Walser, M. , Fischer, R. . & Goschke, T.
Technische Universität Dresden
Previous research has yielded conflicting findings with respect to aftereffects of completed intentions (e.g., inhibition, persisting activation). We used a newly developed experimental paradigm to investigate aftereffects of completed intentions on subsequent performance that required the maintenance and execution of new intentions. Participants performed a primary number categorization task and an additional prospective memory (PM) task, the execution of which was signaled by a specific PM cue. While the PM task changed in each block, the irrelevant PM cue of the previous PM task was occasionally repeated in the subsequent block. In a series of four experiments we demonstrated that performance in the primary task was substantially slowed for trials representing repeated PM cues compared to baseline trials (i.e., intention interference). These findings are interpreted as persisting intention activation once intentions are completed. Activation related to the previous PM task persists over some time and triggers the spontaneous retrieval of the old PM response.