瞬間忘記的“門口效應”

“俺到這兒干嘛來了？”這個問題，毫無疑問，你已經在從一個房間走到另一個房間的時候問過一遍了。好像我們突然被換了一個金魚的大腦似的。不過別擔心，你不是一個人在失憶！相反，這是一個非常普遍的現象，科學家們將它命名為“邊界效應”，或者“門口效應”（The Doorway Effect）。

We’ve all done it. Run upstairs to get your keys, but forget that it is them you’re looking for once you get to the bedroom. Open the fridge door and reach for the middle shelf only to realise that we can't remember why we opened the fridge in the first place. Or wait for a moment to interrupt a friend to find that the burning issue that made us want to interrupt has now vanished from our minds just as we come to speak: “What did I want to say again?” we ask a confused audience, who all think “how should we know?!”
我們都有過這樣的經歷。跑上樓想去拿鑰匙，結果剛走進臥室就忘記自己在找什么了。打開冰箱門，伸手探向中間那一層，卻忘記自己究竟為什么要打開冰箱門。或是，和朋友交談甚歡的時候，你突然想到了一件事，卻找不到時機打斷朋友，等這茬結束后，到嘴邊的話卻變成了：“我剛才想說什么來著？”你的朋友也是一頭霧水，“我們怎么知道你想說什么？”

Although these errors can be embarrassing, they are also common. It’s known as the “Doorway Effect”, and it reveals some important features of how our minds are organised.
雖然這些“失誤”讓人很尷尬，但這種現象卻十分普遍。它被稱作是“門口效應”（Doorway Effect），它揭示出了一些重要的特征，讓我們知道思維是如何組織起來的。

The Doorway Effect occurs because we change both the physical and mental environments, moving to a different room and thinking about different things.
發生“門口效應”這一現象是因為我們所處的外在環境和心理環境都發生了改變。我們走進另一間屋子，心里想著別的事。

Understanding this might help us appreciate those temporary moments of forgetfulness as more than just an annoyance (although they will still be annoying).
理解這個現象或許能夠讓我們學會享受這些暫時失憶的瞬間，而不再是一味地感到煩惱（盡管它們確實依然很讓人煩心）。

（中國日報網英語點津 yaning）

部分中文素材來自互動百科