--- description: People are better at remembering things when they actively anticipate having to recall them in the future, a study finds. title: This Is the Reason You Keep Forgetting Stuff 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 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) ## Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Research](/tag/research/) ## Research Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This Is the Reason You Keep Forgetting Stuff by [David Stout](/author/david-stout/) ## David Stout Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 22, 2015 4:51 AM CUT  Woman placing sticky notes on board Woman placing sticky notes on boardGetty Images by [David Stout](/author/david-stout/) ## David Stout Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 22, 2015 4:51 AM CUT 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.” \[[_Science Daily_](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/01/150121103236.htm "undefined")\] ```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"}}]}] ```