We've all suffered the embarrassment of completely forgetting important things that we promised people we were going to do. But it's not always our fault.
New research shows that no matter how hard we try to remember plans, there is always an element of luck involved. Psychologists say we can't keep all these intentions active in our working memory all day, because working memory is limited both in its capacity and in the duration of time we can retain information. That's why people need long-term memory to store their intentions.
Thor Grünbaum is an Associate Professor in Philosophy and Psychology at the University of Copenhagen. He co-authored the recent study looking at a new cognitive model of long-term memory for intentions.
What do you do when you forget someone's name? Photo: Pixabay
