Beyond Completion: Exploring the Persistence of Intentions in Prospective Memory

Abstract

Prospective memory (PM)- the ability to execute planned actions at some appropriate time in the future- is essential for adaptive, goal-directed behaviour. As vital as this ability is, it is equally essential to inhibit an action associated with a plan or intention once it is completed, cancelled or becomes irrelevant. However, it seems that such is not the case always. And not inhibiting irrelevant actions can have real-world consequences for safety and efficiency. While extensive research has focused on the successful encoding and retrieval of future intentions, relatively little is known about what happens to completed or non-relevant intentions. The process of inhibiting non-relevant or completed intentions is called intention deactivation and the consequences of ineffective deactivation are called aftereffects.