ABSTRACT
Prospective memory differs most obviously from retrospective memory in its emphasis on the future rather than the past. It is possible that poor prospective memory leads obsessional individuals to engage in excessive checking. Event-based prospective memory is assessed by tasks involving remembering to perform a given action in the appropriate circumstances. Strategic monitoring involves top-down attentional control processes to maintain the prospective-memory intention and to search for relevant cues on that task. Performance on prospective-memory tasks is generally improved by the use of implementation intentions by young and older adults. This happens in part because implementation intentions strengthen associations between cues and intentions and thus permit intentions to be retrieved “automatically.”
