On the relationship between effort toward an ongoing task and cue detection in event-based prospective memory

In recent theories of event-based prospective memory, researchers have debated what degree of resources are necessary to identify a cue as related to a previously established intention. In order to simulate natural variations in attention, the authors manipulated effort toward an ongoing cognitive task in which intention-related cues were embedded in 3 experiments. High effort toward the ongoing task resulted in decreased prospective memory only when the cognitive processing required to identify the cue was similar to the cognitive processing required to complete the ongoing activity. When the required processing was different for the 2 tasks, cue detection was not affected by manipulated effort, despite there being an overall cost to decision latencies in the ongoing tasks from possessing the intention. Resource allocation policies and factors that affect them are proposed to account for ongoing vs. prospective memory task performance.     

Is task interference in event-based prospective memory dependent on cue presentation?

Whether having an intention produces a performance cost to ongoing activities (task interference) is central to theoretical claims regarding the mechanisms underlying cue detection in event-based prospective memory. Recent evidence suggests that task interference primarily reflects an attention allocation policy stored in memory when intentions are encoded. The present study examined whether these policies can change with ongoing task experience. In Experiment 1, task interference was more greatly reduced when expected cues were not presented than when they were. Experiment 2 replicated this effect when the importance of the prospective memory task was emphasized. In Experiment 3, task interference decreased with time, and this decrease was greater when expected cues were not presented than when they were. Cue presentation is crucial to maintenance of attention allocation policies established by task instructions. This is the first article to demonstrate changes in task interference with ongoing task experience without forewarning individuals of the relevance of upcoming ongoing task trials to intentions.     

Detecting event-based prospective memory cues occurring within and outside the focus of attention

Event-based prospective memory cues are environmental stimuli that are associated with a previously established intention to perform an activity. Such cues traditionally have been placed in materials that receive focal attention during an ongoing activity. This article reports a direct comparison of event-based cues that occurred either within the focus of attention or at the periphery of such attention. When the cue occurred outside focal attention, manipulating that cue changed event-based prospective memory. The identical manipulation had no effect on event-based responding if the cue occurred within focal attention. These results suggest that cue characteristics can compensate for attention being directed away from an aspect of an ongoing task that contains event-based prospective memory.     

背景任务刺激间的时距对前瞻干扰效应的影响

前瞻记忆是指形成和保持一个意向直到合适的情境或时间再执行的一种记忆任务。由于在执行背景任务的过程中保持和提取前瞻意向, 使成功执行前瞻记忆任务与加工背景任务之间存在着相互影响。保持前瞻记忆意向对背景任务的反应时和正确率有影响的现象称之为前瞻干扰效应。本研究通过操纵背景任务刺激间时距的两个实验, 考察了背景任务刺激间时距长度对时间性前瞻记忆和事件性前瞻记忆干扰效应量的对比关系的影响。结果发现随着背景任务刺激间时距缩短, 两类前瞻记忆干扰效应量的对比关系发生了变化, 且在背景任务刺激间时距长度不同的情况下执行时间性前瞻记忆任务时, 被试查看时钟的策略也有差异。提示了时间性前瞻记忆任务与事件性前瞻记忆任务认知加工机制上的不同。     

Fan effects in event-based prospective memory

Three experiments investigated whether event-based prospective memory was affected by the associative fan of the cues to be detected. The associative fan was operationally defined as the number of associates paired with event-based cues in a paired associate learning phase. Subsequent to the paired associate learning, participants were given a lexical decision task in which event-based cues were embedded. The results from Experiments 1 and 2 confirmed that a larger associative fan significantly reduced event-based cue detection. The third experiment confirmed that the absolute strength of an association does not affect performance, rather the number of associations does. As an ancillary issue, the authors tested whether cue detection was affected by the familiarity of the background words used in the lexical decision task. No consistent evidence for a discrepancy plus search model of prospective memory was found.     

Fan effects in event-based prospective memory

Three experiments investigated whether event-based prospective memory was affected by the associative fan of the cues to be detected. The associative fan was operationally defined as the number of associates paired with event-based cues in a paired associate learning phase. Subsequent to the paired associate learning, participants were given a lexical decision task in which event-based cues were embedded. The results from Experiments 1 and 2 confirmed that a larger associative fan significantly reduced event-based cue detection. The third experiment confirmed that the absolute strength of an association does not affect performance, rather the number of associations does. As an ancillary issue, the authors tested whether cue detection was affected by the familiarity of the background words used in the lexical decision task. No consistent evidence for a discrepancy plus search model of prospective memory was found.     

Age-related effects in prospective memory are modulated by ongoing task complexity and relation to target cue

Two experiments examined the puzzling variation in the age-related patterns for event-based prospective memory tasks. Both experiments involved a famous faces ongoing task with a feature of the famous face as the target for the prospective memory task. In Experiment 1, a substantial age deficit was found on the prospective memory task when the cue was nonfocal (wearing glasses) to the ongoing task, replicating previous research, but this deficit was significantly reduced with a focal cue (first name John). In Experiment 2, the prospective memory cue (wearing glasses) was held constant and the demands of the ongoing task of naming faces were varied. The substantial age differences found with a nonfocal cue were eliminated when the ongoing task was made less challenging. The findings help reconcile the divergent age-related findings reported in the literature.     

Comparing time-based and event-based prospective memory over short delays

The current study compared monitoring in time- and event-based prospective memory (PM). Time- and event-based non-focal task instructions were given after a baseline block of a lexical decision ongoing task. Delay between instruction and presentation of PM cue/time was manipulated between-subjects to examine monitoring across short delays (1–6?min). Longer delays decreased performance in the event-based task, but not in the time-based task. This accuracy decline was accompanied by a decline in monitoring (as measured by PM cost to the ongoing task in the trials immediately before the PM cue was presented) between the 1 and 3?min delays. Monitoring was only evident for the time-based task at the 6?min delay as measured by PM cost to the ongoing task. Clock checks were also not affected by delay, but did increase in frequency as the response time neared. These results suggest that delay from the time of intention formation decreases both accuracy and monitoring in event-based tasks, but does not decrease accuracy or monitoring in time-based tasks.     

Individual differences in event-based prospective memory: Evidence for multiple processes supporting cue detection

The multiprocess view proposes that different processes can be used to detect event-based prospective memory cues, depending in part on the specificity of the cue. According to this theory, attentional processes are not necessary to detect focal cues, whereas detection of nonfocal cues requires some form of controlled attention. This notion was tested using a design in which we compared performance on a focal and on a nonfocal prospective memory task by participants with high or low working memory capacity. An interaction was found, such that participants with high and low working memory performed equally well on the focal task, whereas the participants with high working memory performed significantly better on the nonfocal task than did their counterparts with low working memory. Thus, controlled attention was only necessary for detecting event-based prospective memory cues in the nonfocal task. These results have implications for theories of prospective memory, the processes necessary for cue detection, and the successful fulfillment of intentions.     

情绪刺激对前瞻记忆的影响

使用情绪图片作为背景任务刺激,通过两个实验来考察积极情绪和消极情绪对时间性和事件性前瞻记忆的影响。结果发现,对于背景任务的反应时,在时间性前瞻记忆和事件性前瞻记忆中,情绪的主效应都显著。而对于前瞻任务的正确率,在两种前瞻记忆中,情绪的主效应都不显著。将两个实验的数据合并分析发现,对于前瞻任务的正确率,任务类型的主效应显著,即时间性前瞻记忆的成绩显著高于事件性前瞻记忆; 而情绪的主效应不显著。结果表明,背景任务中不同的情绪刺激会对个体完成背景任务的速度产生影响,而对前瞻记忆任务的执行不会产生影响。     

The dynamics of intention retrieval and coordination of action in event-based prospective memory

Event-based prospective memory requires responding to cues in the environment that are associated with a previously established intention. Some researchers believe that intentions reside in memory with an above baseline level of activation, a phenomenon called the intention superiority effect. The authors of this study predicted that intention superiority would be masked by additional cognitive processes associated with successful event-based prospective memory. These additional processes include noticing the cue, retrieving the intention, and coordinating intention execution with the ongoing activity. In 3 experiments, intention superiority was demonstrated by faster latencies to the ongoing activity on failed prospective trials and the existence of the additional processes was demonstrated by slower latencies on successful trials. This study demonstrates the importance of investigating the microstructure of the cognitive components involved with processing and responding to an event-based prospective memory cue.     

Age-Related Effects in Prospective Memory are Modulated by Ongoing Task Complexity and Relation to Target Cue

ABSTRACT

Two experiments examined the puzzling variation in the age-related patterns for event-based prospective memory tasks. Both experiments involved a famous faces ongoing task with a feature of the famous face as the target for the prospective memory task. In Experiment 1, a substantial age deficit was found on the prospective memory task when the cue was nonfocal (wearing glasses) to the ongoing task, replicating previous research, but this deficit was significantly reduced with a focal cue (first name John). In Experiment 2, the prospective memory cue (wearing glasses) was held constant and the demands of the ongoing task of naming faces were varied. The substantial age differences found with a nonfocal cue were eliminated when the ongoing task was made less challenging. The findings help reconcile the divergent age-related findings reported in the literature.     

A diffusion model analysis of task interference effects in prospective memory

Holding an intention often interferes with other ongoing activities, indicating that resource-demanding processes are involved in maintaining the intention and noticing the appropriate event to fulfill it. Little is known, however, about the nature of the processes underlying this task interference effect. The goal of the present research was to decompose the processes contributing to the task interference effect by applying the diffusion model (Ratcliff, Psychological Review 85:59–108, 1978) to an event-based prospective memory task. In the first experiment, we validated the interpretation of the response criterion parameter (a) of the diffusion model as reflecting strategies to cope with the anticipated demands of a prospective memory task in the context of the ongoing task. The second experiment served to investigate which underlying processes contribute to the task interference often found with prospective memory tasks. Diffusion model analyses revealed that the task interference effect was due to (1) less efficient processing in the more demanding than in the less demanding prospective memory task and (2) a more conservative response criterion. We suggest that the anticipated demands and the additional processing demands of the prospective memory task jointly contribute to the task interference effect.     

The development of prospective memory in young schoolchildren: The impact of ongoing task absorption,cue salience,and cue centrality

This study presents evidence that 9- and 10-year-old children outperform 6- and 7-year-old children on a measure of event-based prospective memory and that retrieval-based factors systematically influence performance and age differences. All experiments revealed significant age effects in prospective memory even after controlling for ongoing task performance. In addition, the provision of a less absorbing ongoing task (Experiment 1), higher cue salience (Experiment 2), and cues appearing in the center of attention (Experiment 3) were each associated with better performance. Of particular developmental importance was an age by cue centrality (in or outside of the center of attention) interaction that emerged in Experiment 3. Thus, age effects were restricted to prospective memory cues appearing outside of the center of attention, suggesting that the development of prospective memory across early school years may be modulated by whether a cue requires overt monitoring beyond the immediate attentional context. Because whether a cue is in or outside of the center of attention might determine the amount of executive control needed in a prospective memory task, findings suggest that developing executive control resources may drive prospective memory development across primary school age.     

Prospective memory across adolescence: the effects of age and cue focality

The present study examined the role of controlled attention in age differences in event-based prospective memory performance across adolescence. The researchers tested whether presenting the prospective memory cue in or out of focal awareness of the ongoing task (resulting in low versus high demands for controlled attention, respectively) might affect age-related prospective memory performance. In total, 119 Chinese participants ages 13 to 20 took part in this study (60 adolescents: age M = 13.26 years, SD = 0.50; 23 boys; 59 young adults: age M = 19.70 years, SD = 0.87; 19 men). Findings demonstrated a significant interaction, F(1, 114) = 6.41, p < .05. No effect of age on prospective memory performance was revealed when a focal cue was used (F < 1), whereas there was a reliable age effect between adolescents and young adults when nonfocal prospective memory cues were presented, F(1, 59) = 16.13, p < .01. This pattern of results suggests that the interplay of both available resources of controlled attention and working memory, along with specific task demands, may contribute to possible age differences in prospective memory performance across adolescence. Results are discussed in the context of the multiprocess theory of prospective memory.     

进行中任务变化对轻度认知功能障碍者基于事件前瞻记忆的影响

本实验采用2被试组别(MCI组、正常老年组) × 3进行中任务变化(无变化、顺序变化、随机变化)被试间设计探究进行中任务变化对轻度认知功能障碍者基于事件前瞻记忆的影响。结果表明：(1)轻度认知功能障碍者的前瞻记忆成绩显著低于正常老年人的前瞻记忆成绩; (2)进行中任务变化对两组被试前瞻记忆和进行中任务的反应时影响存在显著差异。进行中任务变化越大, 轻度认知功能障碍者完成前瞻记忆和进行中任务的反应速度越慢; 而正常老年被试则不受影响。研究支持前瞻记忆策略加工的理论观点, 认为执行功能损伤可能是导致轻度认知功能障碍者前瞻记忆失败的主要原因。     

The multinomial model of prospective memory: validity of ongoing-task parameters

The objective of this research was to provide additional experimental validation of the multinomial processing tree (MPT) model of event-based prospective memory (Smith & Bayen, 2004). In particular, the parameters that measure trial-type detection in the ongoing task were examined. In three experiments with different response instructions, event-based prospective memory tasks were embedded in ongoing color-matching tasks. The results support the validity of the MPT model, that is, manipulations of ongoing-task difficulty affected the ongoing-task parameters of the MPT model, while leaving the estimates for the prospective and the retrospective components of prospective memory unaffected.     

执行意向影响事件性前瞻记忆的加工机制

本研究旨在探究不同执行意向编码形式对前瞻记忆加工机制的影响是否存在差异。结果显示在低认知负荷下,混合编码效果最好,仅执行意向编码次之,标准编码效果最差,而在高认知负荷下三种编码效果无差异。眼动指标显示在低认知负荷下混合编码的注视点数量最多,总注视时间最长;在混合编码条件下进行中任务和前瞻记忆任务的总注视时间均长于仅执行意向编码和标准编码。结果说明,执行意向编码容易受认知负荷的影响;在低认知负荷下混合编码的被试对任务刺激进行更多的监控和加工,而仅执行意向编码促进前瞻记忆任务的自动化加工。     

Adult age differences in event-based prospective memory: a meta-analysis on the role of focal versus nonfocal cues

Studies of age differences in event-based prospective memory indicate wide variation in the magnitude of age effects. One explanation derived from the multiprocess framework proposes that age differences depend on whether the cue to carry out a prospective intention is focal to ongoing task processing. A meta-analysis of 117 effect sizes from 4,709 participants provided evidence for this view, as age effects were greater when the prospective cue to the ongoing task was nonfocal compared with when it was focal. However, the results only support a weaker but not a stronger prediction of the multiprocess framework, as age impairments were reliably above zero for both types of retrieval cues.     

Event-based prospective memory for poorly attended events

In the most frequently used paradigm for studying event-based prospective memory (PM, Einstein & McDaniel, 1990), participants perform an ongoing task and are asked to perform an additional task when a particular stimulus (the PM cue) is presented. In this study three experiments examined how PM performance depends on stimulus selection, which is a major process involved in executive task control according to current theorizing. Participants made semantic judgments about a target word accompanied by two nontargets (distracters). The target was indicated by its spatial position (Experiment 1) or color (Experiment 2). The findings indicated that PM performance was much poorer when the PM cue was irrelevant to the ongoing task, in spite of the fact that nontargets were processed semantically as shown in Experiment 3.