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Cognitive control and capacity for prospective memory in complex dynamic environments
Citation
Boag, RJ and Strickland, L and Heathcote, A and Neal, A and Loft, S, Cognitive control and capacity for prospective memory in complex dynamic environments, Journal of Experimental Psychology, 148, (12) pp. 2181-2206. ISSN 0096-3445 (2019) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
Copyright 2019 American Psychological Association. This paper is not the copy of record and may not exactly replicate the authoritative document published in the APA journal. Please do not copy or cite without author's permission. The final article is available, upon publication, at: 10.1037/xge0000599
Official URL: https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/xge/
Abstract
Performing deferred actions in the future relies upon Prospective Memory (PM). Often, PM demands
arise in complex dynamic tasks. Not only can PM be challenging in such environments, the processes
required for PM may affect the performance of other tasks. To adapt to PM demands in such
environments, humans may use a range of strategies, including flexible allocation of cognitive resources
and cognitive control mechanisms. We sought to understand such mechanisms by using the Prospective
Memory Decision Control (Strickland, Loft, Remington, & Heathcote, 2018) model to provide a
comprehensive, quantitative account of dual task performance in a complex dynamic environment (a
simulated air traffic control conflict detection task). We found that PM demands encouraged proactive
control over ongoing task decisions, but that this control was reduced at high time pressure to facilitate
fast responding. We found reactive inhibitory control over ongoing task processes when PM targets
were encountered, and that time pressure and PM demand both affect the attentional system, increasing
the amount of cognitive resources available. However, as demands exceeded the capacity limit of the
cognitive system, resources were reallocated (shared) between the ongoing and PM tasks. As the ongoing
task used more resources to compensate for additional time pressure demands, it drained resources that
would have otherwise been available for PM task processing. This study provides the first detailed
quantitative understanding of how attentional resources and cognitive control mechanisms support PM
and ongoing task performance in complex dynamic environments.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | prospective memory, cognitive control, capacity, resource theory, linear ballistic accumulator model |
| Research Division: | Psychology and Cognitive Sciences |
| Research Group: | Cognitive Sciences |
| Research Field: | Computer Perception, Memory and Attention |
| Objective Division: | Expanding Knowledge |
| Objective Group: | Expanding Knowledge |
| Objective Field: | Expanding Knowledge in Psychology and Cognitive Sciences |
| UTAS Author: | Strickland, L (Dr Luke Strickland) |
| UTAS Author: | Heathcote, A (Professor Andrew Heathcote) |
| ID Code: | 134808 |
| Year Published: | 2019 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 1 |
| Deposited By: | Psychology |
| Deposited On: | 2019-09-05 |
| Last Modified: | 2020-03-04 |
| Downloads: | 12 View Download Statistics |
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