The age-prospective memory paradox revisited - disentangling age-specific neurocognitive and motivational factors across settings

• Applicants: Professorin Dr. Anne Mareike Altgassen; Professorin Dr. Christine Stelzel
• Subject Area: Developmental and Educational Psychology ; General, Cognitive and Mathematical Psychology
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 554470541

Prospective memory refers to the ability to remember to initiate intended actions after a delay. Prospective memory tasks are omnipresent in everyday life and are of crucial importance for the development and maintenance of an independent life. Prospective remembering relies mainly on executive functions and episodic memory; hence, on cognitive functions that decline with aging. Research on age-related differences in prospective memory has revealed a puzzling pattern of results. While lab-based studies typically report poorer prospective memory performance in old as compared to young adults, studies testing participants’ prospective memory performance in everyday life find old adults to show spared or even superior performance. However, to date, the underlying mechanisms of these paradoxical findings are widely unknown. Across six studies, we will shed new light on the age-prospective memory paradox, focusing on two potential factors that may differ in an age-specific manner between lab-based, naturalistic and real-life settings: (i) neurocognitive demands of the prospective memory and ongoing tasks that may differentially impact prospective memory performance in young and old adults and (ii) age-related differences in motivational orientation toward socioemotional vs. achievement-focused intentions. We will use a multi-method approach comprising implicit measures of personal goals, self-report measures, behavioral and neurophysiological measures in young and old adults inside the lab combined with experience sampling of ongoing activities, subjective states and prospective memory performance in real life. Three studies will take place exclusively in the laboratory (behavioral, fMRI), and three studies both, in the laboratory and in everyday life. The proposed research program will help to unravel the cognitive and motivational mechanisms underlying the age-prospective memory paradox and will enable the development of targeted prevention and intervention measures in old age to support the maintenance of independent living.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Netherlands
• Cooperation Partner: Dr. Francesco Pupillo