Abstract: There were conflicting results among past research on Transfer- appropriate Processing (for short TAP) effect in prospective memory. Although no specific findings has indicated that certain factors influenced the TAP effect, other studies found that task importance may have distinct effects on the performance of prospective memory in different experimental conditions. This research explored the influence of task importance on TAP effect in prospective memory.
Methods
In this study, 48 undergraduate/graduate students were randomly selected from Zhejiang University as subjects. A dual-task experimental paradigm was used. Using ANOVA and t-test as analytical tools, we examined the influence of task importance on TAP effect in prospective memory.
Results
When ongoing tasks were more important, the difference between prospective memory performances under two different experimental conditions were significant, and there was marked TAP effect; when the prospective memory tasks were more important, the difference between two kinds of prospective memory performances decreased, and TAP effect did not appear.
Conclusions
Task importance was one of the factors that influenced TAP effect in prospective memory. It had significant influence on TAP effect

Key words: prospective memory, TAP effect, task importance