Episodic Prospective Memory Research Articles

Cognitive test performance in chronic cannabis flower users, concentrate users, and non-users

Extremely high-potency cannabis concentrates are becoming increasingly available and popular among consumers. While prior research indicates these products are perceived to have greater detrimental effects relative to cannabis flower, few studies have examined their relative objective effects, and no existing studies have compared the cognitive test performance of sober flower users, concentrate users, and non-users. A total of 198 healthy adults (98 non-users, 46 exclusive flower users, and 54 concentrate users) were administered a battery of tests of memory, psychomotor speed, attention, and executive functioning under sober laboratory-controlled conditions. Significant group differences were detected on tests of verbal free recall and episodic prospective memory, with both the flower users and concentrate users demonstrating significantly worse performance than non-users. Concentrate (but not flower) users performed worse than non-users on a measure of source memory, but contrary to our hypothesis, there were no significant differences between flower and concentrate users on any of the cognitive tests. Results indicate that, under sober conditions, individuals who regularly use concentrates are no more cognitively impacted than those who exclusively use flower. These null findings may reflect the tendency for concentrate users to self-titrate and use significantly lower quantities of concentrates than flower.

The influence of subjective cognitive decline on prospective memory over 5 years.

Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) is an important area of research within older populations, for whom prospective memory (PM) functions as a crucial part of daily life. Little is known about change in PM, following reports of SCD. This study examines longitudinal naturalistic PM in older adults with high and low levels of SCD. Ninety-nine community-dwelling older adults were revisited after 5 to 6 years, to examine the role of baseline SCD (measured as reported memory decline from young adulthood) on episodic and habitual PM change. Episodic PM was measured by the message task and habitual PM by a time-stamped button-pressing task across 2 weeks. SCD status was not associated with episodic PM, with performance declining over time across both groups, η2 = .03, 95% CI [.11, .61]. Conversely, for habitual PM, there was a significant Group × Time interaction, η2 = .07, 95% CI [-.95, -.06], with people reporting high SCD demonstrating better baseline performance and declining over time, whereas low SCD remained stable. Older adults with SCD demonstrated greater decline in habitual PM, suggesting these tasks may be more sensitive to the effects of SCD. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Joint effects of stress and chronic cannabis use on prospective memory.

Prospective memory pervades our daily lives and failures can have detrimental consequences. This ability to execute delayed intentions may be impacted by stress, yet few studies have examined these effects. Moreover, as many cannabis users report using cannabis to cope with stress, it is important to understand how stress impacts memory in cannabis users. We assessed the effects of acute and chronic stress on prospective memory to examine whether stress differentially impacts prospective memory in cannabis users vs. non-users. Forty cannabis users and 42 non-users were assigned an episodic and a habitual prospective memory test before completing either the stress or no stress condition of the Maastricht Acute Stress Test (MAST). Participants were instructed to execute the habitual test during the MAST and the episodic test shortly after the MAST. Chronic stress was measured using the Perceived Stress Scale, and acute stress was measured using subjective ratings and cortisol. There was a main effect of acute stress indicating that stress detrimentally impacted habitual prospective memory performance. Although there was not a significant stress x cannabis interaction, further planned comparisons indicated the habitual prospective memory impairment was selective to cannabis users. There were also significant negative correlations between (i) episodic prospective memory and both subjective stress as well as chronic stress, and (ii) habitual prospective memory and change in subjective stress. This study is the first to reveal detrimental effects of acute stress on prospective memory performance, which may be exacerbated in cannabis users.

Naturalistic prospective memory in older adults: Predictors of performance on a habitual task

Age-related difficulties in episodic prospective memory (PM) are common. However, little is known about habitual PM, which involves remembering to carry out intended actions that are regular and repeated. This is important for many health-related tasks and for maintaining independence in daily living activities. This study investigates, in older people, the predictors of habitual PM performance in a naturalistic setting. A group of 191 community-based, older adults (aged 65–89 years) wore an actigraph over two weeks. The habitual PM task involved pressing a button twice daily (Bed-time, Rise-time) on the actigraph. Accuracy of response was calculated for Bed-time and Rise-time, determined by light, movement, and diary data. The contribution of retrospective memory and executive function to PM performance was assessed. PM was more accurate at Bed-time compared to Rise-time (p < .01), and better in the first compared to the second week (p < .01). Retrospective memory contributed small but significant unique variance (β = .24) to PM accuracy. For older adults living in the community, both contextual factors (e.g., time of day) and retrospective memory are important for individuals’ ability to remember to perform daily tasks. This is relevant when planning interventions for maintaining independent living in ageing.

Sub-clinical compulsive checkers show impaired performance on habitual, event- and time-cued episodic prospective memory tasks

This study focused on examining whether sub-clinical checkers perform worse on a behavioral measure of habitual prospective memory, and on uncovering the source of a dissociation we previously reported between sub-clinical checkers’ performance on event- and time-cued episodic prospective memory tasks [Cuttler, C., & Graf, P. (2007). Sub-clinical compulsive checkers’ prospective memory is impaired. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 21(3), 338–352]. Undergraduate students were assigned a habitual prospective memory task, an event-cued and a time-cued episodic prospective memory task, and they completed questionnaires designed to assess problems with prospective memory in everyday life. Compared to low checkers, high checkers demonstrated higher failure rates on the habitual, event- and time-cued episodic prospective memory tasks, and reported more frequent failures of prospective memory in everyday life. The results showed that the previously reported dissociation was an artifact of the method used for scoring time-cued prospective memory. Our results lend support to the theory that a deficit in prospective memory contributes to the development and maintenance of checking compulsions.

Personality predicts prospective memory task performance: An adult lifespan study

Do interindividual differences in prospective memory task performance reflect individual differences in personality and lifestyle? Do the cognitive abilities known to change with age retain their power to predict episodic prospective memory task performance after controlling for personality and lifestyle variables, and do personality and lifestyle variables offer predictive power apart from that provided by cognitive ability measures? To answer these questions, we conducted a study with community-living healthy individuals (n= 141) between 18 and 81 years of age. They completed three different episodic prospective memory tasks--two laboratory tasks and one field task--as well as various measures of personality, lifestyle, and cognitive ability. The results indicated that personality and lifestyle reliably predicted who will succeed and who will fail on all three episodic prospective memory tasks. Conscientiousness predicted performance on two of the prospective memory tasks; socially prescribed perfectionism and neuroticism each predicted performance on one of the prospective memory tasks. Cognitive ability predicted performance on one of the laboratory prospective memory tasks but not on the other two prospective memory tasks. After we controlled for individual differences in personality and lifestyle variables, cognitive ability was no longer able to predict performance on the laboratory prospective memory task. By contrast, controlling for cognitive ability had no influence on the predictive power of the personality and lifestyle variables.

Sub-clinical compulsive checkers’ prospective memory is impaired

We explored whether prospective memory task performance is impaired in sub-clinical compulsive checkers. Participants were 126 undergraduate students who were divided into three groups: high, medium, low checkers. Participants completed two objective tests of their episodic prospective memory, one event- and one time-cued, as well as two questionnaires that measured their subjective prospective memory. The results indicated that medium and high checkers performed worse than low checkers on the objective event-cued prospective memory task but that the three groups performed similarly on the objective time-cued prospective memory task. Moreover, high checkers reported experiencing every type of prospective memory failure more frequently than either the medium or the low checkers. We suggest that individuals with compulsive checking tendencies have an impaired prospective memory and that their increased experiences with prospective memory failures causes their intrusive concerns that tasks were not completed.

Prospective memory impairment in abstinent MDMA ("Ecstasy") users

Introduction: Quantitative evidence has begun to emerge where human studies suggest that repeated recreational use of +/- 3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA or "Ecstasy") produces lasting impairments in explicit memory. The purpose of this investigation was to further explore the nature and pattern of component memory processes in abstinent MDMA users. Methods: Accordingly, 15 MDMA users and 17 matched normal controls completed a brief neuropsychological test battery composed mainly of the Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test (RBMT), a Stem-Completion task, and the Vocabulary subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III (WAIS-III). Results: MDMA users were found impaired in terms of episodic prospective memory, as medium to large effects were observed between groups on time-based Appointment and event-based Message subtests of the RBMT. The results of this study also indicate that the ability to recall a future appointment may be related to the frequency of MDMA use and the absolute number of times MDMA was used. Conclusion: Further research is warranted into the underlying neurological manifestations of such deficits, such as investigating the relation between the neurotransmitter serotonin and the component processes of memory.

Interferometer with two radiating crystals: Akust. Zh., 8, No. 4, p. 412 (1962)

This study focused on examining whether sub-clinical checkers perform worse on a behavioral measure of habitual prospective memory, and on uncovering the source of a dissociation we previously reported between sub-clinical checkers’ performance on event- and time-cued episodic prospective memory tasks [Cuttler, C., & Graf, P. (2007). Sub-clinical compulsive checkers’ prospective memory is impaired. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 21(3), 338–352]. Undergraduate students were assigned a habitual prospective memory task, an event-cued and a time-cued episodic prospective memory task, and they completed questionnaires designed to assess problems with prospective memory in everyday life. Compared to low checkers, high checkers demonstrated higher failure rates on the habitual, event- and time-cued episodic prospective memory tasks, and reported more frequent failures of prospective memory in everyday life. The results showed that the previously reported dissociation was an artifact of the method used for scoring time-cued prospective memory. Our results lend support to the theory that a deficit in prospective memory contributes to the development and maintenance of checking compulsions.

The ultrasonic pig grader: Ind. Electronics 1, p. 3 (1962)

This study focused on examining whether sub-clinical checkers perform worse on a behavioral measure of habitual prospective memory, and on uncovering the source of a dissociation we previously reported between sub-clinical checkers’ performance on event- and time-cued episodic prospective memory tasks [Cuttler, C., & Graf, P. (2007). Sub-clinical compulsive checkers’ prospective memory is impaired. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 21(3), 338–352]. Undergraduate students were assigned a habitual prospective memory task, an event-cued and a time-cued episodic prospective memory task, and they completed questionnaires designed to assess problems with prospective memory in everyday life. Compared to low checkers, high checkers demonstrated higher failure rates on the habitual, event- and time-cued episodic prospective memory tasks, and reported more frequent failures of prospective memory in everyday life. The results showed that the previously reported dissociation was an artifact of the method used for scoring time-cued prospective memory. Our results lend support to the theory that a deficit in prospective memory contributes to the development and maintenance of checking compulsions.

Magneto-acoustic oscillations in the fermi surface in aluminium: Zh. Eksperimental 'noi i teor, 44, No. 1, p. 71 (1963)

This study focused on examining whether sub-clinical checkers perform worse on a behavioral measure of habitual prospective memory, and on uncovering the source of a dissociation we previously reported between sub-clinical checkers’ performance on event- and time-cued episodic prospective memory tasks [Cuttler, C., & Graf, P. (2007). Sub-clinical compulsive checkers’ prospective memory is impaired. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 21(3), 338–352]. Undergraduate students were assigned a habitual prospective memory task, an event-cued and a time-cued episodic prospective memory task, and they completed questionnaires designed to assess problems with prospective memory in everyday life. Compared to low checkers, high checkers demonstrated higher failure rates on the habitual, event- and time-cued episodic prospective memory tasks, and reported more frequent failures of prospective memory in everyday life. The results showed that the previously reported dissociation was an artifact of the method used for scoring time-cued prospective memory. Our results lend support to the theory that a deficit in prospective memory contributes to the development and maintenance of checking compulsions.