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Volition in prospective Memory: Evidence against differences between free and fixed target events.
Mikkel C Vinding1, Jonas Kristoffer Lindeløv2, Yahui Xiao3
1NatMEG, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Consciousness and Cognition
|August 3, 2021
Summary
Volition, or self-generated actions, does not impact prospective memory task performance. Whether prospective memory cues are freely chosen or fixed yields similar results in reaction times and task completion.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Volition refers to actions originating from internal states, distinct from external stimuli.
- Prospective memory involves remembering to perform actions at future times.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the influence of voluntary choice on prospective memory.
- To compare task performance and reaction times for self-chosen versus fixed prospective memory cues.
Main Methods:
- A prospective memory task was designed with both freely chosen and fixed target cues.
- Bayesian hierarchical drift-diffusion models were used to analyze reaction times and task performance.
Main Results:
- No significant differences were observed in task responses between self-chosen and fixed prospective memory cues.
- Reaction times and overall task performance remained consistent regardless of cue selection method.
Conclusions:
- Volition in selecting prospective memory cues does not affect task performance.
- The findings suggest that the origin of the cue (internal choice vs. external assignment) is not a critical factor for prospective memory efficacy.
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