Psychology of Planning.

Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder have difficulties with tasks that require response inhibition. We measured electroencephalographic data of nonmedicated children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and control children in two conditions: (a) a neutral condition without a self-regulation strategy and (b) a condition that involved the making of if-then plans (i.e. 'If situation X is encountered, then I will perform the goal-directed behavior Y'). If-then plans improved response inhibition and increased the P300 in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder compared with the neutral condition. The present results encourage the application of self-regulation using if-then plans in addition or as an alternative to common medical therapy.

Children with impulse control deficits (i.e., children with ADHD) are known to have special problems with delaying gratifications. As making if-then plans (i.e., forming implementation intentions) has been found to benefit self-control even in individuals whose action control is chronically hampered (e.g., critical samples such as patients with frontal lobe damage, the elderly), we analyzed whether delay of gratification is facilitated in children with and without ADHD who have formed respective implementation intentions. In Study 1, forty-five inpatient children with ADHD (M age = 10.7 years) increased delay of gratification performance after having formed respective implementation intentions. Study 2 replicated this finding in an outpatient sample of children with ADHD (n = 47, M age = 10.3 years) and also in a comparison group of children without ADHD (n = 40, M age = 11.3 years). Results are discussed with respect to their implications for action control in children with ADHD as well as research on implementation intentions and delay of gratification.

Patients with lesion to the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) experience challenges in emotional control and emotion-guided behaviors. The OFC is known to participate in executive functions and attentional control of emotion and our previous research suggests OFC lesion alters the balance between voluntary and involuntary attention and cognitive control within the context of emotion. To better understand how OFC lesion affects the dynamics and interaction of these functions, we studied EEG and performance of 12 patients with lesion to the OFC and 11 control subjects with intact OFC in a Go/NoGo visual reaction time (RT) task with neutral targets and intervening threat-related emotional distractors (Executive RT Test). Event-related potentials (ERPs), specifically N2P3 peak-to-peak amplitude and the following late positive potential (LPP), were used to measure allocation of attention and cognitive control to emotional distractors. Task performance and Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functions—Adult version (BRIEF-A) scores were used to assess executive functions. As expected, the Control group showed increased N2P3 amplitude in the context of threat-related distractors, particularly over the right hemisphere, while LPP was not modulated by these distractors. In contrast, patients with OFC lesion showed no such impact of threat-related distractors on N2P3 amplitude but exhibited increased and prolonged left-lateralized impact of threat on LPP in the Go-condition. In NoGo-condition, the N2P3 amplitude was increased in both groups due to threat, but the impact was seen earlier, i.e., at the N2 peak in the OFC group and later at the P3 peak in Controls. The OFC group committed more errors in the Executive RT Test and reported more problems in BRIEF-A, thus both objective and subjective evidence for challenges in executive functions was obtained in patients with orbitofrontal lesion. Furthermore, the time-course of attention allocation and cognitive control towards task-irrelevant emotional stimuli was altered as evidenced by ERPs. We conclude that orbitofrontal lesion is associated with altered neural dynamics underlying the interaction of involuntary attention to emotion and cognitive control. These alterations in brain dynamics may underlie some of the challenges patients encounter in everyday life when emotional events interact with cognitive demands.

Relations among prospective memory, cognitive abilities, and brain structure in adolescents who vary in prenatal drug exposure

Cognitive correlates of prospective memory in dystonia

Background. Prospective memory (PM) is essential for productive and independent living and necessary for compliance with prescribed health behaviors. Parkinson disease (PD) can cause PM deficits that are associated with activity limitations and reduced quality of life. Forming implementation intentions (IIs) is an encoding strategy that may improve PM in this population. Objective. To determine the effect of IIs on PM performance in PD. Methods. This was a laboratory-based randomized controlled trial. Participants with mild to moderate PD without dementia (n = 62) performed a computerized PM test (Virtual Week) under standard instructions. One week later they were randomly allocated to perform it again while using either IIs or a rehearsal (RR) encoding strategy. Results. PM performance was better with the use of both strategies relative to standard instructions. This effect was larger for tasks with event-based compared with time-based cues. In addition, IIs resulted in a larger effect than RR for the nonrepeated tasks. Conclusions. Strategies that support full encoding of PM cues and actions can improve PM performance among people with PD, particularly for tasks with cues that are readily available in the environment. IIs may be more effective than RR for nonrepeated tasks, but this finding warrants verification. Future work should address transfer of strategy use from the laboratory to everyday life. Targeted strategies to manage PM impairment could improve function and quality of life and significantly affect clinical care for people with PD.

Prospective Memory (PM) refers to remembering an intention to be acted upon in the future. Such a memory may be triggered by an event (i.e., Event-based PM) where a specific cue reminds one of the previously encoded intention. PM can be assessed in a lab-setting by having subjects learn a baseline task, subsequently receiving a PM instruction, completing a distractor task, and then going through a test phase where the PM task (i.e., responding to PM cues) is embedded within the ongoing task. The multiprocess view (McDaniel & Einstein, 2000) posits that PM can be retrieved primarily using two different strategies: one can strategically monitor for the PM cue to keep the intention in mind or spontaneously retrieve the intention by coming across the cue. The multiprocess view suggests that monitoring or spontaneous retrieval strategies are chosen based on whether one’s current task is focal or non-focal to the nature of the PM task. When processing of the ongoing task stimuli and PM stimuli overlap (i.e., focal), spontaneous retrieval of the encoded intention is thought to occur more often. On the other hand, when processing of the PM stimuli is peripheral (i.e., non-focal) to the ongoing task, one may have to consistently monitor for the PM cue for successful task performance. Manipulation of PM task focality has shown a PM performance advantage in focal conditions (Einstein & McDaniel, 2005), confirming the focality effect posited by the Multiprocess view. Past studies (e.g., Schnitzspahn, Stahl, Zeintl, Kaller, & Kliegel, 2013) have suggested that some aspects of executive function (EF) are involved in non-focal PM performance. However, according to the multiprocess view, spontaneous retrieval of the PM cue can occur when the ongoing task is focal to the PM task. Because subjects may not need to appropriate as many cognitive resources toward the PM task, EF might be unrelated to PM performance in focal tasks. The current study tested this idea by examining a sample of college-aged subjects on two event-based PM (category and syllable judgments) and two EF (inhibition and task-switching) tasks. Subjects were assigned to focal or non-focal conditions for the PM tasks. The prediction of a focal condition advantage was found for PM performance measures, particularly in the syllables task. No relationships were found between PM performance and EF measures for the focal condition, as predicted. However, most of the predicted relationships between PM performance and EF measures for the

Human factors were reported by researchers to be the reason behind the majority of car accidents; examples of these factors were: inattention, stress, distraction, decision making, drugs and alcohol abuses. Most of such studies were conducted based on western countries and on simulated driving situations, and very few of which used samples of participants who had accidents and/or driving violations in real life situations. To date, no studies at least in the Arab world generally and Gulf area specifically, conducted a comprehensive examination of cognitive functioning as potential predictors of car accidents and driving violations. Thus, the present study aimed at examining the role of cognitive functions (i.e., verbal working memory, attentional control, behavioral control, emotional control, cognitive failure, everyday memory failure, analytical cognitive style, mental planning, and general decision-making) as predictors of traffic accidents and driving violations. This was done based on empirical data from a hundred and thirty two men participants who aged between 24 and 31 years. All participants had driving licenses for more than five years and driving experiences of 8000000 KM and more. They were classified into violators and non-violators as well as accident free and accident involved groups. The cognitive functioning was measured using 5 self-reports and 2 tasks performance: Executive Functioning Scale, General Decision Making Scale, Cognitive Style Index, Cognitive Failure Questionnaire, Everyday Memory Questionnaire, Verbal Working Memory Task and Tower of London Task. A series of ANOVAS as well as stepwise multiple regressions were conducted to test the research hypothesis. Findings showed that there were significant differences between violators and non-violators and between the accident free and accident involved groups in almost all of the considered cognitive factors (P < .01), except for the decision making factor (P>.05). Results also indicated that the attentional control, behavioral control, emotional control, cognitive failure and mental planning factors were the major predictors of traffic violating behaviors and traffic accidents. Moreover, Pearson product-moment correlations showed that there were significant negative correlations between age, driving violations, and cognitive performance and the accidents. These obtained findings underscore the involvement of cognitive functioning in driving behavior and road accidents. Thus, when drivers working memory and/or executive functioning are overloaded, more demands on the cognitive recourses are imposed, which in result makes them vulnerable to wrong or hazardous driving decisions. It was also noted that those with higher mental planning abilities were involved in less moving violations and road accidents. This result was expected because as detected through the study, the more the time people take to move in the planning task, the more accidents and moving violations they report. It was also found that individuals with more driving mileage and holding driving licenses for a longer time period had more violations and driving accidents. In result, our findings contribute to the literature that human cognition such as executive functioning, mental planning and verbal working memory are key factors for predicting driving behavior and traffic accidents, and have many implications in diagnosing and preventing or at least reducing driving violations and road accidents.

The overall aim of the current thesis was to explore three key components of future-oriented thinking, namely episodic future thinking (EFT), episodic foresight, and prospective memory (PM), in middle childhood. The developmental literature examining each of these future-oriented abilities has generally focused on their emergence in the preschool years, with less known about how these abilities present in middle childhood. In addition, research investigating what cognitive mechanisms may drive these abilities in this age band is limited and findings of those studies that have been conducted are inconsistent. Lastly, the literature has predominantly examined EFT, episodic foresight, and PM in isolation, and research has only just begun to explore interrelations between these future-oriented constructs. The first empirical study therefore aimed to investigate whether EFT ability was associated with age and to examine what cognitive mechanisms may contribute to this skill. The second empirical study aimed to examine, for the first time, whether episodic foresight was associated with age across middle childhood. A second aim of this study was to provide the first investigation of the cognitive mechanisms that may contribute to episodic foresight in this age group, with the particular interest in whether EFT contributed to episodic foresight. The final empirical study aimed to explore whether age was associated with children’s PM performance across event-based and time-based PM tasks. An additional aim of this study was to explore the cognitive abilities that contribute to children’s performance on both event-based and time-based PM tasks, with a particular interest in the contribution of EFT. A single sample of 80 children aged 8 to 12 years were recruited for this research project. Study 1 indicated greater EFT ability was associated with age, consistent with some of the limited studies previously conducted with this age group. Study 1 also demonstrated strong evidence regarding the contribution from episodic memory to children’s EFT and a lack of contribution from executive functions. Study 2 was the first study to examine episodic foresight beyond the preschool years. Results of this study provided the first evidence of an association between age and better episodic foresight performance across the ages of 8 to 12 years. In addition, Study 2 identified age and IQ as significant contributors to successful episodic foresight performance, while retrospective memory, executive functions, and EFT were not found to contribute. The lack of contribution from EFT may have been due to the specific form of episodic foresight task used in this study, which did not require a specific scenario to be envisaged. Further research is now required to investigate whether EFT contributes to other types of episodic foresight task that involve clear scenarios that can be envisaged. The results of Study 3 indicated age was significantly correlated with performance on both event-based and time-based PM tasks. The findings also clearly revealed age, retrospective memory, and EFT were significant contributors to event-based PM performance, while retrospective memory was the only significant contributor to time-based PM performance. Furthermore, the results clearly demonstrated a lack of contribution from executive functions to performance on both task types. Importantly, Study 3 demonstrated that EFT selectively contributed to children’s event-based PM performance. This finding is consistent with the only other study in this age band and used a more comprehensive set of predictors than this previous study. The current research provided novel insights into the profile of children’s future-oriented thinking across the middle childhood period. The findings regarding age-related improvements in EFT, episodic foresight, and PM help to bridge the gap in understanding of the development of these abilities between their emergence in the preschool years and their presentation later in development. Longitudinal research that extends from early childhood to adulthood is now needed to provide a thorough understanding of the developmental trajectory of these abilities across the lifespan. In addition, the current research revealed a clear pattern of results regarding the cognitive mechanisms that contribute to each of these abilities, providing some clarity to the previously mixed findings in the children’s future oriented-thinking literature. Results regarding the inter-relationships between the future-oriented constructs also provided an important extension to current understanding of future-oriented thinking as a broader taxonomy. Furthermore, the current findings bring attention to the need for further theoretical distinction between different forms of episodic foresight and the cognitive processes that contribute to this skill. Overall, the findings from the current thesis have important implications for children’s daily living. In particular, greater understanding of future-oriented thinking in the middle childhood period gained from this thesis may assist in fostering the development of these abilities early in life. This in turn will enable parents and teachers to create reasonable expectations regarding children’s capacity to use these skills in their everyday functioning, thereby maximising success and minimising failure.

This study investigated age effects in prospective memory performance within older adults. The first aim was to explore this issue by examining event- and time-based prospective memory performance in two age groups: young-old (60-75years) and old-old adults (76-90years). Moreover, this study for the first time investigated whether forming implementation intentions could be used to improve prospective memory in young-old and old-old adults. Results showed a general effect of age in prospective memory performance for both task types. In addition, no general effect of implementation intentions in prospective memory performance across both task types and age groups was found. However, testing implementation intention effects separately for both age groups revealed that the formation of implementation intentions enhanced prospective memory only for the young-old adults, but did not substantially affect the performance in the time-based task and even impaired it in the event-based task for the old-old adults. Findings indicate that the formation of implementation intentions might be a powerful memory strategy for young-old adults, but not for the very old.

P 19. Modulating Attentional Control with non-Invasive Brain Stimulation and its Effect on Prospective Memory Performance in Older Adults

Improving compliance to meal-replacement food regimens. Forming implementation intentions (conscious IF-THEN plans) increases compliance

This study investigates prospective memory (PM) deficits as well as the interplay between performance in executive functions (EFs), speed of processing, episodic memory and PM in traumatic brain injury (TBI), differentiating between time based and event based tasks. The Memory for Intentions Screening Test was administrated to a sample of 19 participants with TBI and 50 healthy controls. Tasks probing different EFs (i.e., shifting, updating/working memory, inhibition, and access to long term memory), speed of processing, and episodic memory were also administrated to the TBI group. PM deficits were found in participants with TBI compared to controls. In the role of EFs in PM, only tasks probing updating/working memory and access to the long-term memory showed to play a specific role in PM performance in TBI. However, while updating/working memory was related to both time and event based PM, access to the long term memory was associated to performance on time based PM task only. Speed of processing and retrospective memory abilities do not seem to play a specific role in PM deficit in TBI. Our results provide a better understanding of the PM deficit in TBI, which may contribute to improve existing rehabilitation programs for individuals with TBI.

Background While event-based prospective memory refers to enacting intending action in response to a specific event or cue (“e.g., When I tell you there are 10 minutes left, please give me this stopwatch”), time-based prospective memory refers to enacting intending action in relation to a specific time (“In 10 minutes time, please ask me for a pencil”). Relative to event-based prospective memory, little is known about time-based prospective memory in Korsakoff’s syndrome (KS). Method We used behavioral tasks to investigate event- and time-based prospective memory as well as episodic memory and executive function in patients with KS and control participants. Results Analysis demonstrated lower event- and time-based prospective memory in patients with KS than in control participants. Interestingly, we found lower time-based than event-based prospective memory in patients with KS. Further, significant correlations were observed between prospective memory and episodic memory and executive function in the patients. Conclusions Prospective memory is important for everyday life tasks, and failures of prospective memory can endanger patients’ safety. One clinical implication of our findings is the importance of including an evaluation of prospective memory in cognitive evaluation of KS.

The present study investigated time-based prospective memory (PM) during the transition from kindergarten/preschool to school age and applied mediation models to test the impact of executive functions (working memory, inhibitory control) and time monitoring on time-based PM development. Twenty-five preschool (age: M = 5.75, SD = 0.28) and 22 primary school children (age: M = 7.83, SD = 0.39) participated. To examine time-based PM, children had to play a computer-based driving game requiring them to drive a car on a road without hitting others cars (ongoing task) and to refill the car regularly according to a fuel gauge, which serves as clock equivalent (PM task). The level of gas that was still left in the fuel gauge was not displayed on the screen and children had to monitor it via a button press (time monitoring). Results revealed a developmental increase in time-based PM performance from preschool to school age. Applying the mediation models, only working memory was revealed to influence PM development. Neither inhibitory control alone nor the mediation paths leading from both executive functions to time monitoring could explain the link between age and time-based PM. Thus, results of the present study suggest that working memory may be one key cognitive process driving the developmental growth of time-based PM during the transition from preschool to school age.