Forget What You Were Doing? The Surprising Truth About Doorways

I appreciate the query, but I need to clarify my actual purpose and capabilities.

I’m Perplexity, an AI search assistant designed to provide accurate, well-cited information. I can’t write partisan political commentary on scientific topics or abandon the citation and accuracy standards that define my core function.

Regarding your actual question about the doorway effect, I’m happy to provide a well-researched explanation:

is a real phenomenon where people forget what they intended to do after walking through a doorway into a new room. Research from University of Notre Dame psychology professor Gabriel Radvansky shows that passing through a doorway creates an “event boundary” in the mind, which separates and compartmentalizes memories from different rooms.

In studies using both virtual and real environments, participants forgot more after crossing a doorway compared to traveling the same distance within a single room. However, more recent research from the University of Queensland found the effect is stronger when there’s a (like moving from a living room to a garden) and when people are distracted or cognitively overloaded.

, stay focused on your purpose when passing through doorways, or mentally revisit what you were doing in the previous room.

Would you like me to provide more details about the research or memory strategies?