ABSTRACT
Consideration of deficits of prospective memory can only be made in the light of an appreciation of “normal” prospective memory. We all forget to do things from time to time, with consequences of varying degrees of severity. Much of the interest for the neuropsychologist or gerontologist lies in failures that fall outside the bounds of normal forgetting, their relationship to impaired perfor mance in other cognitive domains and, possibly, their amenability to remedi ation. Approaches to identification of constituents of prospective memory are outside the scope of this chapter, but are considered insofar as they contribute to the determination of what is a deficit and to the establishment of a rationale for attempts at remediation. This chapter aims to examine currently available tools for assessing prospective memory and to evaluate the pitifully few pub lished remediation programs. Some attempt is made to provide a reason for the absence of successful treatment for impaired prospective memory, and sug gestions are provided for future directions.
