Prospective memory, executive functions and metacognitive control: An empirical approach to their structural interrelations in young elementary school children

Introduction Prospective memory (PM), the ability to remember to perform intended activities in the future (Kliegel & Jäger, 2007), is crucial to succeed in everyday life. PM seems to improve gradually over the childhood years (Zimmermann & Meier, 2006), but yet little is known about PM competences in young school children in general, and even less is known about factors influencing its development. Currently, a number of studies suggest that executive functions (EF) are potentially influencing processes (Ford, Driscoll, Shum & Macaulay, 2012; Mahy & Moses, 2011). Additionally, metacognitive processes (MC: monitoring and control) are assumed to be involved while optimizing one’s performance (Krebs & Roebers, 2010; 2012; Roebers, Schmid, & Roderer, 2009). Yet, the relations between PM, EF and MC remain relatively unspecified. We intend to empirically examine the structural relations between these constructs. Method A cross-sectional study including 119 2nd graders (mage = 95.03, sdage = 4.82) will be presented. Participants (n = 68 girls) completed three EF tasks (stroop, updating, shifting), a computerised event-based PM task and a MC spelling task. The latent variables PM, EF and MC that were represented by manifest variables deriving from the conducted tasks, were interrelated by structural equation modelling. Results Analyses revealed clear associations between the three cognitive constructs PM, EF and MC (rpm-EF = .45, rpm-MC = .23, ref-MC = .20). A three factor model, as opposed to one or two factor models, appeared to fit excellently to the data (chi2(17, 119) = 18.86, p = .34, remsea = .030, cfi = .990, tli = .978). Discussion The results indicate that already in young elementary school children, PM, EF and MC are empirically well distinguishable, but nevertheless substantially interrelated. PM and EF seem to share a substantial amount of variance while for MC, more unique processes may be assumed.

The impact of absolute importance on prospective memory: Instructions matter

Prospective memory (ProM) is the ability to remember and carry out a planned intention in the future. ProM performance can be improved by instructing participants to prioritize the ProM task over the ongoing task. However, the improvement of ProM performance by emphasizing the relative importance typically restricted to situations in which the overlap between processing requirements of the ProM task and the ongoing task is low. Thus, additional processing resources are allocated to the ProM task and consequently, a cost emerges for the ongoing task. The aim of the present study was to further investigate this relationship. Participants were asked to respond to either semantic or perceptual ProM cues, which were embedded in a complex ongoing short term memory task. We manipulated absolute rather than relative importance by emphasizing the importance of the ProM task to half of the participants (i.e., without instructing them to prioritize it over the ongoing task). The results revealed that importance boosted ProM performance independent of the processing overlap between the ProM task and the ongoing task. Moreover, no additional cost was associated with absolute importance. These results challenge the view that importance always enhances the allocation of resources to the ProM task.

On the comparison of VR-responses, as performance measures in prospective memory, with auditory P300 responses in MCI detection

Patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment are at high risk for developing Alzheimer's disease. Besides episodic memory dysfunction they show deficits in accessing contextual knowledge that further specifies a general spatial navigation task or an executive function (EF) virtual action planning. There has been only one previous work with virtual reality and the use of a virtual action planning supermarket for the diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment. The authors of that study examined the feasibility and the validity of the virtual action planning supermarket (VAP-S) for the diagnosis of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and found that the VAP-S is a viable tool to assess EF deficits. In our study we employed the in-house platform of virtual action planning museum (VAP-M) and a sample of 25 MCI and 25 controls, in order to investigate deficits in spatial navigation, prospective memory and executive function. In addition, we used the morphology of late components in event-related potential (ERP) responses, as a marker for cognitive dysfunction. The related measurements were fed to a common classification scheme facilitating the direct comparison of both approaches. Our results indicate that both the VAP-M and ERP averages were able to differentiate between healthy elders and patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment and agree with the findings of the virtual action planning supermarket (VAP-S). The sensitivity (specificity) was 100% (98%) for the VAP-M data and 87%(90%) for the ERP responses. Considering that ERPs have proven to advance the early detection and diagnosis of "presymptomatic AD", the suggested VAP-M platform appears as an appealing alternative.

Beyond monitoring: After-effects of responding to prospective memory targets

Responding to bivalent stimuli (i.e., stimuli with features relevant for different tasks) slows subsequent performance. In prospective memory research, prospective memory targets can be considered as bivalent stimuli because they typically involve features relevant for both the prospective memory task and the ongoing task. The purpose of this study was to investigate how responding to a prospective memory target slows subsequent performance. In two experiments, we embedded the prospective memory task in a task-switching paradigm and we manipulated the degree of task-set overlap between the prospective memory task and the ongoing task. The results showed consistent after-effects of responding to prospective memory targets. The specific trajectory of the slowing depended on the amount of task-set overlap. These results demonstrate that responding to prospective memory targets results in after-effects, a so far neglected cost on ongoing task performance.

Enhanced memory ability: insights from synaesthesia

People with synaesthesia show an enhanced memory relative to demographically matched controls. The most obvious explanation for this is that the ‘extra’ perceptual experiences lead to richer encoding and retrieval opportunities of stimuli which induce synaesthesia (typically verbal stimuli). Although there is some evidence for this, it is unlikely to be the whole explanation. For instance, not all stimuli which trigger synaesthesia are better remembered (e.g., digit span) and some stimuli which do not trigger synaesthesia are better remembered. In fact, synaesthetes tend to have better visual memory than verbal memory. We suggest that enhanced memory in synaesthesia is linked to wider changes in cognitive systems at the interface of perception and memory and link this to recent findings in the neuroscience of memory.

Visuospatial working memory in very preterm and term born children - Impact of age and performance

Working memory is crucial for meeting the challenges of daily life and performing academic tasks, such as reading or arithmetic. Very preterm born children are at risk of low working memory capacity. The aim of this study was to examine the visuospatial working memory network of school-aged preterm children and to determine the effect of age and performance on the neural working memory network. Working memory was assessed in 41 very preterm born children and 36 term born controls (aged 7–12 years) using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and neuropsychological assessment. While preterm children and controls showed equal working memory performance, preterm children showed less involvement of the right middle frontal gyrus, but higher fMRI activation in superior frontal regions than controls. The younger and low-performing preterm children presented an atypical working memory network whereas the older high-performing preterm children recruited a working memory network similar to the controls. Results suggest that younger and low-performing preterm children show signs of less neural efficiency in frontal brain areas. With increasing age and performance, compensational mechanisms seem to occur, so that in preterm children, the typical visuospatial working memory network is established by the age of 12 years.

Nation, Narration and Islam: Memory and Governmentality in Germany

This article analyses narrations of German memories in relation to the incorporation of Islam into Germany. Memory narratives are not approached from the angle of identity, but as part of the continuous business of rationalizing politics inside and beyond the state. The citational use of narratives authorizes interventions in the process of government by constituting its objects, determining the means and aims of government and defining its authority. Narratives are a governmental practice, i.e. they connect politics narrowly defined with individual conduct, since narratives allow determination of a social context and what constitutes adequate behaviour within it. In this way, they help to orient practices of freedom. Acts such as the cultivating of an ethics of interreligious competition, involvement in specific forms of dialogue, or activism against Islamophobia and anti-Semitism derive meaning in part through such narratives, while simultaneously contributing new meaning.