THE ROLE OF ENACTMENT IN PROSPECTIVE REMEMBERING

This study investigated, in a laboratory setting, whether prospective memory (remembering to perform intended actions in the future) would b e improved by self-enactment of the to-be-remembered tasks. The subjec ts, 45 university students, were asked to remember later to perform fi ve tasks that they initially enacted themselves, watched the experimen ter perform, or had described to them. These tasks were to be performe d, ostensibly in preparation for the next subject, at the end of 30 mi n of filler activity, which was presented as the experimental task. Su rprisingly, self-enactment produced the poorest prospective rememberin g. Speculative explanations are offered in terms of both metacognitive expectations about memory and output-monitoring deficiencies.