Routine or habitual prospective memory tasks (e.g., taking medication) have
the potential for creating conclusions regarding whether or not an action
has already been performed. We del eloped a laboratory paradigm for examini
ng the kinds of processes thought to be operating in these kinds of tasks.
Younger and older participants were asked to perform an action once and onl
y once on each of 11 trials. The results show ed that age and divided atten
tion contributed to both omission and repetition errors. This new paradigm
reveals memory failures in a habitual prospective memory task, and the,resu
lts demonstrate that older adults ale particularly susceptible ro these mem
ory problems.