ABSTRACT According to the executive framework of prospective memory (PM), age-related differences in PM performance are mediated by age-related differences in executive functioning (EF). The present study further explored this framework by examining which specific components of EF are associated with PM differences between and within three age groups. A group of children (7–9 years; N = 108), adolescents (12–14 years; N = 112), and adults (17–23 years; N = 106) performed focal- and non-focal event-based PM (EBPM) tasks, a time-based PM (TBPM) task, and tasks measuring EF components. Differences between age groups in focal EBPM, non-focal EBPM, and TBPM performance were mediated by, respectively, differences in interference control and response inhibition, performance on the ongoing task, and differences in working memory and response inhibition. However, within-age group analyses only revealed WM updating as significant predictor of TBPM performance in the adolescent group. These results support and further qualify the executive framework of PM. The differences in outcome dependent on the examined age range might be important for explaining mixed results of previous studies regarding the precise EF components underlying age-related PM task performance differences.

中文翻译：

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前瞻性记忆的年龄差异：对执行框架的进一步评估

摘要 根据前瞻记忆 (PM) 的执行框架，PM 表现的年龄相关差异是由执行功能 (EF) 的年龄相关差异介导的。本研究通过检查 EF 的哪些特定成分与三个年龄组之间和内部的 PM 差异相关联，进一步探索了该框架。一组儿童（7–9 岁；N = 108）、青少年（12–14 岁；N = 112）和成人（17–23 岁；N = 106）进行了基于焦点和非焦点事件的 PM (EBPM) 任务、基于时间的 PM (TBPM) 任务和测量 EF 组件的任务。年龄组间局灶性 EBPM、非局灶性 EBPM 和 TBPM 表现的差异分别由干扰控制和反应抑制、正在进行的任务的表现以及工作记忆和反应抑制的差异介导。然而，年龄组内分析仅显示 WM 更新是青少年组 TBPM 表现的重要预测因子。这些结果支持并进一步限定了 PM 的执行框架。结果的差异取决于所检查的年龄范围，对于解释先前研究的混合结果可能很重要，这些研究关于与年龄相关的 PM 任务性能差异背后的精确 EF 组件。