How often do people forget things about one another? We decided to find out

Description

A new acquaintance needs to be reminded of your name while you are having a conversation. A colleague forgets your plan to meet for coffee and schedules a conflicting meeting. A friend books a table for the two of you at a restaurant but it slips her mind that you don’t like sushi.

We have all been on the receiving end of another person’s memory failure, and have forgotten important things about people ourselves. Until recently, however, we haven’t been able to understand these experiences and their consequences with much beyond anecdotes. My research group decided to change that.