Incentives and practice improve prospective memory performance in older adults

TL;DR

Older adults perform better in memory tasks when motivated by avoiding losses rather than gaining rewards, and practice helps with certain types of memory.

Contribution

The study shows that avoiding financial losses is more effective than financial gains for improving memory performance in older adults.

Findings

Financial losses led to faster event-based memory responses and more strategic time-based memory checking.

Practice improved event-based memory but had no effect on time-based memory.

Incentives should be tailored to the type of memory being tested for optimal results.

Abstract

Prospective memory can decline with age. Incentives or practice may improve it. Previous research indicated that avoiding financial losses may be more appealing for older adults than achieving financial gains.

In this study, we examined whether financial gains, financial losses, or practice will improve prospective memory performance in older adults. We included N = 132 healthy adults (60–80 years old, 35% female).

We used a between-subject factor ‘group’ (event-based or time-based prospective memory; financial gains or losses) and a within-subject factor ‘practice’ comprising 2 blocks (first or second half of task trials). All participants performed a 1-back task as an ongoing task and a prospective memory task embedded in the 1-back task. We used linear effects modelling to examine whether incentives or practice improved task accuracy, response times, or clock checking.

The prospect of financial losses accelerated event-based prospective memory responses and led to more strategic clock checking in the time-based prospective memory task compared to the prospect of financial gains. In addition, it accelerated ongoing task responses compared to financial gains. Practice, in contrast, only improved event-based prospective memory with no effect on time-based prospective memory.

Our findings highlight the importance of choosing an incentive adjusted to the performance outcome when designing studies that examine the influence of incentives or practice on prospective memory.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40520-025-03127-z.

Figures