The role of noticing in prospective memory forgetting.
Two experiments used autonomic reactions (i.e., skin conductance responses; SCRs) in conjunction with behavioral responses to study retrieval processes in prospective memory. SCRs were recorded while participants performed a prospective memory task embedded in an ongoing task. Stimuli that received the same behavioral response (i.e., no prospective memory response) evoked different autonomic reactions as a function of whether they were versus were not prospective cues (Experiments 1 and 2) and as a function of whether they did versus did not share perceptual or conceptual features with prospective cues (Experiment 2). To the extent that SCRs provide an index of noticing a stimulus, increased SCRs for prospective cues and for stimuli that shared features with prospective cues (even though they were not responded to as prospective cues) provided evidence that noticing a stimulus is not invariably accompanied by recognizing the stimulus as a cue to perform an intended action. The results are consistent with the general 2-stages cue-focused view of prospective memory retrieval, which proposes that noticing a prospective cue prompts a directed memory search, which can result in recognizing the stimulus as a cue to perform an intended action and retrieving the intended action.
Kliegel
Matthias
M
Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Binzmühlestrasse 14/24, CH-8050 Zürich, Switzerland. m.kliegel@psychologie.unizh.ch
Guynn
Melissa J
MJ
Zimmer
Heinz
H
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001245:Association Learning / Q000502:physiology; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology