Identifier

etd-07052011-151716

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Document Type

Dissertation

Abstract

This study investigated the influences of attention and retrospective memory processes on prospective memory. In Experiment 1, participants who processed prospective memory cues under conditions that did not coincide with the processes required for making judgments in an ongoing task showed greater levels of performance at the expense of the attentional resources needed to complete the ongoing task. This differed compared to participants who processed cues under conditions that required the same processes needed to performance the ongoing task. In Experiment 2, the reinstatement of contextual features associated with prospective memory cues from the time of intention formation, or encoding, to the opportunity for retrieval resulted in greater levels of performance compared to a lack of contextual reinstatement of the cues. This difference in performance did not affect the attentional resources needed to perform the ongoing task between the two conditions. The data from both experiments were fit to a formal model as a means to address the contributions of attention and memory processes in performance, as well as to address the validity of the model in investigations of prospective memory. Finally, participants were administered a questionnaire meant to assess overall task impressions, and to address participants’ attention allocation policies given the requirements of the experiment.

Date

2011

Document Availability at the Time of Submission

Release the entire work immediately for access worldwide.

Committee Chair

Hicks, Jason L.

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_dissertations.2984

Included in

Psychology Commons

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