
Why Walking Through a Doorway Makes You Forget (2011) - craftyguy
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-walking-through-doorway-makes-you-forget/
======
chiefalchemist
Memory, as I understand it, is contextual. So it's not the doorway per se, but
the fact that the context changed. This is why after "forgetting", your return
to the original room helps you to remember.

As a side note, again as I understand it, context can be things other than
physical location. It can be your emotional state (i.e., when you're happy
you're more wired to recall things that happen when you were in the same /
similar state of mind.

And yes, context of state of mind can be the chemical based (e.g., alcohol).
Yup. The brain is a crazy and complex work of art.

------
scarejunba
I honestly felt this way about the full screen windows start menu. The old one
kept me in context. I feel the same way about Gnome Shell doing it too though
I think the fact that it blurs the background instead of disappearing it
helps.

------
vbuwivbiu
what constitutes a doorway ? does it need a door ? a frame ? what's the
minimal set of cues that causes the effect ?

~~~
shredprez
Any change in the psycho-spacial context you pegged the forgotten information
to?

Hard to say what the minimum change might be; I'm sure it varies significantly
from person to person.

