Focal and nonfocal prospective memory performance in very mild dementia: a signature decline.

Objective: In a recent study, performance on a certain kind of prospective memory task (PM), labeled focal PM, was sensitive to the very early stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD; Duchek, Balota, & Cortese, 2006). This study sought to replicate and extend these findings by investigating both focal and nonfocal PM, as well as possible influences of alleles of the apolipoprotein E (ApoE) gene.

Method: Thirty-five healthy older adults and 33 adults in the very earliest stages of AD, as determined by the clinical dementia rating scale, completed both focal and nonfocal PM tasks.

Discrepancy processes in prospective memory retrieval.

Discrepancy processes may be helpful in noticing prospective memory targets (McDaniel, Guynn, Einstein, & Breneiser, 2004). We manipulated the discrepancy of prospective memory targets from the processing coherence established by the ongoing task by preexposing nontarget items in the ongoing task either five times (high discrepancy) or two times (low discrepancy). Prospective memory performance was significantly better in the high-discrepancy group than in the low-discrepancy group.