Bisiacchi, P. , Tarantino, V. , Cona, G. & Arcara, G.
dep. general psychology university of Padova Italy
The aim of the study was to compare the monitoring processes involved in time and event-based prospective memory (PM). To this aim, a time-based, an event-based and an event & time-based experiment were designed, which shared the same ongoing activity and differed in terms of PM target predictability. The interference effect of the PM task on the ongoing performance was analyzed within and between experiments. Ongoing response times were faster in the time-based PM experiment than the event-based experiment, and intermediate in the event & time-based experiment in which participants could predict the occurrence of the PM target. In the time-based task, an increase of time monitoring frequency was found as the PM deadline was approaching, suggesting a periodicity of the monitoring process involved. The slowing of response times in the event-based and in the event & time-based task in trials containing PM cues suggested that the monitoring process was more continuous. In conclusion, time-based and event-based PM tasks showed qualitatively different monitoring mechanisms, which were influenced by the predictability of PM target.