Imagine that: Self-imagination improves prospective memory in memory-impaired individuals with neurological damage

Abstract

Recent research has demonstrated that “self-imagination” – a mnemonic strategy developed by Grilli and Glisky (2010) – enhances episodic memory in memory-impaired individuals with neurological damage more than traditional cognitive strategies, including semantic elaboration and visual imagery. The present study investigated the effect of self-imagination on prospective memory in individuals with neurologically-based memory deficits. In two separate sessions, 12 patients with memory impairment took part in a computerized general knowledge test that required them to answer multiple choice questions (i.e. ongoing task) and press the “1” key when a target word appeared in a question (i.e. prospective memory task). Prior to the start of the general knowledge test in each session, participants attempted to encode the prospective memory task with one of two strategies: self-imagination or rote-rehearsal. The findings revealed a “self-imagination effect (SIE)” in prospective memory as self-imagining resulted in better prospective memory performance than rote-rehearsal. These results demonstrate that the mnemonic advantage of self-imagination extends to prospective memory in memory-impaired individuals with neurological damage and suggest that self-imagination has potential in cognitive rehabilitation.

Visualisation of future task performance improves naturalistic prospective memory for some younger adults living with HIV disease

“…However, visualization was beneficial for naturalistic PM performance specifically among seropositive individuals with low time-based PM and/or intact learning. The benefit of visualization on event-based PM observed among this subset of young HIV+ individuals is consistent with prior studies in healthy young adults (Paraskevaides et al, 2010; McFarland & Glisky, 2012), older adults (Altgassen et al, 2015), and clinical samples (Grilli & McFarland, 2011; Potvin et al, 2011). Additionally, these data provide further evidence that inclusion of implementation intentions is not required for visualization to bolster event-based PM (Meeks & Marsh, 2010; McFarland & Glisky, 2012).…”

“…This hypothesis was supported by Brewer and Marsh (2010), who demonstrated that deeper encoding of the cue-to-context link by way of visualization was associated with better accuracy on event-based PM tasks. Further support for the association between brief visualization exercises utilized during the encoding stage of laboratory PM tasks and enhanced event-based PM has been shown in healthy young adults (Paraskevaides et al, 2010; McFarland & Glisky, 2012; Altgassen et al, 2015), older adults (Altgassen et al, 2015) individuals with traumatic brain injury (Potvin et al, 2011), and a mixed clinical sample with memory impairments (Grilli & McFarland, 2011). Visualization has also been associated with improvements in time-based PM in young adults (Altgassen et al, 2015), older adults (Altgassen et al, 2015), adult social drinkers (Griffiths et al, 2012), and individuals with moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury (Potvin et al, 2011).…”

“…In this context, visualization refers to generating a mental representation of oneself encountering the PM cue, retrieving the PM task instructions, and successfully performing the PM task. Note that, visualization of this type is also known as “future-event simulation” (Leitz et al, 2009; Paraskevaides et al, 2010; Griffiths et al, 2012), “future thinking” (Leitz et al, 2009; Paraskevaides et al, 2010; Altgassen et al, 2015), or “self-imagination” (Grilli & McFarland 2011). In general, it is held that the pre-experiencing of the visuospatial context where the intended action will be retrieved deepens the encoding of the intention-cue pairing by strengthening the link between intention and broad visuospatial context (Paraskevaides et al, 2010).…”

Evidence-Based Cognitive Rehabilitation: Systematic Review of the Literature From 2009 Through 2014

“…The CRTF reviewed 7 Class I studies, 37-43 7 Class II studies [44][45][46][47][48][49][50] and 6 Class III studies [50][51][52][53][54][55][56] addressing remediation of memory. Many of these studies focused on specific types of memory impairments rather than global memory functioning.…”

“…Generalization was demonstrated by participants making fewer PM failures in their daily lives. Two Class II studies 45,46 investigated self-imagination as a mnemonic strategy to enhance episodic memory, with respect to a PM task. Participants who were trained on a self-imagination technique demonstrated a 66% advantage in prospective remembering, compared with just using rote rehearsal.…”