An exploration of prospective memory components and subtasks of the Memory for Intentions Test (MIST)

The promotional effect of prosocial motivation on time-based prospective memory

Time-based prospective memory (TBPM) is the ability to remember to do a planned task at the right time. In social interactions, people are often motivated to do things for others, which reflects an important factor that influences prospective memory, namely prosocial motivation. According to the motivational cognitive model, prosocial motivation promotes TBPM by paying more attention or adopting more effective strategies. This study explored the effect of prosocial motivation on TBPM under different time-monitoring conditions within the motivational cognitive model framework. One hundred and thirty-one university students participated in this experiment that adopted a 2 (groups: control, prosocial motivation) × 2 (viewing time conditions: limited, unlimited) between-subjects design. The results revealed that the prosocial motivation group had better TBPM performance than the control group under both limited and unlimited viewing time conditions. At the same time, compared with the control group, the prosocial motivation group consumed more internal attention and utilized more strategies under both viewing time conditions, and their external attention was more effective. In addition, the external attention of the prosocial motivation group was higher only when time-monitoring was unlimited. The results of this study further extend knowledge of the motivational cognitive model and expand its scope of application, which has theoretical significance.

Time-Based and Event-Based Prospective Memory in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Prospective memory (PM) is the ability to remember to perform planned actions in a future moment and it is of fundamental importance for an independent and autonomous lifestyle from development to late adulthood. Deficits in episodic memory and executive functions, which are involved in PM are characteristic features of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Considering that the number of older adults is drastically increasing over the next decades, it is of great interest to understand how PM decline in healthy older adults and patients with different degree of cognitive decline. The present meta-analysis included 46 studies investigating PM performance in AD patients (17 studies) and people with MCI (24 studies); 5 studies included both clinical conditions in the same article. The 46 studies contributed a total of 63 independent samples and 129 effect sizes from 4668 participants (2115 patients and 2553 controls). Unlike previous reviews of the literature, our results with a larger and updated sample of studies confirmed lower PM abilities in AD compared to MCI and controls, although we did not observe conclusive differences between event-based and time-based PM in patients. Surprisingly, PM deficits shown by MCI and AD patients have decreased across years, in parallel to a reduction of the evidence of publication bias and an increase in the number of observations per task. We propose the use of more reliable research designs as one plausible explanation for the reduction of PM impairments.

Measurement of prospective memory in Spanish speakers

Introduction

This study aimed to provide preliminary evidence on the psychometric properties of a measure of prospective memory in Spanish speakers, the Memory for Intentions Test (MIST) Spanish translation.

Methods

In addition, this study investigated whether acculturation influenced performance on the MIST. Finally, we measured other cognitive factors that might be impacting the relationship between culture and prospective memory performance. These factors were working memory, autobiographical memory, and episodic future thought.

Results

Overall, the psychometric properties of the Spanish MIST appear to be similar to the English language MIST, but our sample size was too small to allow for the creation of a normative database. The MIST recognition item was significantly related to years of education and years of speaking either Spanish or English.

Discussion

This suggests a need to investigate ways to improve the test to eliminate these effects. In addition, acculturation was related to the measure of episodic future thought.

The Chinese version of the Memory for Intentions Test (MIST): development and evaluation of its reliability and concurrent validity

This study aims to develop a simplified Chinese version of the "Memory for Intentions Test" (MIST), evaluate its reliability and concurrent validity, explore the inter-relationships among the MIST variables and the relationships between the MIST variables and socio-demographic factors.

Two hundred healthy, Chinese-speaking adults of the Han community participated in this study. Form A of the Chinese MIST and two prospective items of the Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test, Second Edition (RBMT-II, Chinese version) were administered to all participants to evaluate internal consistency, split-half reliability, and concurrent validity. Twenty of these participants were assessed twice on Form A with a two-week interval to examine test-retest reliability. They were also assessed on both Form A and Form B to examine alternate-form reliability.

The findings of the study indicated good internal consistency (Cronbach's α = .833) and excellent split-half reliability (r = .924-.930) among the six subscales of the Chinese MIST, although the internal consistency was low (Cronbach's α = .129) for individual PM trials. We also found adequate concurrent validity (ρ = .722, p< .001), test-retest reliability (ρ = .716, p < .001), and alternate-form reliability (ρ= .828, p < .001).

The Chinese MIST demonstrated suitable reliability and concurrent validity in the Chinese-speaking population. The present study provides a new standardized prospective memory test for the Chinese population, which would enhance future clinical research in this field on the Chinese mainland.

Prospective memory impairment in neurological disorders: implications and management

Prospective memory is a core neurocognitive ability that refers to memory for future intentions, such as remembering to take medications and to switch off appliances. Any breakdown in prospective memory, therefore, has serious implications for the ability to function independently in everyday life. In many neurological disorders, including Parkinson disease and dementia, prospective memory deficits are common even in the earliest stages and typically become more severe with disease progression. Consequently, clinical assessment of prospective memory is of critical importance. This article provides an overview of the various manifestations and neural bases of prospective memory deficits. To facilitate clinical decision-making, validated measures of this construct are identified and their suitability for clinical practice is discussed, focusing in particular on clinical sensitivity and psychometric properties. The article concludes by reviewing the approaches that can be used to rehabilitate different types of prospective memory impairment, and algorithms to guide the evaluation and treatment of these impairments are provided.