The strategic control of prospective memory monitoring in response to complex and probabilistic contextual cues

Bugg, Julie M.; Ball, B. Hunter · 2017 · Crossref

DOI: 10.3758/s13421-017-0696-1

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Summary

This study investigates the strategic control of prospective memory (PM) monitoring, specifically examining whether individuals adjust their monitoring efforts based on complex and probabilistic contextual cues. PM involves remembering to perform an intention at the appropriate time, a process that consumes cognitive resources and interferes with ongoing tasks. Previous research established that people strategically reduce monitoring in contexts where PM targets are unlikely, but this work focused on simple cues. The authors sought to determine if this strategic behavior persists when cues are complex (defined by two features, such as location and word type) or probabilistic (where targets are likely but not guaranteed to appear), and whether such strategies incur performance costs. The researchers conducted three experiments using a lexical decision task where participants judged whether letter strings were words or nonwords while monitoring for a specific syllable target ("tor"). In Experiment 1, participants were divided into specific and nonspecific conditions. The specific condition was informed that targets would only appear in words located in the upper screen position (a complex, deterministic cue), while the nonspecific condition was told targets could appear anywhere. Contexts changed in blocks of eight trials. Experiment 2 introduced probabilistic cues, where targets appeared in the expected context with 90% or 70% probability. Experiment 3 replicated the deterministic and 70% probabilistic conditions to confirm findings. Monitoring cost was measured by comparing reaction times in baseline blocks (no PM intention) to PM blocks. Results from Experiment 1 demonstrated that participants in the specific condition successfully engaged in strategic monitoring. They exhibited significantly lower monitoring costs in unexpected contexts (lower location or nonwords) compared to the nonspecific condition, indicating they relaxed their attention when targets were not expected. However, this strategy carried a disadvantage: participants in the specific condition were less likely to detect a PM target presented in an unexpected context, attributed to impaired noticing rather than retrieval failure. In contrast, Experiment 2 found that strategic monitoring largely disappeared when the contextual cue was probabilistic. Participants did not significantly reduce monitoring in unexpected contexts when there was a chance the target might appear, suggesting that uncertainty prevents the relaxation of monitoring resources. Experiment 3 confirmed that strategic monitoring occurs for deterministic complex cues but not for probabilistic ones. The findings indicate that the complexity of a contextual cue is not a boundary condition for strategic PM monitoring; individuals can effectively use complex cues to allocate attention efficiently. However, the predictability of the cue is critical. Strategic monitoring is robust only when the context deterministically signals the presence or absence of a target. When cues are probabilistic, participants maintain high levels of monitoring across all contexts, likely to avoid missing potential targets. Furthermore, the study highlights a trade-off: while strategic monitoring conserves resources in expected contexts, it can lead to missed opportunities in unexpected ones. These results refine theoretical models of PM by delineating the conditions under which strategic control is effective and identifying the potential costs associated with context-specific attention allocation.

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• prospective memory interruptions