Although individual differences in mental imagery abilities and preferences were found to explain individual differences in retrospective memory (RM), much less is known about their role in prospective memory (PM). Indeed, in the PM literature, mental imagery has mainly been analyzed as a strategy to improve PM functioning with little attention to individual differences. Here we consider the distinction between cognitive preferences for spatial and object imagery. In Study 1, 202 healthy participants (19-36 yrs.) were given a self-report questionnaire probing PM and RM in everyday life (Smith et al., 2002) and the OSIQ (Blajenkova et al., 2006), which includes two scales assessing individual preferences for object and spatial imagery. The OSIQ-object scores significantly correlated with the PM and RM scores, indicating that the higher the rating of the imagery experience and preference on the object scale, the fewer the memory slips in everyday life. In Study 2, we further explored this relation, using an objective measure of PM. Twenty-seven healthy participants (19-36 yrs.) were given the OSIQ and the RPA-ProMem Test (Radford et al., 2011), which includes two time-based and two event-based PM tasks to be completed within the session or up to a week following the testing session. The OSIQ-object scores significantly correlated with the RPA-ProMem scores, indicating that the object imagery preference was positively associated with the actual ability to remember to execute intended actions in the future. Specifically, regression analyses show that the OSIQ-object score accounted for 18% of the variation in the PM performance. Overall, these findings underline that individual differences in spatial- and object-imagery preference are pivotal in PM. We suggest that object imagers may show better PM functioning since their preference for constructing pictorial and high-resolution images facilitates the associations between PM cues (e.g., a specific object, place, or time) and prospective actions.
Prospective memory: exploring the role of individual differences in object and spatial imagery
Canino Silvia
;Palermo Liana
2021-01-01
Abstract
Although individual differences in mental imagery abilities and preferences were found to explain individual differences in retrospective memory (RM), much less is known about their role in prospective memory (PM). Indeed, in the PM literature, mental imagery has mainly been analyzed as a strategy to improve PM functioning with little attention to individual differences. Here we consider the distinction between cognitive preferences for spatial and object imagery. In Study 1, 202 healthy participants (19-36 yrs.) were given a self-report questionnaire probing PM and RM in everyday life (Smith et al., 2002) and the OSIQ (Blajenkova et al., 2006), which includes two scales assessing individual preferences for object and spatial imagery. The OSIQ-object scores significantly correlated with the PM and RM scores, indicating that the higher the rating of the imagery experience and preference on the object scale, the fewer the memory slips in everyday life. In Study 2, we further explored this relation, using an objective measure of PM. Twenty-seven healthy participants (19-36 yrs.) were given the OSIQ and the RPA-ProMem Test (Radford et al., 2011), which includes two time-based and two event-based PM tasks to be completed within the session or up to a week following the testing session. The OSIQ-object scores significantly correlated with the RPA-ProMem scores, indicating that the object imagery preference was positively associated with the actual ability to remember to execute intended actions in the future. Specifically, regression analyses show that the OSIQ-object score accounted for 18% of the variation in the PM performance. Overall, these findings underline that individual differences in spatial- and object-imagery preference are pivotal in PM. We suggest that object imagers may show better PM functioning since their preference for constructing pictorial and high-resolution images facilitates the associations between PM cues (e.g., a specific object, place, or time) and prospective actions.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
