During winter, the assortment of items carried daily multiplies, increasing the chances of losing personal possessions such as scarves and gloves. This challenge is compounded by the occasional frustration of searching for keys or phones at home, despite a recent recollection of having them. The phenomenon of misplacing objects can happen to anyone, including seasoned experts in memory study. For instance, Mark McDaniel, a psychological and brain sciences professor emeritus, recently left his hat behind at a restaurant, an item he rarely wears and thus easily forgot.
"I should know how to remember to remember, but at the moment, you don't think you're going to forget," McDaniel reflected. Fortunately, there are techniques grounded in psychological research that can assist in mitigating such forgetfulness.
The Role of Memory and Attention
Harvard psychology professor Daniel L. Schacter, who authored "The Seven Sins of Memory," highlights that the tendency to lose things varies across individuals and can depend heavily on life circumstances that detract from present-focused attention. Rather than a simple memory deficit, he characterizes many instances of lost items as a failure in the interplay between memory and attention.
Memory processing in the brain involves three stages: encoding, storage, and retrieval. Schacter likens forgetting where keys are placed to driving to a destination without recalling the journey itself — in both cases, the crucial information was never properly encoded because attention was elsewhere.
"You have to do a little bit of cognitive work," Schacter noted. "At the time of encoding, you have to focus your attention." This suggests that awareness at the moment an item is set down is vital for later retrieval.
Developing Consistent Routines for Everyday Items
For objects used regularly, Schacter advises creating dedicated, consistent locations that become part of an automatic routine. For example, he habitually places his reading glasses in a specific spot in the kitchen and ensures his phone is always kept in the same pocket of his golf bag when golfing. While not perfect, these habits significantly improve recall and reduce loss.
If an individual experiences a sudden increase in losing belongings along with other memory problems that disrupt daily life, Schacter recommends consulting a medical professional to rule out underlying issues.
Memory Techniques for Infrequently Used Items
When it comes to items not regularly used, such as a hat, McDaniel explains that the brain stores memories more effectively when it receives multiple pieces of related information, a strategy known as elaboration in memory research.
One useful technique is verbalization — saying aloud where the item is placed. This practice promotes better memory encoding by encouraging focused attention and enriches the memory through verbal elaboration. The richer the details connected to the memory, the more pathways are created in the brain to assist future retrieval.
Memory champions often use an advanced form of elaboration called the "memory palace," which involves imagining a familiar structure and associating information with specific locations within that mental space.
For everyday application, individuals might visualize placing a hat under a chair and mentally link it to reasons and consequences, such as, "I put my hat under the chair because I didn’t want it to get dirty on the table, yet I left it behind last time." While this may not guarantee remembering to take the item when leaving, it substantially aids in knowing where it was left.
In summary, understanding the cognitive foundations of memory encoding, combined with structured habits and intentional mental elaboration, can significantly reduce the frustration of misplacing personal belongings, even during seasons that require carrying extra items.