Investigating the effects of ongoing-task bias on prospective memory

Strickland, Luke; Loft, Shayne; Heathcote, Andrew · 2020 · Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology

DOI: 10.1177/1747021820914915

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Summary

This study investigates whether biasing decision-making in an ongoing task can improve event-based prospective memory (PM) performance, a claim central to the Delay Theory of PM costs. The authors utilize the Prospective Memory Decision Control (PMDC) model, which posits that PM and ongoing-task processes compete in a race to threshold, to test if selectively raising the threshold for one ongoing-task response allows the PM process more time to succeed. Previous research suggested that participants might strategically bias against specific ongoing-task choices to enhance PM accuracy, but this had not been empirically tested in isolation from other cognitive controls. The researchers conducted an experiment with 32 participants performing a lexical decision task (identifying words vs. non-words) while monitoring for target substrings (e.g., “tor”) to trigger a PM response. The study employed a within-subject design with two bias conditions: one inducing caution against “word” responses and another against “non-word” responses. Bias was manipulated by imposing significantly longer feedback delays (15 seconds) for errors in the discouraged response category compared to other errors (1 second). This design aimed to alter ongoing-task thresholds without confounding the perceived importance of the PM task. The PMDC model was applied to fit the data, allowing the authors to verify if the manipulation successfully shifted thresholds and to assess the resulting impact on PM accuracy. The results indicated that the bias manipulation successfully affected ongoing-task processes, as confirmed by PMDC modeling, which showed the intended shifts in decision thresholds. However, this manipulation had little effect on PM accuracy. While the bias influenced the types of ongoing-task responses made on missed PM trials, it did not significantly improve the likelihood of correctly executing the PM intention. Furthermore, PMDC simulations demonstrated that while ongoing-task bias could theoretically improve PM accuracy, doing so required implausible parameter values. The findings suggest that other mechanisms, such as proactive control of PM thresholds and reactive control of evidence accumulation, play a more critical role in determining PM performance than ongoing-task bias alone. These findings challenge the Delay Theory’s assertion that selective ongoing-task bias is a functional strategy for improving PM. Instead, the study highlights the importance of using comprehensive quantitative models like PMDC to understand the complex interactions between cognitive processes. The results imply that strategies aimed at improving PM should focus on mechanisms other than simply delaying or biasing ongoing-task responses, as such biases may not yield significant benefits in real-world applications where PM events conflict with specific ongoing actions.

Key finding

Inducing a bias against specific ongoing-task responses did not significantly improve prospective memory accuracy, despite successfully altering ongoing-task decision processes.

Methodology

lab_experiment

Sample size: 32

Provenance

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Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.

Topics

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• prospective memory interruptions