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Hey buddy, why don't we take it outside: An experience sampling study of prospective memory
Francis T Anderson1, Mark A McDaniel2
1Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University, 1 Brookings Dr, Campus Box 1125, St. Louis, MO, 63130, USA. anderson.f@wustl.edu.
Memory & Cognition
|August 22, 2018
Summary
Prospective memory (PM) research in daily life is challenging. Experience sampling methods reveal future thinking is common, with PM thoughts occurring 13-15% of the time, often internally cued.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Human Memory
Background:
- Naturalistic prospective memory (PM) research is limited due to methodological challenges.
- Experience sampling methods (ESM) offer a viable approach for studying PM outside the lab.
- Previous research suggests future thinking is more prevalent than past thinking.
Purpose of the Study:
- To replicate and extend previous findings on the frequency and nature of PM in daily life.
- To investigate factors influencing the occurrence of PM thoughts using ESM.
- To explore the relationship between personality traits and naturalistic PM.
Main Methods:
- Two studies utilizing experience sampling methods (ESM) to capture real-time thought content.
- Multi-level modeling to analyze the contextual and individual difference predictors of PM.
- Self-report measures of personality, including neuroticism and its facets.
Main Results:
- Replicated findings that future thinking (30%) significantly outweighs past thinking (13%).
- Confirmed PM thoughts occupy approximately 13-15% of daily cognition, often internally cued (61%).
- PM thoughts were more frequent when individuals were alone and earlier in the day; higher neuroticism, particularly anxiety, correlated with increased PM thoughts.
Conclusions:
- ESM is a valuable tool for investigating naturalistic prospective memory.
- Episodic memory systems appear to be inherently forward-looking.
- Contextual factors (solitude, time of day) and personality (neuroticism/anxiety) influence naturalistic PM.
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