Abstract
Four experiments were conducted to evaluate whether event-based prospective memory would be sensitive to the concurrent demands of the ongoing activity in which intention-related cues were embedded. In Experiments 1 and 2, random alternation between two judgments in the ongoing task reduced prospective memory as compared with having a single task throughout. In Experiment 3, participants' making two binary judgments on every trial resulted in worse prospective memory than did their making single four-alternative judgments. In Experiment 4, participants' making two related judgments resulted in better prospective memory than did their making two unrelated judgments. The results are consistent in spirit with a production rule account of the processing resources that are available when intention-related cues are encountered. Therefore, event-based prospective memory can inversely covary with the cognitive demands of the ongoing activity.
Article PDF
References
Anderson, J. R. (1983).The architecture of cognition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Baddeley, A. (1996). Exploring the central executive.Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology,49A, 5–28.
Brandimonte, M., Einstein, G. O., &McDaniel, M. A. (1996).Prospective memory: Theory and applications. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Brunfaut, E., Vanoverberghe, V., &d'Ydewalle, G. (2000). Prospective remembering of Korsakoffs and alcoholics as a function of the prospective-memory and on-going tasks.Neuropsychologia,38, 975–984.
Cherry, K. E., &LeCompte, D. C. (1999). Age and individual differences influence prospective memory.Psychology & Aging,14, 60–76.
Duncan, J. (1995). Attention, intelligence, and the frontal lobes. In M. S. Gazzaniga (Ed.),The cognitive neurosciences (pp. 721–733). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Einstein, G. O., Holland, L. J., McDaniel, M. A., &Guynn, M. J. (1992). Age-related deficits in prospective memory: The influence of task complexity.Psychology & Aging,7, 471–478.
Einstein, G. O., &McDaniel, M. A. (1990). Normal aging and prospective memory.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,16, 717–726.
Einstein, G. O., &McDaniel, M. A. (1996). Retrieval processes in prospective memory: Theoretical approaches and some new empirical findings. In M. Brandimonte, G. O. Einstein, & M. A. McDaniel (Eds.),Prospective memory: Theory and applications (pp. 115–141). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Einstein, G. O., McDaniel, M. A., Manzi, M., Cochran, B., &Baker, M. (2000). Prospective memory and aging: Forgetting intentions over short delays.Psychology & Aging,15, 671–683.
Einstein, G. O., McDaniel, M. A., Smith, R. E., &Shaw, P. (1998). Habitual prospective memory and aging: Remembering intentions and forgetting actions.Psychological Science,9, 284–289.
Einstein, G. O., Smith, R. E., McDaniel, M. A., &Shaw, P. (1997). Aging and prospective memory: The influence of increased task demands at encoding and retrieval.Psychology & Aging,12, 479–488.
Ellis, J., Kvavilashvili, L., &Milne, A. (1999). Experimental tests of prospective remembering: The influence of cue-event frequency on performance.British Journal of Psychology,90, 9–23.
Hicks, J. L., &Marsh, R. L. (2000). Toward specifying the attentional demands of recognition memory.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,26, 1483–1498.
Hicks, J. L., Marsh, R. L., &Russell, E. J. (2000). The properties of retention intervals and their affect on retaining prospective memories.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,26, 1160–1169.
Kahneman, D. (1973).Attention and effort. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Kidder, D. P., Park, D. C., Hertzog, C., &Morrell, R. W. (1997). Prospective memory and aging: The effects of working memory and prospective memory task load.Aging, Neuropsychology, & Cognition,4, 93–112.
Kliegel, M., Martin, M., McDaniel, M. A., &Einstein, G. O. (2001). Varying the importance of a prospective memory task: Differential effects across time- and event-based prospective memory.Memory,9, 1–11.
Kvavilashvili, L. (1992). Remembering intentions: A critical review of existing experimental paradigms.Applied Cognitive Psychology,6, 507–524.
Marsh, R. L., &Hicks, J. L. (1998). Event-based prospective memory and executive control of working memory.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,24, 336–349.
Marsh, R. L., Hicks, J. L., &Hancock, T. W. (2000). On the interaction of ongoing cognitive activity and the nature of an event-based intention.Applied Cognitive Psychology,14, S29-S42.
Marsh, R. L., Hicks, J. L., &Watson, V. (2002). The dynamics of intention retrieval and coordination of action in event-based prospective memory.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,28, 652–659.
Maylor, E. A. (1993). Aging and forgetting in prospective and retrospective memory tasks.Psychology & Aging,8, 420–428.
Maylor, E. A. (1996). Age-related impairment in an event-based prospective memory task.Psychology & Aging,11, 74–79.
McDaniel, M. A., &Einstein, G. O. (1993). The importance of cue familiarity and cue distinctiveness in prospective memory.Memory,1, 23–41.
McDaniel, M. A., &Einstein, G. O. (2000). Strategic and automatic processes in prospective memory retrieval: A multiprocess framework.Applied Cognitive Psychology,14, S127-S144.
McDaniel, M. A., Glisky, E. L., Rubin, S. R., Guynn, M. J., &Routhieaux, B. C. (1999). Prospective memory: A neuropsychological study.Neuropsychology,13, 103–110.
McDaniel, M. A., Robinson-Riegler, B., &Einstein, G. O. (1998). Prospective remembering: Perceptually driven or conceptually driven processes?Memory & Cognition,26, 121–134.
Rogers, R. D., &Monsell, S. (1995). Costs of a predictable switch between simple cognitive tasks.Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,124, 207–231.
West, R. L., &Craik, F. I. M. (1999). Effects of aging, cover task demands, immediacy of response, and cue characteristics on event-based prospective memory.Brain & Cognition,39, 25–28.
West, R. L., Herndon, R. W., &Ross-Munroe, K. (2000). Event-related neural activity associated with prospective remembering.Applied Cognitive Psychology,14, S115-S126.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Marsh, R.L., Hancock, T.W. & Hicks, J.L. The demands of an ongoing activity influence the success of event-based prospective memory. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 9, 604–610 (2002). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03196319
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03196319