Posted on 11/19/2011 6:43:57 AM PST by decimon
We've all experienced it: The frustration of entering a room and forgetting what we were going to do. Or get. Or find.
New research from University of Notre Dame Psychology Professor Gabriel Radvansky suggests that passing through doorways is the cause of these memory lapses. "Entering or exiting through a doorway serves as an 'event boundary' in the mind, which separates episodes of activity and files them away," Radvansky explains.
"Recalling the decision or activity that was made in a different room is difficult because it has been compartmentalized."
The study was published recently in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology.
(Excerpt) Read more at eurekalert.org ...
Ping
So why does this only apply after you turn...uh...what were we talking about?
Otherwise known as “Old Timer’s” disease. Wonder if any tax payer dollars funded it?!?
It happens to me frequently. But, the only time it really bothers me is when I walk into the bathroom.
I forget what I’m looking for in the refrigerator.
get a wheelchair.........ta=dah
Is that why I sometimes walk into a room and forget why the heck I walked in there in the first place?
Probably due to the stress on the brain caused by trying to solve Zeno’s paradox in which doorways play a significant role.
According to the 5th century BC Greek philosopher, it is not possible to cross a threshold because, starting on one side of the threshold, you must traverse a fixed distance. If you traverse that distance at some point you must reach a halfway point. The problem is, with every distance crossed, every remaining span can be divided in half. Infinitely. Thus you are always crossing only part way. Zeno’s also suggested that his paradox might be more easily understood as a argument against the possibility of motion at all.
Anyway, after subconsciously noodling through all of that, the brain is exhausted and can be forgiven for not remembering... uh... well, now I forgot the point of this post.
Uh, er, ah, never mind.
"Did you ever walk into a room and forget why you walked in?
I think that is how dogs spend their lives."
--Sue Murphy
I’m well into my sixties and frequently wake up at night to go to the bathroom. One night, I came back to bed and told my wife that the most amazing thing had happened. I had opened the bathroom door and the light immediately went on. When I closed the door, it went out. She said, “Damn it! You peed in the refrigerator again.”
It’s “CRS Syndrome”
sounds like a good argument for one-room houses
“I forget what I’m looking for in the refrigerator.”
Me too, but I’ve found that almost anything will do.
You know, that’s true. As long as I stay in one place and don’t try to do anything I’m fine. It’s when I’m rushing around trying to get stuff done and passing through doorways that I forget what I was supposed to be doing. This is a real breakthrough!
The greatest argument against the possibility of motion at all is trying to get my teenage son out of bed on the weekend.
As the father of four sons, I completely agree. ;-)
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