effect is to protect your memories.

  “Entering or exiting through a doorway serves as an ‘event boundary’ in the mind, which separates episodes of activity and files them away. Recalling the decision or activity that was made in a different room is difficult because it has been compartmentalized.” (Professor Gabriel Radvansky)[i]

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[i] Sources used:

·        “The Doorway Effect: Why Do We Forget What We Were Supposed To Do After We Enter a Room?” by Ashish

·        “Why Do We Forget What We’re Doing the Minute We Enter a Room?” by Kate Horowitz

·        “Why Walking Through A Door Makes You Forget” (http://www.spring.org.uk/2016/10/doorway-effect.php)

 

·        What Is "The Doorway Effect?" Here's Why You Can Never Remember What You Meant To Do When You Entered the Room by Marissa Higgins



Inspired by a conversation on 99.3FM (Air 1) radio