Abstract
Prospective memory, remembering to carry out one’s planned activities, was investigated using a naturalistic paradigm. Three experiments, with a total of 405 participants, were conducted. The goal was to demonstrate that the cognitive processing underlying successful everyday prospective remembering involves components other than mere “memory.” Those components are probably best represented as individual differences in various cognitive capacities. More specifically, metamemory, attentional capacities, and planning processes that reprioritize intentions according to the demands of everyday life may determine how people actually accomplish the plans they establish for themselves. The results of these experiments suggest that researchers interested in the topic will have to contend with a multidimensional set of factors before any comprehensive understanding of prospective remembering can be realized.
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This research was supported in part by a grant from The University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc. and by Sigma Xi Grants-in-Aid. Portions of this work were presented at the Prospective Memory in Older Adults Workshop sponsored by the Southeastern Center on Applied Aging, August 1995. Appreciation is expressed to Caren M. Jones for helpful comments offered concerning an earlier version, as well as to Geoff Loftus and Jonathan Schooler. The second author served as the primary experimenter in all of the experiments, and the results of the first experiment constituted his master’s thesis.
—Accepted by previous editor, Geoffrey R. Loftus
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Marsh, R.L., Hicks, J.L. & Landau, J.D. An investigation of everyday prospective memory. Memory & Cognition 26, 633–643 (1998). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03211383
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03211383