Gyula Demeter

for PM actions. There are situations when we need to be prepared in some way for the
potential occurrence of the target to be able to perceive it (Smith, 2003).
The PAM theory argues that for an intention to be executed we have to devote some
amount of our limited cognitive capacity to make decisions about how to respond to the
environment around us and it refers to these as preparatory attentional processes. These
processes prepare us for the return of the intended action to the focus of attention and are
required during the performance interval (Smith, 2008). For example if we must remember to
buy a book on the way back home, we must engage in preparatory processing during the
interval when the opportunity to stop at a bookstore is possible but not during the whole day.
The amount of available cognitive capacity and the capacity devoted to the ongoing
activity influences the probability that an intention be completed and beside these according
to the theory it can be said that successful PM also involves correctly recognizing the target
events and recalling the intended actions (Smith, 2008). The core difference between the
multiprocess framework (McDaniel & Einstein, 2000) and PAM theory is that the latter
proposes that PM tasks for successful performance will always require resource-demanding
preparatory processes, while the multiprocess framework states that there are cases when
intentions are automatically retrieved.
Theory of monitoring
There is a recent concept that proposes that monitoring comprises two processes that
demand resources: instantiating a PM retrieval mode and making periodic checks of the
environment for an appropriate target to execute the intended action (Guynn, 2008). The
retrieval mode concept refers to the mental set from the retrospective memory literature which
is required by the attempt to retrieve information independent from its success or failure (see
Tulving, 1983; 2002).
There is a vast amount of data from cognitive neuroscience studies (fMRI, PET, ERP)
supporting a specific right frontal activation pattern when subjects try to remember
information from their past indifferent from its success (Nyberg et al., 1995; McIntosh,
Nyberg, Bookstein, & Tulving, 1997; Rugg, Fletcher, Frith, Frackowiak, & Dolna, 1997).
In PM research retrieval mode is also conceptualized as a task set to treat stimuli as cues
to retrieve stored intentions (Guynn, 2008). Retrieval mode is a more continuous while target
checking a more periodic process. The two component theory was elaborated in the context of
event based prospective memory, but may also apply to time-based prospective memory.
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