--- title: Memory: Don't Expect to Rely on Passive Recall description: People are better at remembering things when they actively anticipate having to recall them in the future, a study finds. canonical: https://time.com/3677828/memory-recall-research-studies-penn-state-health/ author: David Stout article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-22T04:51:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T03:46:24.920Z article:section: Health og:title: This Is the Reason You Keep Forgetting Stuff og:description: Just seeing or hearing something isn't going to help you remember it og:url: https://time.com/3677828/memory-recall-research-studies-penn-state-health/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba1e6516f884df28/69877b3c2dce01db8f9dd1ad/memory-post-notes.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 186678742 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Is the Reason You Keep Forgetting Stuff twitter:description: Just seeing or hearing something isn't going to help you remember it twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba1e6516f884df28/69877b3c2dce01db8f9dd1ad/memory-post-notes.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Is the Reason You Keep Forgetting Stuff by [David Stout](https://time.com/author/david-stout/) ## David Stout Jan 22, 2015 4:51 AM UTC  Woman placing sticky notes on board Woman placing sticky notes on boardGetty Images by [David Stout](https://time.com/author/david-stout/) ## David Stout Jan 22, 2015 4:51 AM UTC A new study coming out of Penn State suggests that individuals are better at remembering details when they anticipate having to recall them in the future. “We found that in some cases, people have trouble remembering even very simple pieces of information when they do not expect to have to remember them,” said Brad Wyble, assistant professor of psychology at Penn State. The researchers arrived at their conclusion after quizzing individuals about information they had just been shown. Participants often answered questions about their memories with ease when they anticipated what they would have to remember. However, when individuals were asked about information they had not specifically homed in on, they often were unable to remember the details accurately. According to Wyble, the results from their experiments suggests that people’s expectations play a vital role in determining what they will be able to recall accurately. “It seems like memory is sort of like a camcorder,” said Wyble. “If you don’t hit the ‘record’ button on the camcorder, it’s not going to ‘remember’ what the lens is pointed at.” \[[_Science Daily_](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/01/150121103236.htm)\] Memory: Don't Expect to Rely on Passive Recall ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3677828/memory-recall-research-studies-penn-state-health/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3677828/memory-recall-research-studies-penn-state-health/"},"headline":"This Is the Reason You Keep Forgetting Stuff","datePublished":"2015-01-22T04:51:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:46:24.920Z","description":"Just seeing or hearing something isn't going to help you remember it","url":"https://time.com/3677828/memory-recall-research-studies-penn-state-health/","keywords":["Research","medicine","Science topic","health"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba1e6516f884df28/69877b3c2dce01db8f9dd1ad/memory-post-notes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"David Stout","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/david-stout/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba1e6516f884df28/69877b3c2dce01db8f9dd1ad/memory-post-notes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"186678742","caption":"186678742","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/research/","name":"Research"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3677828/memory-recall-research-studies-penn-state-health/","name":"This Is the Reason You Keep Forgetting Stuff"}}]}] ```