Time-based Prospective Memory Research Articles

From attentional fluctuations to intentional fluctuations? Monitoring behavior and intraindividual variability in time-based prospective memory.

In sharp contrast to event-based prospective memory (PM), dynamics of (re)allocation of attention between the ongoing and PM tasks have been much less investigated in time-based PM tasks. We propose an in-depth examination of attention allocation in a time-based PM task by jointly analyzing multiple indicators of time-monitoring behavior, net and time-structured intraindividual variability (IIV) in ongoing-task reaction times (OT RTs), and task performance. Results from dynamic structural equation modeling in a lifespan sample of 198 adults (19-86 years) revealed that larger fluctuations in OT RTs (net IIV) predicted poorer OT performance, but fostered a more efficient pattern of time-monitoring behavior (i.e., checking a clock more frequently and strategically, and slowing OT RTs during the PM response window) that, in turn, enhanced PM. Conversely, greater inertia in OT RTs (time-structured IIV) led to fewer clock-checks and poorer PM performance. Focusing attention on time monitoring to enhance PM performance did not detrimentally affect OT accuracy. Instead, participants showed a speed-accuracy tradeoff to optimize both OT and PM accuracies by slowing their OT RTs during the PM response window. This study therefore shows that two concomitant aspects of IIV (net and time-structured IIV) not only predicted time-monitoring behavior, but also OT and PM accuracies differentially, hence advocating for the necessity to consider both aspects of IIV and time monitoring together to better understand attention allocation policies in time-based PM tasks. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

An evaluation of the moderating effects of routine and busyness on the relationship between prospective memory and everyday functioning in older persons with HIV disease

ABSTRACT Introduction People living with HIV (PLWH) often experience difficulties in everyday functioning, which can arise in part from deficits in the strategic/executive aspects of prospective memory (PM). Using Suchy’s Contextually Valid Executive Assessment (ConVExA) framework, this study sought to determine whether the contextual factors of busyness and routine moderate the relationship between the strategic/executive aspects of PM and everyday functioning in older PLWH. Methods Participants in this cross-sectional analysis were 145 PLWH aged 50 years and older who had completed the Martin and Park Environmental Demands (MPED) questionnaire of routine and busyness, the performance-based Cambridge Test of Prospective Memory, and self-report measures of activities of daily living (ADLs) and cognitive symptoms in daily life. Results Multiple regression analyses covarying for relevant comorbidities showed that higher levels of busyness – but not routine – were associated with more frequent cognitive symptoms in daily life. Neither busyness nor routine interacted with PM in association with cognitive symptoms. However, routine and a strategic/executive measure of PM interacted in predicting ADLs; specifically, the association between time-based PM and ADLs was stronger in persons with higher levels of routine in their daily lives. Parallel analyses with less executively-demanding event-based PM were null and small. Conclusions Overall, findings provided mixed – and unexpected – evidence for the associations between contextual factors (i.e. routine and busyness), everyday functioning, and PM in this sample of older adults with HIV disease. Results and clinical implications are interpreted and discussed in the framework of the ConVExA model.

Supplemental Material for From Attentional Fluctuations to Intentional Fluctuations? Monitoring Behavior and Intraindividual Variability in Time-Based Prospective Memory

Supplemental Material for From Attentional Fluctuations to Intentional Fluctuations? Monitoring Behavior and Intraindividual Variability in Time-Based Prospective Memory

Effects of age-based stereotype threat on time-based prospective memory.

The present study aimed to investigate the effect of a blatant activation of age-based stereotype threats (ABST) on time-based prospective memory (TBPM) in older adults. A sample of 74 adults from Hong Kong was randomly assigned to one of the two experimental conditions: the stereotyped condition (n = 36) or the neutral condition (n = 38). Participants were asked to read fictitious news reports related to dementia (stereotyped condition) or the importance of English oral skills (neutral condition). After, all participants performed a TBPM task using the Chinese lexical decision task as an ongoing task block. The results indicate a main effect of ABST on TBPM accuracy. Specifically, older adults under a blatant activation of ABST demonstrated lower TBPM accuracy (p < 0.05, ηp2 = 0.08). Further analyses based on age groups demonstrated that TBPM accuracy was only impaired in older participants (aged 70-80 years) (p < 0.05, ηp2 = 0.19). The study, for the first time, provides evidence that ABST can disrupt TBPM performance in older adults, especially when cues are blatantly activated.

The Effect of Time Monitoring on the Development of Time-Based Prospective Memory among Children Aged 7-11 Years Old.

Time-based prospective memory (TBPM) refers to the ability of an individual to successfully execute an expected plan in the future at a certain time point or after a definite period of time. This study investigated the potential developmental mechanism of school-age children's TBPM ability from the perspective of time monitoring. Experiment 1 used a between-subjects design of three ages (7, 9, 11) × two TBPM types (time point, time period) to investigate the trends and characteristics of two types of TBPM in children aged 7-11 years old. Experiment 2 used a between-subjects design of three ages (7, 9, 11) × two monitoring conditions (free monitoring, fixed monitoring) to investigate differences in two types of TBPM and monitoring behavior among school-age children under different monitoring conditions. These results showed that the age effect of TBPM was affected by the type of prospective memory (PM) and that time-point PM performance was significantly better than time-period PM performance among school-age children. These findings indicate that clear and definite external cues are helpful for school-age children in performing TBPM tasks. Moreover, there were significant differences found in the TBPM performance of school-age children under different time monitoring conditions. The performance of older children was significantly better than that of younger children. This indicates that older children can better allocate their attentional resources and use time monitoring strategies to improve their performance in PM tasks. Accordingly, this study showed that the TBPM ability of 7- to 11-year-old children is in continuous development and that the time monitoring behavior in the TBPM task is affected by task type and monitoring conditions.

The promotional effect of prosocial motivation on time-based prospective memory.

Time-based prospective memory (TBPM) is the ability to remember to do a planned task at the right time. In social interactions, people are often motivated to do things for others, which reflects an important factor that influences prospective memory, namely prosocial motivation. According to the motivational cognitive model, prosocial motivation promotes TBPM by paying more attention or adopting more effective strategies. This study explored the effect of prosocial motivation on TBPM under different time-monitoring conditions within the motivational cognitive model framework. One hundred and thirty-one university students participated in this experiment that adopted a 2 (groups: control, prosocial motivation) × 2 (viewing time conditions: limited, unlimited) between-subjects design. The results revealed that the prosocial motivation group had better TBPM performance than the control group under both limited and unlimited viewing time conditions. At the same time, compared with the control group, the prosocial motivation group consumed more internal attention and utilized more strategies under both viewing time conditions, and their external attention was more effective. In addition, the external attention of the prosocial motivation group was higher only when time-monitoring was unlimited. The results of this study further extend knowledge of the motivational cognitive model and expand its scope of application, which has theoretical significance.

Time-based prospective memory in preschoolers - the role of time monitoring behavior.

Time-based prospective memory (TBPM) refers to the ability to remember to perform an intended activity at a specific time in the future or after a specific time interval. This article reviews TBPM memory in preschool children and explores the role of time monitoring behavior in TBPM performance. A total of 242 preschool-aged children (aged 2-6) performed a prospective memory task, wherein prospective memory accuracy, ongoing task performance, and time monitoring activity were assessed. Additionally, the study examined the relationship of various cognitive abilities to TBPM performance through the use of appropriate cognitive tasks. The first signs of TBPM were observed in children as young as 2 years old. No significant age differences were identified; preschoolers can perform a delayed intention on their own initiative at a certain point in the future only to a minimal extent. The majority of variance in TBPM performance could be explained by time checking behavior. The current study indicated that even 2-year-olds can perform TBPM at a basic level when the task is sufficiently understandable. While many cognitive abilities are correlated with TBPM performance, it appears that only time checking behavior plays a significant role in TBPM among preschoolers.

Differences in time-based prospective memory between field-independent and field-dependent cognitive styles under different time monitoring conditions

Time-based prospective memory involves tasks that must be executed at a specific time in the future. Individuals can complete time-based prospective memory tasks using internal attention and external attention. Field-independent and field-dependent cognitive styles are two of the most well-known cognitive styles. Field-independent individuals and field-dependent individuals prefer to use internal reference and external reference to process information, respectively, which implies that there may be differences in the processing mechanisms of the two cognitive styles when performing time-based prospective memory tasks. This study focused on differences in time-based prospective memory performance and processing mechanisms between field-independent and field-dependent cognitive style individuals under different time monitoring conditions. A total of 119 participants were recruited through an Embedded Figure Test and divided into four groups. Time monitoring conditions consisted of a free monitoring condition and a restricted monitoring condition. Participants in the restricted monitoring condition could only press the space bar once, whereas those in the free monitoring condition could check the time at any time and without restrictions. The results of the study showed that field-independent individuals expend less internal and external attention than field-dependent individuals. However, field-independent individuals have higher attention effectiveness and employ more strategies for processing time information. Field-independent individuals were also found to have better time-based prospective memory performance under both time monitoring conditions. Field-dependent individuals did check the time more often under the free monitoring condition, but their time-based prospective memory performance did not benefit from more external attention because although they expended more external attention, they did so less effectively. In short, compared with field-dependent individuals, field-independent individuals had better time-based prospective memory performance under both time monitoring conditions because they have higher attention effectiveness and adopt more strategies for the processing of time information.

The cost of monitoring in time-based prospective memory

Time-based prospective memory (TBPM) involves remembering to perform actions at specific times in the future. Several studies suggest that monetary consequences improve prospective remembering; however, the effect of monetary consequences on strategic time monitoring (i.e., clock-checking behaviour) in TBPM is still unknown. The present study investigated how the monetary costs on clock-checking affected TBPM accuracy and strategic time monitoring. Participants performed an ongoing lexical decision task while carrying out a TBPM task every two minutes. Motivational incentives were manipulated across three experimental conditions: a single-cost condition in which missed TBPM responses led to monetary deductions, a double-cost condition in which both missed responses and time monitoring led to monetary deductions, and a control condition with no monetary deductions. Overall, the findings indicated that monetary costs on clock-checking prompted more parsimonious strategic time monitoring behaviour, which negatively impacted TBPM accuracy. These results emphasize the importance of weighing the motivational aspects involved in strategic monitoring, shedding light on the complex relationship between clock-checking behaviour, its consequences, and TBPM performance.

Relationship Between Future Thinking and Prospective Memory in Alzheimer's Disease.

Future thinking and prospective memory are two cognitive processes oriented toward the future and reliant on the ability to envision oneself in future scenarios. We explored the connection between future thinking and prospective memory in individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD). We invited both AD participants and control participants to engage in event-based prospective memory tasks (e.g., "please hand me this stopwatch when I inform you there are 10 minutes remaining") and time-based prospective memory tasks (e.g., "close the book you are working on in five minutes"). Additionally, we asked participants to engage in a future thinking task where they imagined upcoming events. Analysis revealed that AD participants exhibited lower performance in both prospective memory tasks and future thinking compared to the control group. Importantly, we identified significant positive correlations between the performance on event- and time-based prospective memory tasks and future thinking abilities among AD participants. These findings underscore the connection between the decline in both prospective memory domains and the ability to envision future events in individuals with AD. Our results also shed light on the challenges AD individuals face when trying to project themselves into the future to mentally pre-experience upcoming events.

Assessing time-based prospective memory online: A comparison study between laboratory-based and web-based testing.

Prospective memory (PM, i.e., the ability to remember and perform future intentions) is assessed mainly within laboratory settings; however, in the last two decades, several studies have started testing PM online. Most part of those studies focused on event-based PM (EBPM), and only a few assessed time-based PM (TBPM), possibly because time keeping is difficult to control or standardise without experimental control. Thus, it is still unclear whether time monitoring patterns in online studies replicate typical patterns obtained in laboratory tasks. In this study, we therefore aimed to investigate whether the behavioural outcome measures obtained from the traditional TBPM paradigm in the laboratory-accuracy and time monitoring-are comparable with an online version in a sample of 101 younger adults. Results showed no significant difference in TBPM performance in the laboratory versus online setting, as well as no difference in time monitoring. However, we found that participants were somewhat faster and more accurate at the ongoing task during the laboratory assessment, but those differences were not related to holding an intention in mind. The findings suggest that, although participants seemed generally more distracted when tested remotely, online assessment yielded similar results in key temporal characteristics and behavioural performance as for the laboratory assessment. The results are discussed in terms of possible conceptual and methodological implications for online testing.

Time-Based and Event-Based Prospective Memory in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Prospective memory (PM) is the ability to remember to perform planned actions in a future moment and it is of fundamental importance for an independent and autonomous lifestyle from development to late adulthood. Deficits in episodic memory and executive functions, which are involved in PM are characteristic features of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Considering that the number of older adults is drastically increasing over the next decades, it is of great interest to understand how PM decline in healthy older adults and patients with different degree of cognitive decline. The present meta-analysis included 46 studies investigating PM performance in AD patients (17 studies) and people with MCI (24 studies); 5 studies included both clinical conditions in the same article. The 46 studies contributed a total of 63 independent samples and 129 effect sizes from 4668 participants (2115 patients and 2553 controls). Unlike previous reviews of the literature, our results with a larger and updated sample of studies confirmed lower PM abilities in AD compared to MCI and controls, although we did not observe conclusive differences between event-based and time-based PM in patients. Surprisingly, PM deficits shown by MCI and AD patients have decreased across years, in parallel to a reduction of the evidence of publication bias and an increase in the number of observations per task. We propose the use of more reliable research designs as one plausible explanation for the reduction of PM impairments.

Exploring Executive Functioning of Adults With Probable Developmental Coordination Disorder Using the Jansari Assessment of Executive Functions

ABSTRACT Many individuals with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) demonstrate executive functioning difficulties on standardized assessments, yet these difficulties have not been investigated using ecologically-valid measures. 26 adults with probable DCD (pDCD), and 26 typically developing (TD) adults completed selected background measures and the Jansari assessment of Executive Functions (JEF©). JEF© is an ecologically-valid measure that provides measures of Planning, Prioritization, Selective-Thinking, Creative-Thinking, Adaptive-Thinking, and Action-, Event- and Time-Based Prospective Memory. pDCD participants were impaired relative to TD participants, with difficulties in Planning, Action-, and Event-Based Prospective Memory. These findings are consistent with self-reported difficulty and provide avenues for research investigating intervention.

The Processing Mechanism of Repetitive Practice Affecting Time-Based Prospective Memory.

Time-based prospective memory (TBPM) refers to performing intended actions at a specific time in the future. The TBPM task is very common in daily life, and whether it can be successfully completed can affect our quality of life. Repeated behavior training can usually improve social cognitive performance, and this study focused on exploring whether TBPM performance could improve with repeated behavior training. Meanwhile, we also focused on whether behavior training could reduce attention consumption, both internal and external, attention on TBPM tasks. In this study, a single-factor between-subject design was adopted. Seventy-three undergraduates were assigned to three groups: the control group, the baseline group, and the experimental group. The baseline group only needs to perform ongoing tasks, so the ongoing task performance of the control group will not be affected by TBPM tasks. The control group needs to perform both ongoing and TBPM tasks without practice. The experimental group needs to perform both ongoing and TBPM tasks after 30 exercises. The ongoing task is a typical working memory task. The TBPM task was to press a "1" button every 1 min. The results showed that the performance of ongoing tasks in the baseline group, experimental group, and control group decreased sequentially, and the experimental group had less time monitoring than the control group. The results indicated that behavior training could reduce attention consumption in both internal attention and external attention, but it could not reach the level of automatic processing.

The difference of time-based prospective memory between Type A and Type B individuals under different time monitoring conditions.

Time-based prospective memory (TBPM) is affected by many factors, which include Type A and Type B personality types. Type A individuals have a strong desire to complete tasks and a strong sense of time-urgency to complete established tasks before the deadline. Type B individuals have fewer time constraints and usually procrastinate until the deadline to complete the task. Compared with Type B individuals, Type A individuals may perform better in TBPM due to their advantages in time cognition and attitude. This study explores the differences in the TBPM ability between Type A individuals and Type B individuals under different time monitoring conditions. In Experiment 1, there was no limit to how many times participants could check the time. The results showed that the performance of TBPM between Type A individuals and Type B individuals was not different. In Experiment 2, participants could only check the time once during each TBPM task. The results showed that, compared to Type B individuals, Type A individuals performed better in TBPM, with higher time monitoring frequency and slower response speed to the ongoing tasks. These findings suggest that the performance of Type A individuals in TBPM has an advantage only under the restricted time monitoring condition. This advantage is then mainly due to the increase in the attention consumption of Type A individuals in both internal and external attention.

Assessing goal-directed behavior in virtual reality with the neuropsychological task EPELI: children prefer head-mounted display but flat screen provides a viable performance measure for remote testing

Background and objective: EPELI (Executive Performance of Everyday LIving) is a Virtual Reality (VR) task that was developed to study goal-directed behavior in everyday life contexts in children. In this study, we had 72 typically developing 9- to 13-year-old children to play EPELI with an immersive version implemented with a head-mounted display (HMD) and a non-immersive version employing a flat screen display (FSD) in a counterbalanced order to see if the two versions yield similar results. The children’s everyday executive functions were assessed with the parent-rated Behavior Rating Inventory for Executive Functions (BRIEF) questionnaire. To assess the applicability of EPELI for online testing, half of the flat screen display version gameplays were conducted remotely and the rest in the laboratory.Results: All EPELI performance measures were correlated across the versions. The children’s performance was mostly similar in the two versions, but small effects reflecting higher performance in FSD-EPELI were found in the measures of Total score, Task efficacy, and Time-based prospective memory score. The children engaged in more active time monitoring in FSD-EPELI. While the children evaluated the feeling of presence and usability of both versions favorably, most children preferred HMD-EPELI, and evaluated its environment to be more involving and realistic. Both versions showed only negligible problems with the interface quality. No differences in task performance or subjective evaluations were found between the home-based and laboratory-based assessments of FSD-EPELI. In both EPELI versions, the efficacy measures were correlated with BRIEF on the first assessment, but not on the second. This raises questions about the stability of the associations reported between executive function tasks and questionnaires.Conclusions: Both the HMD and FSD versions of EPELI are viable tools for the naturalistic assessment of goal-directed behavior in children. While the HMD version provides a more immersive user experience and naturalistic movement tracking, the FSD version can maximize scalability, reachability, and cost efficacy, as it can be used with common hardware and remotely. Taken together, the findings highlight similarities between the HMD and FSD versions of a cognitively complex VR task, but also underline the specific advantages of these common presentation modes.

The processing mechanism of mixed prospective memory: Changes in internal and external attention.

While time-based prospective memory (TBPM) includes only time cues, mixed prospective memory (MPM) is a special form of prospective memory including both time and event cues. Depending on the classification of the clarity of time cues, MPM can be divided into time-period MPM and time-point MPM. While the time cue of the latter is a definite time point, the time cue of the former is a vague time period. As such, MPM and TBPM may have different processing mechanisms due to the additional event cue. This study aimed to investigate whether there are differences in the processing mechanisms between TBPM and the two types of MPM. A total of 240 college students were recruited to participate in the experiment. They were randomly assigned to a TBPM group, time-point MPM group, time-period MPM group, and baseline group. We adopted the performance of ongoing tasks to reflect internal attention indirectly and the frequency of time checks to measure external attention. The results showed that in terms of prospective memory, time-point MPM had the best performance, followed by time-period MPM, while TBPM had the worst performance. In relation to ongoing tasks, the two types of MPM had a better performance than TBPM in some stages, although worse than the baseline. In addition, the two MPMs evoked a lower time monitoring frequency than TBPM under different monitoring conditions. These results suggested that, compared with TBPM, MPM reduced both internal and external attention consumption and achieved better prospective memory performance. Internal attention consumption displayed dynamic changes for both types of MPM, and the time-point MPM had higher internal attention effectiveness than the time-period MPM. These results support the Dynamic Multiprocess Theory and the Attention to Delayed Intention model.

Prosocial motivation can improve time-based prospective memory only under low cognitive load.

Prosocial motivation can improve time-based prospective memory only under low cognitive load.

EXPRESS: Effect of cognitive style on time-based prospective memory.

Field-independent and field-dependent individuals have different reference patterns and cognitive processing preferences. Field-independent individuals tend to rely on internal capabilities and use internal references to process information, while field-dependent individuals mainly rely on external references and focus on external information. Individuals with two cognitive styles have different attention patterns to perform time-based prospective memory (TBPM) tasks, with different effects on their TBPM performance. This study explored the influence of field-independent and field-dependent cognitive styles on TBPM. In Experiment 1, the attention load was manipulated by the difficulty of the ongoing task. The results showed that the field-independent individuals performed better than the field-dependent individuals only under a low-difficulty condition, indicating that the field-independent individuals had advantages in TBPM but were easily affected by the attention load. Experiment 2 further introduced external reminders to provide individuals with more external information and reduce individual attention consumption in internal time information processing to manipulate attention load. The results showed that external cues eliminated the difference between field-independent and field-dependent individuals in TBPM.

Lower prospective memory is associated with higher neurocognitive dispersion in two samples of people with HIV: A conceptual replication study.

People living with HIV (PLWH) often experience deficits in the strategic/executive aspects of prospective memory (PM) that can interfere with instrumental activities of daily living. This study used a conceptual replication design to determine whether cognitive intraindividual variability, as measured by dispersion (IIV-dispersion), contributes to PM performance and symptoms among PLWH. Study 1 included 367 PLWH who completed a comprehensive clinical neuropsychological test battery, the Memory for Intentions Test (MIsT), and the Prospective and Retrospective Memory Questionnaire (PRMQ). Study 2 included 79 older PLWH who completed the Cogstate cognitive battery, the Cambridge Prospective Memory Test (CAMPROMPT), an experimental measure of time-based PM, and the PRMQ. In both studies, a mean-adjusted coefficient of variation was derived to measure IIV-dispersion using normative T-scores from the cognitive battery. Higher IIV-dispersion was significantly associated with lower time-based PM performance at small-to-medium effect sizes in both studies (mean r s =-0.30). The relationship between IIV-dispersion and event-based PM performance was comparably small in magnitude in both studies (r s =-0.19, -0.20), but it was only statistically significant in Study 1. IIV-dispersion showed very small, nonsignificant relationships with self-reported PM symptoms in both samples (r s < 0.10). Extending prior work in healthy adults, these findings suggest that variability in performance across a cognitive battery contributes to laboratory-based PM accuracy, but not perceived PM symptoms, among PLWH. Future studies might examine whether daily fluctuations in cognition or other aspects of IIV (e.g., inconsistency) play a role in PM failures in everyday life.