The impairing effects of ego depletion on focal and non-focal prospective memory

Ego depletion is a decrease in the capacity or willingness for self-control caused by a deficiency in self-control resources. Prior studies have shown that depletion of self-control resources can impair subsequent cognitive task performance. However, there is still disagreement regarding the effect of ego depletion on event-based prospective memory. The present study explored the effects of ego depletion on subsequent prospective memory performance under different cue focality conditions and further investigated the mechanisms underlying this effect. Ego depletion was induced using a Stroop task. 179 college students were randomly assigned to the focal depletion group (N = 44), focal control group (N = 45), non-focal depletion group (N = 45), and non-focal control group (N = 45). The results showed that both the accuracy of the ongoing task and prospective memory performance were lower in the ego depletion group compared to the control group. Furthermore, analysis based on the multinomial processing tree (MPT) model indicated that the prospective component in the depletion group was inferior to that of the control group. In addition, the detrimental effect of ego depletion on prospective memory did not differ between the focal and non-focal cue conditions. The results showed that ego depletion reduces prospective memory performance regardless of cue focality, and the effect operates primarily through reduced cue monitoring.