World News for Students of English

25-09-2026 15:00

The doorway effect, also known as the location updating effect, is a common memory lapse that occurs when walking into a new room makes you forget your original intention.

Psychologists explain that our brains break continuous time into separate events.

When moving through a doorway or entering a new space, the brain identifies an event boundary. It saves the previous event model into long-term memory and clears short-term memory to prepare for incoming information, and sometimes accidentally erases thoughts you still need. Scientific experiments using physical and virtual environments show that passing through doorways slows response times and increases forgetting, especially when people are multitasking. Similar memory lapses can be triggered by changing computer tabs, time jumps in stories, or sudden distractions. However, event boundaries can also help organize information by preventing interference between tasks. To recover lost thoughts, scientists suggest retracing your physical steps or consciously repeating your goal as you move between spaces.

Difficult words: lapse (a temporary failure or brief drop in concentration, memory, or judgment), boundary (a line, point, or limit that marks where one thing ends and another begins), interference (a situation where new or different information blocks or disrupts your ability to remember something clearly).

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