The Processing Mechanisms of Two Types of Mixed Prospective Memory

Abstract

Mixed prospective memory (MPM) needs to be executed when both external time and event cues appear. According to the clarity of time cues, MPM can be further divided into two types: time-point MPM and time-period MPM. There is no research on these two types of MPM. Whether existing theories of EBPM can explain its processing mechanisms is worth exploring. The current study was aimed at examining the differences in attentional allocation characteristics between these two types of MPM and EBPM under different difficult ongoing tasks. The results showed that the attention consumption of the two types of MPM groups was less than that of the EBPM group in the early and middle stages of high cognitive load, but there was no difference between the three groups in the later stage of the task. The attention distribution of time-point MPM and time-period MPM displayed dynamic changes: the time-point MPM only had attention consumption in the later stage, while the time-period MPM also existed in the early and middle stages. These results support dynamic multiprocess theory.