Expected level of target cues determines prospective memory strategic processing: The effect of task switching

Target expectancy and task switching are pivotal in shaping prospective memory (PM). In two dual-task experiments (event-based, N = 71; time-based, N = 68), participants performed an N-back task while maintaining PM intentions under varied expectancy and task structures (fixed vs. switching). Event-based prospective memory (EBPM) targets were specific radicals; time-based prospective memory (TBPM) targets required responding at 2/3-min intervals with clock access and color cues. Results showed that higher expectancy increased intention accessibility, speeding PM responses and reducing background task costs across PM types. However, switching moderated these benefits: in EBPM, switching impaired accuracy and weakened expectancy effects, reflecting increased retrospective load. Conversely, in our TBPM paradigm, switching was associated with higher accuracy-consistent with task-boundary "refresh" cues (a pattern that may depend on temporal-schedule features). These findings illustrate how internal expectations and task complexity jointly modulate PM architecture, providing new empirical support for the dynamic multiprocess framework.