Prospective memory in adults with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders: Exploring effects of implementation intentions and retrospective memory load

A Meta-Analysis and Critical Review of Prospective Memory in Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…) n NT  = 11 (n.s. )ASD 9.6 (7–15)NT 10.6 (7–16)Visuospatial working memory task5 trialsYes, ~10 minYes (g = −0.91)Altgassen et al (2012)* n ASD  = 25 (20 male) n NT  = 25 (19 male)ASD 21.8 (15–41)NT 21.8 (15–42)Dresden Breakfast task2 trialsYes , ~15 minYes (g = −0.94)Williams et al (2013)** n ASD  = 21 (20 male) n NT  = 21 (17 male)ASD 10.6 (7.8–13.8)NT 10.6 (8–12)Computer-based driving game simulation6 trialsNoYes (g = −0.66)Williams et al (2014)** n ASD  = 17 (14 male) n NT  = 17 (14 male)ASD 31.1 (19.1–54.6)NT 31.9 (17.7–58.8)Word memorisation task5 trialsNoYes (g = −0.66)Henry et al (2014)* n ASD  = 30 (24 male) n NT  = 30 (19 male)ASD 10.1 (8–12)NT 10 (8–12)Virtual week game, 2 within-subject condition (high vs. low task absorption)12 trials across 3 virtual days, (2 regular/2 irregular per virtual day)NoYes (g = −1.02)Kretschmer et al (2014)* n ASD  = 27 (9 male) n NT  = 27 (2 male)ASD 35.6 (19–58)NT 39.9 (21–52)Virtual week game, 2 between-subject encoding conditions (implementation intentions vs. standard)12 trials across 3 virtual days, (2 regular/2 irregular per virtual day)NoYes (g = −1.01) n.s . not specified…”

“…Therefore, it was not possible to include all calculable effect sizes in three of the included studies, because doing so would have violated the assumption of independence in one of the following ways: (a) multiple ASD groups but only one NT group would have meant that the NT group would be included in the meta-analysis more than once if all reported group contrasts were included (Sheppard et al 2016); (b) multiple NT groups but only one ASD group would have meant that the ASD group would be included more than once if all reported group contrasts were included (Yi et al 2014); or (c) multiple PM measures from the same participants would mean that each participant would be included more than once if performance on all measures was included (Altgassen et al 2012). Furthermore, to avoid biasing the mean weighted effect, group contrasts that explored the effect of attempts to improve PM in the ASD were excluded (Kretschmer et al 2014). Full details of the procedure for deciding which effect size should be included in the meta-analysis are reported 1…”

“…Another study which used the Virtual Week set-up was that of Kretschmer et al (2014). Rather than focusing on the degree of absorption (which presumably affects retrieval of the original intention to carry out an action), Kretschmer et al (2014) used this paradigm to investigate the effects of different encoding strategies on PM in a sample of 27 adults with ASD and 27 NT adults matched for age, verbal, and non-verbal abilities.…”

“…Rather than focusing on the degree of absorption (which presumably affects retrieval of the original intention to carry out an action), Kretschmer et al (2014) used this paradigm to investigate the effects of different encoding strategies on PM in a sample of 27 adults with ASD and 27 NT adults matched for age, verbal, and non-verbal abilities. The Virtual Week setup and tasks were as described above, but participants had to complete only three virtual days, and needed to press a specific keyboard key to display the time of the day.…”

Sustaining prospective memory functioning in amnestic mild cognitive impairment: A lifespan approach to the critical role of encoding.

“…Importantly, despite the documented reliance of PM on both RM (cf. Kretschmer, Altgassen, Rendell, & Bölte, 2014) and executive functions (cf. Mahy, Moses, & Kliegel, 2014), the extent and nature of their involvement across a healthy and a cognitively compromised lifespan is largely unknown.…”