Prospective memory is the implementation of a previously formed intention,
or the ability to remember to do something at some designated point in the
future. It is a ubiquitous feature of everyday living ( e.g. remembering to take
medication, buying supplies when necessary), and accordingly, has important implications for independent living, particularly for vulnerable groups. The motivation for this dissertation was to explore prospective memory in persons with dementia, a relatively under-investigated field of prospective memory. The study achieved this using a number of methods including training, self-report measures, and controlled experiment. The findings demonstrated a significant deficit in prospective memory for persons with dementia, which could not be accounted for by simple retrospective failure.
Additionally, the research hoped to identify the everyday circumstances that
give rise to failure for older persons, and to investigate prospective memory
systematically, under controlled conditions.
The study aimed to develop the prevailing research paradigm of Einstein and
McDaniel (1990) to include aspects of multiple response, and ecological validity. The study also considered the effect of target-task relationship, learning, and the demands of the ongoing task on prospective perf01mance. The findings suggest that processing demands made by the on-going task have a significant negative effect on prospective memory. This reduction in performance is greater for the older group. Further, the nature of the target-task, in conditions of multiple-response, has a significant effect on prospective performance; both old and young benefit from a congruent target-task pairing.
The findings are discussed in relation to prospective memory theory, and
processing theories of ageing.