Can passing through a virtual doorway make an image harder to remember, even when you try to keep it in mind?

Details

Researchers examined whether a boundary between events could interfere with deliberately keeping visual information in mind. Observers watched animations that simulated walking through three-dimensional rooms, with pictures displayed in frames on the walls. They either studied an image to remember it or were tested on the image from the immediately preceding frame. On half of the occasions, the animated route crossed a doorway between studying and testing.

Across experiments, memory for the first image learned in the doorway condition was consistently worse than in the no-doorway condition. Elapsed time, distance traveled and the doorway’s potential to distract were matched, so the comparison addressed more than simply a longer delay or greater distraction.

The result suggests that boundaries between events can interfere with intentional remembering. It does not establish that a doorway automatically clears memories, or explain why someone forgets an intention after entering a real room. The abstract gives no sample size, participant ages or numerical estimate of the effect.