Jacova, C: Intentions Do Not Take Care of Themselves

Prospective memory enables us to act on an intention that we formed at an earlier time. This type of memory is distinct from retrospective memory, that is, the recollection of past events. Personal and social functioning would not be possible without delaying actions until an opportune time. In turn, remembering when the time is right poses unique attentional and cognitive challenges. Typically our attention and thought are engaged elsewhere. Remembering that we need to put into practice an intention requires mental work and attention beyond what we allocate to ongoing activities. We may need to think flexibly to recognize cues to our intentions. In this book we describe experimental laboratory studies with undergraduate students at the University of British Columbia Department of Psychology. The prospective memory task was to interrupt responding to perceptual stimuli when a picture cue was noticed. In the first study series we manipulated the attentional demands of ongoing tasks to determine the resources required for remembering. In the second study series we investigated the relationship between tasks of divergent thinking and remembering.