Outsourcing Memory to External Tools: A Review of 'Intention Offloading'

Abstract

How do we remember delayed intentions? Three decades of research into prospective memory have provided insight into the cognitive and neural mechanisms involved in this form of memory. However, we depend on more than just our brains to remember intentions. We also use external props and tools such as calendars and diaries, strategically placed objects, and technologies such as smartphone alerts. This is known as 'intention offloading'. Despite the progress in our understanding of brain-based prospective memory, we know much less about the role of intention offloading in individuals' ability to fulfil delayed intentions. Here, we review recent research into intention offloading, with a particular focus on how individuals decide between storing intentions in internal memory versus external reminders. We also review studies investigating how intention offloading changes across the lifespan and how it relates to underlying brain mechanisms. We conclude that intention offloading is highly effective, experimentally tractable, and guided by metacognitive processes. Individuals have systematic biases in their offloading strategies that are stable over time. Evidence also suggests that individual differences and developmental changes in offloading strategies are driven at least in part by metacognitive processes. Therefore, metacognitive interventions could play an important role in promoting individuals' adaptive use of cognitive tools.

Keywords: Cognitive offloading; Memory; Metacognition; Metamemory; Prospective memory.

Fig. 1

Schematic illustration of the intention offloading task

Fig. 2

Schematic illustration of the ‘optimal reminders’ variation of the intention offloading task. Participants drag circles in numerical sequence to the bottom of the box, removing them from the screen. Each circle that is removed is replaced with another one that continues the sequence. Sometimes new circles appear in a colour that matches one of the other sides of the square. This represents an instruction to drag that circle to the corresponding side when it is eventually reached in the sequence. Multiple target circles are presented within a single trial, meaning that participants are unlikely to remember all of them if they rely only on internal memory. However, the task is straightforward if reminders are used