Prospective memory: Multiple retrieval processes

Abstract

ABSTRACT—An interesting challenge for researchers who study prospective memory is to explain how people recognize environmental events as cues for actions. Whereas some theorists propose that a capacity-consuming monitoring process is the only means by which intentions can be retrieved, we argue that the cognitive system relies on multiple processes, including spontaneous processes that reflexively respond to the presence of target events. We present evidence for the existence of spontaneous retrieval processes and apply the idea of multiple processes to mixed findings on age-related decline in prospective memory. KEYWORDS—prospective memory; monitoring; spontaneous retrieval; automatic and controlled processes; aging and memory After a change in his usual routine, an adoring father forgot to turn toward the daycare center and instead drove his usual route to work at the university. Several hours later, his infant son, who had been quietly asleep in the back seat, was dead. Eight months after a hernia surgery, a patient complained of abdominal pain and nausea. A scan of his abdominal area revealed that a 16-cm clamp had been left from his previous surgery. Despite the best intentions of a surgical team of doctors and nurses, they had forgotten to remove the clamp. The above errors represent real failures of prospective memory (PM) or remembering to perform intended actions. Although they highlight the potentially disastrous consequences of some PM failures, it is important to realize that our daily lives are filled, and sometimes overflowing, with PM demands. From managing work activities (e.g., remembering to pack needed papers in the morning) to coordinating social relations (e.g., remembering to take children to parties) to handling healthrelated needs (e.g., remembering to take medication), good PM i