Prospective memory
Prospective memory is remembering to do something in the future, like handing in an assignment on Friday or reviewing chapter 4 after dinner. Psychologists call it remembering to remember. Event-based tasks are triggered by a cue, time-based tasks by the clock, and time-based ones are missed more often. It plays a part in 50 to 80 percent of everyday memory tasks.
Drafted with AI by the StudyPDF team. We check dates, numbers and research claims against official sources and read pages on a sample basis. How we write these pages
In more detail
Most memory you study for looks backward: facts, events, definitions. Prospective memory looks forward, and it has two parts. You have to remember what to do, and you have to remember to do it at the right moment. The second part is the one that fails. You know you meant to email your tutor. It just did not come to mind while you had your phone in your hand.
Researchers split it by trigger. Event-based means a cue in the world reminds you, like passing the library and remembering the book you need to return. Time-based means you have to notice the clock yourself, like starting revision at 7 p.m. In comparisons, event-based tasks get done more reliably, because an outside cue does the reminding. A 2006 review by Peter Gollwitzer and Paschal Sheeran of 94 tests found that if-then plans (if it is 7 p.m., then I open my statistics notes) had a medium to large effect on actually reaching goals.
For students this means the plan in your head is the weakest plan you have. Every study task kept only in memory competes with everything else you are holding. Put it on a schedule with a time, a place and a concrete action, and give it an outside cue. Then your prospective memory only has to notice the reminder, not produce it.
Types of prospective memory
| Type | Triggered by | Study example | How to support it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Event-based | A cue in your surroundings | Review notes when you sit down on the train | Tie the task to something you do anyway |
| Time-based | A time or a deadline | Start practice problems at 7 p.m. | A calendar entry with an alarm |
| Activity-based | Finishing another activity | Do 10 flashcards right after lunch | Write it as: after X, I do Y |
Example
Every Sunday Noah tells himself he will start the essay early this week. By Thursday he has not opened it once. He did not forget the essay exists, but no moment ever reminded him to begin. So he puts three 45-minute blocks in his calendar with alarms and writes one concrete task into each entry: outline, first two sections, references. He also leaves the reading on his desk where he sees it when he gets home. He starts on Monday.
How to use it
- 1
Write down every study task instead of keeping it in your head.
- 2
Give each task a day, a start time and a concrete first action.
- 3
Phrase it as an if-then plan: if it is Tuesday at 4 p.m., then I do 20 quiz questions on chapter 3.
- 4
Add an outside cue: an alarm, a calendar notification, or the book left where you will see it.
- 5
Check your plan at the same time every day, so looking at it becomes a habit too.
How StudyPDF does this
Set your exam date in a course's Study plan tab and say how many hours a day you study and on which weekdays. StudyPDF lays out dated sessions over your own material, each with a length and an activity, and Today's plan shows what is due today. You no longer have to remember what to study next, only to open the plan.
Sources
See also
Common questions
What is an example of prospective memory?
Remembering to take medicine at 9 p.m., to buy milk on the way home, or to start revising after dinner. All of them are about doing something later. A student example is remembering to submit a lab report before the Friday deadline. If you know the deadline but miss it anyway, that is a prospective memory failure.
What is the difference between prospective and retrospective memory?
Retrospective memory is remembering the past: facts, words, events. Prospective memory is remembering to carry out an intention in the future. They work together, because you need retrospective memory to know what the task is and prospective memory to do it at the right moment.
Put it to work on your own course
Upload your lectures and ask Bo. Cited answers, plus flashcards, exams, and more built from your material.