Effects Of Target Characteristics And Task Importance On Prospective Memory And Its Components

In the field of prospective memory,researchers have studied in detail the influence of target characteristics on prospective memory,but related studies have not reached consensus conclusions.Different target characteristics have various influences on prospective memory.To be specific,the performance of prospective memory is good at one certain level of target characteristics,while it may be poor at another level.In addition,the studies of prospective memory only have showed that whether the prospective memory task is successful or not under the influences of different target characteristics,but it still remains unclear the difference in the performances of the prospective component and the retrospective component.Therefore,it is necessary to further clarify the influences of target characteristics on two components.After summarizing the previous studies,it is found that different target characteristics(such as target distinction,target familiarity,target specificity)have negative effects on the performance of prospective memory.It is of great significance for guiding practical life to figure out appropriate methods to offset these negative effects.Therefore,it is necessary to adopt some external strategies(such as emphasizing the importance of tasks)to compensate the adverse effects of target characteristics on prospective memory and its two components.Given that there still lacks related research on the prospective and retrospective components,especially on exploring the effects of target characteristics on two components in a separate way.What method can be used to intervene differences between the performances of the prospective and retrospective components? Therefore,the purpose of this study is to systematically explore the effects of target characteristics on prospective memory and its two components under different task importance conditions.In experiment 1,target distinction was manipulated based on whether the target and the background are different,and experiment 1 was to investigate the effects of target distinction on prospective memory and its two components under different task importance conditions.In experiment 2,the target familiarity was manipulated by varying target words’ familiarity of prospective memory,and e xperiment 2 was to investigate the effects of target familiarity on prospective memory and its two components under different task importance conditions.In experiment 3,the target specificity was manipulated,and e xperiment 3 was to investigate the effects of target specificity on prospective memory and its two components under different task importance conditions.Through three experimental studies,the following conclusions were drawn: Firstly,emphasizing the importance of task had a positive promoting effect on the completion of prospective memory and the identification of prospective component.Secondly,distinctive,low familiarity and specific targets could promote the completion of prospective memory.Distinctive and low familiarity targets had positive effects on the prospective component of prospective memory.And the specific target had a positive effect on both the prospective and retrospective components of prospective memory.Thirdly,the processing mechanism of prospective memory and prospective component was more in line with the multi-processing model.