ABSTRACT
In almost every scientific article written on prospective memory, the impor tance of remembering to take medication is cited an example of an important, ecologically valid prospective memory task (Einstein & McDaniel, 1990; Wino grad, 1988). Despite the salience of medication-taking behavior to prospective memory researchers, little research actually examines the prospective aspects of this behavior. This may be a result of the complexity of medication adher ence behavior and the accompanying tangle of theoretical and methodologi cal issues associated with this area of research. The act of remembering to take a medication at the appointed time represents only the final point in a com plex chain of cognitive and psychosocial behaviors that begins when an indi vidual is prescribed a medication. Wilkins and Baddeley (1988) presented the opposite point of view and suggested that “ . . . the task of taking medication at scheduled times each day ... is simpler than most memory tasks in that the person has nothing to recall other than that he must take his medication” (p. 28). Winograd (1988) presented a contrasting view and conceptualized med ication adherence as a complex, multifaceted behavior, a view that is more compatible with the approach taken in this chapter.
