lecture 7 - prospective memory Flashcards
what is prospective memory
The process and skills required to support the fulfilment of an intention to perform a specific
action in the future (Ellis & Kvavilashvili, 2000)
propsective memory vs retrospective memory
-prospective memory
prospective memory
1. Future-oriented
With intention to perform a specific action in the
future
(e.g., Remember to buy popcorn for tomorrow night)
- Examples
* Time-based:
Triggered by a specific time (e.g., “at 3pm tomorrow”).
* Event-based: Triggered by a specific event (e.g., “when see the
waiter”). - Self-driven
needs preparatory processes (e.g. monitoring)
propsective memory vs retrospective memory
-retropective memory
retrospective memory
1. Past-oriented
Recall information, experiences, or events from the past (e.g., Remember what movie watched last night)
- Examples
* Working Memory (e.g., a room number)
* Episodic Memory for specific events (e.g.,
a birthday party). - External trigger
requires retrieval of stored information from
memory.
why is prospective memory important
Majority of forgetting is prospective in nature (Smith et al., 2000)
* Estimated 50-80% based upon diary studies
PM is a prerequisite for
developing independence
in children
* Highly reliant on caregivers until
developed
Also crucial for academic
performance and social relations
* Latter especially important –
failure of PM often attributed to
moral failing
* Forgetting to post a card for
someone’s birthday – seen as
problem with reliability
Prospective memory - measurement
Intention formation phase
-intention is formed to do something in the future
intention retention phase
-intention is postponed during a delay interval
intention retreival phase
-sontext is reached in which intention execution is possible or appropriate
intention execution
-intention is finally fulfilled
prospective memory measurement
-certain common charecteristics typical of PM tasks
- These characteristics deemed to capture the true essence of PM tasks in everyday life - thus lab tasks mirror everyday tasks.
Delay
* A delay between forming the intention to do something and actually carrying out the task
Self-Initiation
* Not told to carry out the task – it needs to be self-generated at the right moment
Embedded in an Ongoing Activity
* This mirrors our everyday life where, after encoding an intention, we carry on with other events
what is event based prospective memory
Intention: Imagine you want to remember to post a card on your way to university
* You might encode this when drinking a morning cup of coffee
* You then finish your coffee, pack your bag, brush your teeth, get ready to leave the house and start to walk into university
(These are all Ongoing Activities) taking away your focus from task, creating a delay
- When you pass a letterbox, you have to remember your intention to post the card
(Thus, Self-Initiated)
guidelines to increase motivation and reduce boredem (children)
(Kvavilashvili et al., 2008)
-gamefy the task (motivation) (children can be brutally honest telling you if they are bored!)
-short blocks (keep it short for children) (boredem) - assume children’s attention span is quite narrow
- not too exciting for the children (cant risk make them too motivated to remember the exp, typically the PM elements adds to the ongoing activity
-asses RM of task instructions : check it is a PM issue not a RM issue (do they remember what they were meant to do)
-adjust task difficulty - try to ensure that the ongoing task isnt too demanding of executive functioning in younger children
development of prospective memory in pre schoolers (somerville et al., 1983)
methods
Naturalistic (not lab-based) study on 2-, 3- and 4-year-old children
Prospective memory task: Remind caregivers to carry out a specific action
manipulated 2 factors
* duration of Delay: short (remind caregivers in 5 minutes) vs. long (4-8 hours)
– predict that long-delay is more difficult, especially for younger children
* Action: high interest (give them sweets ) vs. low (take the washing out)
– predict high-interest easier, especially for young children
development of prospective memory in pre schoolers (somerville et al., 1983)
results
- No general age difference!
- However! Performance of 2-year-olds reduced in low
interest/ long delay condition – so take the washing out
in 4-8 hours
development of prospective memory in pre schoolers
(Kliegel et al., 2010)
methods
development of prospective memory in pre schoolers
(Kliegel et al., 2010)
results
