Sibylle Matter

Prospective memory affects satisfaction with the contraceptive pill

BACKGROUND Remembering to take the contraceptive pill regularly relies on prospective memory, the ability to carry out an intended action at the appropriate occasion. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between satisfaction with the pill and prospective memory. STUDY DESIGN A total of 111 nulligravid students from a Swiss University (mean age=21.6, SD=2.9) took part in a study about contraception. Contraceptive use, method and satisfaction with the method were assessed. In addition, a self-report measure of prospective and retrospective memory was administered. The sample of 70 women (mean age=21.36, SD=2.1) who used the birth control pill was divided by median split into a higher and a lower prospective memory ability group to assess the impact of prospective memory on satisfaction with the pill. RESULTS Satisfaction with oral contraceptive use was higher (mean lower prospective memory=4.2, mean higher prospective memory=4.7, p=.022) and stress was lower (mean lower prospective memory=2.3, mean higher prospective memory=1.6, p=.005) among women with higher prospective memory ability. CONCLUSIONS Assessing prospective memory might be useful in contraceptive counseling. Strategies to improve prospective memory ability are discussed.

From episodic to habitual prospective memory: ERP-evidence for a linear transition

Performing a prospective memory task repeatedly changes the nature of the task from episodic to habitual. The goal of the present study was to investigate the neural basis of this transition. In two experiments, we contrasted event-related potentials (ERPs) evoked by correct responses to prospective memory targets in the first, more episodic part of the experiment with those of the second, more habitual part of the experiment. Specifically, we tested whether the early, middle, or late ERP-components, which are thought to reflect cue detection, retrieval of the intention, and post-retrieval processes, respectively, would be changed by routinely performing the prospective memory task. The results showed a differential ERP effect in the middle time window (450–650 ms post-stimulus). Source localization using low resolution brain electromagnetic tomography analysis suggests that the transition was accompanied by an increase of activation in the posterior parietal and occipital cortex. These findings indicate that habitual prospective memory involves retrieval processes guided more strongly by parietal brain structures. In brief, the study demonstrates that episodic and habitual prospective memory tasks recruit different brain areas.

Amnesic patients have residual prospective memory capacities

Abstract Objective: To investigate, in two separate studies, whether amnesic patients with a severe memory impairment can learn to perform a habitual prospective memory task when they receive immediate feedback on prospective memory failures (Study 1) and whether amnesic patients are able to benefit from previous habitual prospective memory performance after a 24-h retention interval. Method: A prospective memory task was embedded in a lexical decision task (Study 1) and in a perceptual discrimination task (Study 2). Performance was compared across test halves. Participants received immediate performance feedback on prospective memory failures that served as a reminder for the prospective memory task. A retest was performed after 24 h in Study 2, but without immediate feedback in the first test half. Results: In Study 1, amnesic patients performed at a lower level than the control group, but they improved significantly across the experiment. In Study 2, the results of the first session replicated this pattern. The results of the second session showed a performance breakdown in amnesic patients. However, one single reminder was enough to boost performance again on the level of the second part of day one. Conclusions: This indicates that amnesic patients have residual prospective memory capacities and that providing immediate feedback is a promising strategy to draw on these capacities.