What Brings Intentions to Mind? An In Situ Study of Prospective Memory

Sellen, Abigail; Louie, Gifford; Harris, Joseph; Wilkins, Arnold J.

doi:10.1080/741941433

Cited by 121 publications

(141 citation statements)

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“…In a naturalistic study of prospective memory (Ellis, & Nimmo-Smith, 1993) participants were more likely to report having involuntary recollections (i.e., rehearsals) of the to-be-performed intentions when they were not concentrating on the task at hand (see also Sellen, Louie, Harris, & Wilkins, 1997). On the other hand, Giambra (1995) found that the occurrence of TUITs during an ongoing laboratory vigilance task decreased as the frequency of the to-be-detected targets increased.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Out of one’s mind: A study of involuntary semantic memories

Kvavilashvili

Mandler

2004

Cognitive Psychology

195

209

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The study of memories that pop into one's mind without any conscious attempt to retrieve them began only recently. While there are some studies on involuntary autobiographical memories (e.g., Berntsen, 1996; research on involuntary semantic memories or mind-popping is virtually non existent. The latter is defined as an involuntary conscious occurrence of brief items of one's network of semantic knowledge. The recall of these items (e.g., a word, a name, a tune) is not accompanied by additional contextual information and/or involvement of self -a standard feature of involuntary autobiographical memories. The paper reports several diary and questionnaire studies which looked into the nature and frequency of occurrence of these memories. The data show that people do experience involuntary semantic memories which tend to occur without any apparent cues while being engaged in relatively automatic activities. Possible mechanisms of involuntary semantic memories are discussed (e.g., very long-term priming), and the results of the study provide information on the possible duration of the priming effects in everyday life.Related theoretical and methodological issues and future avenues of research in this neglected area are outlined.KEY WORDS: Involuntary memories, mind-popping, autobiographical memory, semantic memory, very long-term priming, implicit memory. 3Out of one's mind: A study of involuntary semantic memories Most laboratory studies of memory investigate processes which deliberately retrieve or identify information acquired in the past. However, much of our everyday remembering consists of information coming to mind involuntarily, i.e., without any conscious attempts to retrieve anything (Mandler, 1986; Winograd, 1993). This type of retrieval has been noted as far back as by Ebbinghaus (1885Ebbinghaus ( /1964 who, among other forms of memory, delineated memories which occur "with apparent spontaneity and without any act of will", and are "brought about through the instrumentality of other, immediately present mental images" (p. 2). Mandler (1989) claimed that "deliberate retrieval of information seems to be the exception rather than the rule" (p. 103). Thus, "we interrupt our stream of thought with ideas that suddenly 'come to mind', we are frequently 'reminded' of one or another occurrence in the past, and often we are aware of memories whose apparent irrelevance to the requirements of the moment surprises us" (p. 291, Mandler, 1986; our italics).Involuntary memories vary greatly in their character and conditions under which they occur (see Mandler, 1994). For example, the phenomenon of incubation, or a sudden recovery from the tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) state, or the realization that one had intended to do something at this particular moment (i.e., prospective remembering) -all refer to involuntary retrieval of certain memories and contents.Although the act of retrieval per se is non deliberate and usually sudden, in all those cases it is preceded by repeated attempts to solve a problem (incubation), by a memory...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Out of one’s mind: A study of involuntary semantic memories

Kvavilashvili

Mandler

2004

Cognitive Psychology

195

209

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“…An example is the vision of ''ubiquitous computing'', in which objects would be equipped with unique identities and given the ability to communicate with and actively support the user (Weiser 1991). A well-designed environment can enhance proactive memory (Sellen et al 1996) by deliberately bringing previous intentions to mind in the right context.…”

Section: External Hardware and Software Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive Enhancement: Methods, Ethics, Regulatory Challenges

2009

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Cognitive enhancement takes many and diverse forms. Various methods of cognitive enhancement have implications for the near future. At the same time, these technologies raise a range of ethical issues. For example, they interact with notions of authenticity, the good life, and the role of medicine in our lives. Present and anticipated methods for cognitive enhancement also create challenges for public policy and regulation.

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“…In a naturalistic study, Sellen, Louie, Harris, and Wilkins (1997) showed that there was an increase in thinking about the PM intention in everyday contexts during natural transition periods between tasks. It is possible that the Raven's Matrices provided several natural transitions either between problems or when an individual took a mental break from a problem and thus may have promoted thinking about their PM intention.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%