The effects of cognitive load and encoding modality on prospective memory

Successful execution of an intention as planned is necessary for people's normal life. However, people sometimes even forget intentions that they consider as very important. Hence, the issues that whether prospective memory performance can be improved under high cognitive load tasks are worth discussing. In this study, we used a 2 (cognitive load: high or standard) × 2 (encoding modality: verbal or enactment encoding) mixed design to explore the effects of encoding modality and cognitive load of ongoing tasks on prospective memory. The results showed that the prospective memory performance under high cognitive load condition was significantly worse than that under standard cognitive load condition for verbal encoding condition. However, for enactment encoding condition, enactment encoding enhanced the performance and abolished the difference between high and low cognitive load effects on prospective memory. Strategic issues of prospective memory will be discussed.