Optimal Use of Reminders: Data and Code, 2020

Researchers have developed many experimental tasks for studying memory for intentions in the laboratory. Virtually all of these tasks prevent participants from using external tools and reminders. However, in everyday life we often use diaries or to-do lists, or we set up reminders in our environment. How do we decide whether or not to use these strategies? What consequences do they have for our behaviour? How much do individuals differ in whether or not they use reminders, and what can we do to influence this? While some studies have investigated these questions in brain-injured individuals, we know very little about healthy people. Yet, with new technologies such as smartphone reminder apps and wearable devices, we increasingly 'offload' intentions into the world around us. This proposal describes a systematic and detailed investigation of 'intention offloading'. Data from Gilbert, S.J., Bird, A., Carpenter, J., Fleming, S.M., Sachdeva, C., & Tsai, P.C. (2020). Optimal use of reminders: Metacognition, effort, and cognitive offloading. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 149, 501-517研究人员已在实验室中开发出多项实验任务，用于开展意图记忆的相关研究。上述任务几乎均要求被试不得使用外部工具或提醒物。然而在日常生活中，人们常会借助日记、待办事项清单，或是在周遭环境中设置提醒来辅助记忆。那么我们该如何抉择是否启用此类辅助策略？这类策略会对个体行为产生何种影响？不同个体在使用提醒物的倾向上存在多大差异？我们又该如何干预这一倾向？尽管已有部分研究针对脑损伤个体展开了相关探究，但我们对健康人群的相关认知仍极为有限。而随着智能手机提醒应用、可穿戴设备等新技术的普及，人们愈发倾向于将意图“卸载”至周遭环境中。本提案将对“意图卸载（intention offloading）”展开系统性与精细化的探究。本研究数据来源于Gilbert, S.J.、Bird, A.、Carpenter, J.、Fleming, S.M.、Sachdeva, C.与Tsai, P.C.于2020年发表于《实验心理学杂志：总论》（*Journal of Experimental Psychology: General*）第149卷第501至517页的研究成果，论文标题为《提醒物的最优使用：元认知、努力程度与认知卸载（cognitive offloading）》