LEAD

Matthias KLIEGEL

Professor, University of Geneva, Switzerland

Dismantling the “age-prospective
memory paradox”

Prospective memory refers to the processes underlying the ability to remember delayed intentions (e.g., remembering to take medication in time). Research on prospective memory in old age has revealed an intriguing age-related pattern: on average, younger adults tend to outperform older adults in laboratory-based prospective memory tasks (defined as studies carried out in the laboratory), whereas older adults outperform younger adults in naturalistic tasks (defined as studies carried out in the everyday environment of the participant). The present talk will review recent studies from my lab targeting the task conditions and individual resources moderating the paradox. Data will be presented that confirm the paradox within one sample of younger and older participants and that reveal differential mechanisms underlying the age-deficit in the laboratory (e.g., executive control) and the age-benefit in naturalistic tasks (e.g., everyday stress). Results will be discussed in the context of current conceptual models of prospective memory.