Construct validity and age sensitivity of prospective memory

Roczniki Psychologiczne, 2016

The main purpose of the present study was to investigate the relation between gender and prospective memory performance with respect to participants' age and the specific requirements of prospective memory tasks. Prospective memory performance was better for women compared to men in the older adult group. In the entire sample, women performed better than men on prospective memory tasks with an external cue. The possible influence of factors related to the gender role, personality, and perception on prospective memory performance is discussed.

1990

We develop a laboratory paradigm for studying prospective memory and examine whether or not this type of memory is especially difficult for the elderly. In two experiments, young and old subjects were given a prospective memory test (they were asked to perform an action when a target event occurred) and three tests of retrospective memory (short-term memory, free recall, and recognition). From the perspective that aging disrupts mainly self-initiated retrieval processes, large age-related decrements in prospective memory were anticipated. However, despite showing reliable age differences on retrospective memory tests, both experiments showed no age deficits in prospective memory. Moreover, regression analyses produced no reliable relation between the prospective and retrospective memory tasks. Also, the experiments showed that external aids and unfamiliar target events benefit prospective memory performance. These results suggest some basic differences between prospective and retrospective memory.

Journal of Research in Personality, 2018

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Psychology and aging, 2007

This study investigated the role of processing speed and working memory in prospective and retrospective memory (i.e., free recall) performance within old age. The aim was to examine age-related differences in both memory domains within the age range of 65 to 80 years. The sample consisted of 361 older adults from Wave 1 data of the Zurich Longitudinal Study on Cognitive Aging. Using structural equation modeling, prospective memory, free recall, working memory, and processing speed were identified as latent constructs. Age effects were found to be larger for prospective memory than for free recall. Furthermore, when controlling for individual differences in working memory and processing speed, unique age effects remained for prospective, but not retrospective, memory performance. Results indicate that, within old age, prospective memory represents a distinct memory construct that is partially independent of age-related individual differences in speed of processing, working memory, a...

The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 2011

In this article, the authors examined predictors of self-reported everyday memory failures using the Prospective and Retrospective Questionnaire (PRMQ; Smith, Della Sala, Logie, & Maylor, 2000) in a population-based sample of older adults (age range = 60-90 years; N = 250). The results showed that a higher frequency of reported failures was associated with lower scores on the personality dimension of self-directedness as assessed by the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI; Cloninger, Dragan, Svrakic, & Przybeck, 1993) and more depressive symptoms on the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; Radloff, 1977). However, PRMQ scores showed no relationships with objective memory ability, as reflected by a series of retrospective memory measures and a measure of prospective memory. Neither were the PRMQ scales associated with general cognitive functioning as assessed by the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE; Folstein, Folstein, & McHugh, 1977). Taken together, the results indicate that within the older population, self-reported memory as assessed by the PRMQ may reflect mood-state and personality factors rather than individual differences in memory and cognitive ability.

Abstract The current study investigates whether individual differences in retrospective memory and executive flexibility tasks mediate the relation between age and performance on laboratory and naturalistic prospective memory tasks. One hundred and ninety-seven people aged 61 to 95 years performed four laboratory prospective memory tasks, two naturalistic prospective memory tasks, an executive flexibility task and a retrospective memory task. The results of confirmatory factor analysis indicate that the best measurement model for prospective memory tasks is a unidimensional model. Likewise, a bi-factor model consisting in a general “memory/speed” factor and an uncorrelated specific “executive flexibility” factor is the best measurement model for retrospective memory and executive flexibility tasks. The latent variable mediation analysis conducted in the SEM framework shows that “executive flexibility” mainly operates as a mediator in the negative relationship between age and prospective memory. Additionally the negative effect of age on prospective memory via “executive flexibility” increases significantly with the age of the participants.

European Journal of Ageing, 2009

This study investigated age effects in prospective memory performance within older adults. The first aim was to explore this issue by examining event-and timebased prospective memory performance in two age groups: young-old (60-75 years) and old-old adults (76-90 years). Moreover, this study for the first time investigated whether forming implementation intentions could be used to improve prospective memory in young-old and old-old adults. Results showed a general effect of age in prospective memory performance for both task types. In addition, no general effect of implementation intentions in prospective memory performance across both task types and age groups was found. However, testing implementation intention effects separately for both age groups revealed that the formation of implementation intentions enhanced prospective memory only for the young-old adults, but did not substantially affect the performance in the time-based task and even impaired it in the event-based task for the old-old adults. Findings indicate that the formation of implementation intentions might be a powerful memory strategy for young-old adults, but not for the very old.

International Journal of Psychology, 2003

Memory for activities to be performed in the future, i.e., prospective memory, such as remembering to take medication or remembering to give a colleague a message, is a pervasive real world memory task that has recently begun to attract the attention of numerous researchers. Age effects in prospective memory have been found particularly in complex paradigms requiring participants to remember to switch between several sub-tasks in a limited time period (e.g., . Here, most of the older adults tend to try to complete one or two subtasks and to forget the prospective instruction to work on all sub-tasks. Since recent findings in this context show that one profits from tips regarding the relevant task's salience in complex double-tasks, it seems likely that age effects in prospective memory tasks might also be due to the lack of information about the salience of the prospective task. To test this hypothesis, the salience of the prospective task was varied in the present study with 104 young and old participants by providing motivational incentives to interrupt and switch during the introduction phase (plan formation) as well as during the execution phase. Also, interindividual differences regarding non-executive as well as executive cognitive resources were analyzed, thus allowing estimation of the relationship between these factors and (age-related) performance in complex prospective remembering.

Intelligence, 2015

The current study investigates whether individual differences in retrospective memory and executive flexibility tasks mediate the relation between age and performance on laboratory and naturalistic prospective memory tasks. One hundred and ninety-seven people aged 61 to 95 years performed four laboratory prospective memory tasks, two naturalistic prospective memory tasks, an executive flexibility task and a retrospective memory task. The results of confirmatory factor analysis indicate that the best measurement model for prospective memory tasks is a unidimensional model. Likewise, a bi-factor model consisting in a general "memory/speed" factor and an uncorrelated specific "executive flexibility" factor is the best measurement model for retrospective memory and executive flexibility tasks. The latent variable mediation analysis conducted in the SEM framework shows that "executive flexibility" mainly operates as a mediator in the negative relationship between age and prospective memory. Additionally the negative effect of age on prospective memory via "executive flexibility" increases significantly with the age of the participants.

Gerontology, 2014

tors determining the presence or absence of age deficits in prospective remembering. Findings are discussed in the context of limited processing resources in old age and theoretical frameworks of event-based prospective memory.