Individual Differences in Working Memory Capacity Predict Benefits to Memory from Intention Offloading

Abstract

The current study examined whether offloading prospective memory (PM) demands onto the environment through the use of reminders eliminates PM differences typically seen between individuals that have poor or good working memory ability. Over two laboratory sessions scheduled one week apart, participants completed three versions of a PM offloading task with and without the use of reminders, along with multiple measures of working memory. Participants also generated a list of naturalistic intentions to fulfill between sessions and were given an intention to email the experimenter every day. They later indicated which intentions were completed with and without the use of reminders. Consistent with prior research, high working memory participants did better in both laboratory and naturalistic settings when having to rely on their own memory. Critically, however, working memory ability was no longer predictive of performance with the use of reminders. Participants with lower working memory also offloaded more often that high ability participants, but this was not optimally calibrated to actual PM performance. These findings suggest that offloading may be particularly beneficial for those with poor cognitive ability. The theoretical and applied ramifications of these findings are discussed.

Individual differences in cognitive offloading: a comparison of intention offloading, pattern copy, and short-term memory capacity

“…That is, we would predict that only tasks focusing on one particular aspect of short-term memory (or working memory) would share variance between observers. With regard to intention offloading, such tasks would also need to address the monitoring component of memory which allows to switch between fulfilling delayed intentions and an ongoing task (we are aware of one yet unpublished research project exploring multiple variations of the intention offloading task; see Ball et al, 2021). In contrast, with regard to the pattern copy task, such variations would need to focus on memory capacity, but might differ in surface features such as color and/or shape which typically show comparable effects in experimental studies on working memory (e.g., Meyerhoff et al, 2021).…”

Individual differences in memory and attention processes in prospective remembering

“…The current study was conducted in the context of a larger cognitive battery for a separate study (Ball et al, 2021). For the purpose of the current study, we only report analyses for the laboratory assessments of PM detection (PMD), PM retrieval (PMD), attention control (AC), retrospective memory (RM), and working memory (WM) 1 .…”

Prospective memory assessment: Scientific advances and future directions

“…Similarly to PM assessments, PM improvement strategies and rehabilitation should focus on factors influencing it. Recent research pointed to the role of memory load, likelihood of distraction, working memory, metacognitive confidence, and offloading frequency on PM strategies efficacy (Gilbert, 2015;Ball et al, 2022).…”