Outsourcing Memory to External Tools: A Review of ‘Intention Offloading’

How do we remember delayed intentions? Three decades of research into prospective memory have provided insight into the cognitive and neural mechanisms involved in this form of memory. However, we depend on more than just our brains to remember intentions. We also use external props and tools such a...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychonomic bulletin & review 2023-02, Vol.30 (1), p.60-76
Main Authors: Gilbert, Sam J., Boldt, Annika, Sachdeva, Chhavi, Scarampi, Chiara, Tsai, Pei-Chun
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Behavioral Science and Psychology
Brain
Brain research
Cognition & reasoning
Cognitive Psychology
Humans
Intention
Laboratories
Memory
Memory, Episodic
Mental Recall
Metacognition
Outsourced Services
Psychology
Smartphones
Theoretical/Review
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:How do we remember delayed intentions? Three decades of research into prospective memory have provided insight into the cognitive and neural mechanisms involved in this form of memory. However, we depend on more than just our brains to remember intentions. We also use external props and tools such as calendars and diaries, strategically placed objects, and technologies such as smartphone alerts. This is known as ‘intention offloading’. Despite the progress in our understanding of brain-based prospective memory, we know much less about the role of intention offloading in individuals’ ability to fulfil delayed intentions. Here, we review recent research into intention offloading, with a particular focus on how individuals decide between storing intentions in internal memory versus external reminders. We also review studies investigating how intention offloading changes across the lifespan and how it relates to underlying brain mechanisms. We conclude that intention offloading is highly effective, experimentally tractable, and guided by metacognitive processes. Individuals have systematic biases in their offloading strategies that are stable over time. Evidence also suggests that individual differences and developmental changes in offloading strategies are driven at least in part by metacognitive processes. Therefore, metacognitive interventions could play an important role in promoting individuals’ adaptive use of cognitive tools.
ISSN:1069-9384
1531-5320
1531-5320
DOI:10.3758/s13423-022-02139-4