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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 12, 2026

A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions

A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions

Published on: July 16, 2015

Prospective memory and task interference in a continuous monitoring dynamic display task.

Shayne Loft¹, Roger W Remington

¹School of Psychology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia. shayne.loft@uwa.edu.au

Journal of Experimental Psychology. Applied

|June 23, 2010

Summary

Prospective memory errors increase when deviating from strong routines or when intentions are nonfocal. This suggests attentional limitations in prospective memory tasks, particularly for complex air traffic control simulations.

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Last Updated: Jun 12, 2026

A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions

A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions

Published on: July 16, 2015

Eye Movement Monitoring of Memory

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Published on: August 15, 2010

A Dual Task Procedure Combined with Rapid Serial Visual Presentation to Test Attentional Blink for Nontargets

A Dual Task Procedure Combined with Rapid Serial Visual Presentation to Test Attentional Blink for Nontargets

Published on: December 5, 2014

Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Human Factors Engineering

Background:

Prospective memory (PM) is crucial for remembering to perform intended actions.
Dynamic display tasks, like air traffic control, present challenges for maintaining and retrieving intentions.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how individuals maintain and retrieve intentions in a continuous monitoring, dynamic display task.
To examine factors influencing prospective memory errors in an air traffic control simulation.

Main Methods:

Participants performed an air traffic control simulation task, accepting aircraft and detecting conflicts.
Intentions involved substituting routine actions based on aircraft speed, altitude, or call sign.
Experiments manipulated routine strength, intention specificity, and focal attention to ongoing tasks.

Main Results:

Prospective memory errors increased when deviating from strong routines versus weak routines.
Errors were higher for altitude intentions compared to speed or call sign intentions.
Nonfocal intentions led to more errors and slower task performance than focal intentions.

Conclusions:

Limited attentional resources impact prospective memory performance in dynamic tasks.
Strong associations between PM cues and ongoing tasks, especially for altitude, increase error vulnerability.
Focusing attention on task cues can sometimes hinder intention retrieval in prospective memory.