Influence of Importance of Intention on Prospective Memory Performance

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the extent to which the importance of the action to be performed affects its occurrence in a time-based prospective memory task. In the laboratory the effects of importance of intention were shown by Kvavilashvili in 1987 in an activity-based task, e.g., on a task which does not require the interruption of an on-going activity. 47 men and 65 women, aged between 20 and 25 years, participated in an experiment in which the importance varied (high vs low). The prospective memory task was embedded in a principal task lasting about 15 min. and required subjects to perform an action at a given time (after 5 min.). The prospective memory task required the interruption of the on-going activity. Analysis indicated that importance affected the performance on the time-based prospective memory task. Further implications were discussed.