The Role of Other Persons in Prospective Memory: Dependence on Other Persons Inhibits Remembering and Execution of a Task

This study investigated how other persons functioned in prospective memory process (PMP) and whether planning in memorization for the task could facilitate an appropriate use of other persons. One-hundred and five undergraduates were divided into 2 (facilitating planning in memorization or not) × 2 (facilitating use of other persons or not) groups. The task was to fill out and mail a questionnaire on a specified day. The main results were as follows; 1) subjects who were facilitated using other persons increased dependence on other persons to remember the task. Dependence inhibited execution of the task, because subjects did not use memory aids so much and could not cope with competitive activities, 2) subjects who were facilitated to plan in memorization increased both execution of task (only in the condition which did not facilitate use of other persons) and use of memory aids. These results suggest that implicit use of other persons could induce negative effects in PMP.