Traumatic brain injury and prospective memory: Influence of task complexity

Abstract

A quantitative review indicated that prospective memory impairment is a consistent feature of traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, evidence also suggests that manipulations that increase demands on controlled attentional processes moderate the magnitude of observed deficits. A total of 16 TBI participants were compared with 15 matched controls on a task in which the number of prospective target events was manipulated. This manipulation was of interest because two competing models make different predictions as to its effect on controlled attentional processes. In the context of Smith and Bayen's (2004) preparatory attentional processes and memory processes (PAM) model increasing the number of target events should increase requirements for controlled attentional processing. In contrast, McDaniel and Einstein's (2000) multiprocess framework assumes that distinct target events presented in focal awareness of the processing activities required for the ongoing task are likely to depend on automatic processes. This latter model therefore leads to the prediction that increasing the number of target events should not increase demands upon controlled attentional processes. Consistent with McDaniel and Einstein's (2000) multiprocess framework, TBI patients were significantly and comparably impaired on the one- and the four-target-event conditions relative to controls. Further, TBI deficits could not be attributed to increased difficulty with the retrospective component of the prospective memory task. The practical and theoretical implications of these results are discussed.

This research was funded by Tenovus Scotland and The British Academy. Many thanks to Janet Cockburn, Skye McDonald, David Shum, and Giovanni Carlesimo for providing information that enabled calculation of precise estimates of effect sizes from their studies. Thanks also to Katie Cherry for providing information on the construction of the prospective memory task used in the present study and Kevin Bird for advice relating to statistical analyses.