# PROSPECTIVE MEMORY ACROSS THE ADULT LIFESPAN

> **NIH NIH R01** · FURMAN UNIVERSITY · 1990 · $66,526

## Abstract

Little is known about prospective memory (i.e., remembering to perform
some action in the future such as remembering to pick up a loaf of bread
on the way home), and even less is known about the effects of aging on
prospective memory. This is a serious gap in the literature because many
memory situations are prospective. For the elderly who often have
special needs such as remembering to take medication and meeting
health related appointments, good prospective memory is of utmost
importance, Moreover, current theories of aging suggest that prospective
memory should be especially problematic for the elderly.

This project focuses on the development of a laboratory paradigm that
allows systematic manipulation of independent variables and precise
measure of dependent variables. Because past research on prospective
memory has for the most part been conducted outside the laboratory, much
of it suffers from problems of control and interpretation. The present
project takes a comprehensive approach to the study of prospective
memory. Young and old subjects will be tested on two different
prospective memory tasks and three different retrospective memory tasks
(short-term memory, free recall, recognition). Comparisons of subjects'
performances across these memory tasks will help to identify the
similarities and differences between prospective memory and more
traditional retrospective memory tasks. These comparisons will also help
to localize age-related deficits in memory processes.

The seven proposed experiments additionally address basic theoretical
and empirical issues regarding prospective memory. Specifically, subject
age, the nature and difficulty of the concurrent activity during the
prospective memory task, the characteristics of the target event, and
the memory strategies used to remember the prospective memory task will
be varied. The specific designs of the experiments were motivated by
issues in prospective memory that should be especially revealing for
better understanding the effects of aging and memory. Accordingly, these
experiments will directly test recent theories that attempt to explain
age-related memory deficits in terms of problems with self-initiated
retrieval processes (Craik, 1986) and problems with inhibiting
irrelevant thoughts from working memory (Hasher & Zacks, in press).

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3120045
- **Project number:** 5R01AG008436-02
- **Recipient organization:** FURMAN UNIVERSITY
- **SAM.gov UEI:** DZLTJ59VMX17
- **Principal Investigator:** Gilles Olivier Einstein
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1990
- **Award amount:** $66,526
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1989-09-01 → 1992-08-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3120045

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3120045, PROSPECTIVE MEMORY ACROSS THE ADULT LIFESPAN (5R01AG008436-02). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3120045. Licensed CC0.

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