Imagine that: Self-Imagination Improves Prospective Memory in Memory-Impaired Individuals with Neurological Damage

摘要

Recent research has demonstrated that “self-imagination” – a mnemonic strategy developed by – enhances episodic memory in memory-impaired individuals with neurological damage more than traditional cognitive strategies, including semantic elaboration and visual imagery. The present study investigated the effect of self-imagination on prospective memory in individuals with neurologically-based memory deficits. In two separate sessions, 12 patients with memory impairment took part in a computerized general knowledge test that required them to answer multiple choice questions (i.e. ongoing task) and press the “1” key when a target word appeared in a question (i.e. prospective memory task). Prior to the start of the general knowledge test in each session, participants attempted to encode the prospective memory task with one of two strategies: self-imagination or rote-rehearsal. The findings revealed a “self-imagination effect (SIE)” in prospective memory as self-imagining resulted in better prospective memory performance than rote-rehearsal. These results demonstrate that the mnemonic advantage of self-imagination extends to prospective memory in memory-impaired individuals with neurological damage and suggest that self-imagination has potential in cognitive rehabilitation.