Acute stress shifts the balance between controlled and automatic processes in prospective memory

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Stress Research

Background:

• Prospective memory (PM) involves remembering to perform intentions in the future.
• The impact of acute stress on PM, especially under high cognitive load, remains under-explored.
• Intention deactivation and monitoring are critical components of PM functioning.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effects of acute stress on prospective memory (PM) functioning under varying task demands.
• To examine how stress influences PM performance, monitoring costs, and error rates.
• To explore the role of intention deactivation and monitoring demands in stress-related cognitive changes.

Main Methods:

• Eighty participants were exposed to either the Trier Social Stress Test or a control condition.
• Participants then completed a computerized PM task with manipulated focal (high deactivation) and nonfocal (high monitoring) demands.
• PM performance, monitoring costs, aftereffects, and commission errors were assessed.

Main Results:

• Acute stress did not affect overall PM performance or aftereffects of completed intentions.
• Under high intention deactivation demands (focal condition), stress led to a slight increase in commission errors.
• Crucially, under high PM monitoring demands (nonfocal condition), acute stress significantly reduced monitoring costs.

Conclusions:

• Acute stress exerts selective and demand-dependent effects on cognitive functions like PM.
• High task demands may trigger resource-saving strategies under stress, enhancing monitoring efficiency.
• This shift may improve PM monitoring but potentially increase susceptibility to errors post-intention completion.