7~11岁小学生前瞻记忆的自我参照效应及其认知机制

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1041.2025.0775

摘要/Abstract

摘要： 本研究首次采用所有权范式, 通过3个实验探究了7至11岁小学生前瞻记忆自我参照效应的产生及其认知机制。结果显示：(1) 无论主动选择(实验1)还是被动分配所有权(实验2), 小学生均会出现前瞻记忆自我参照效应, 且高年级小学生产生了更大效应; (2) 高进行中任务认知负荷条件, 无论显著性还是非显著性目标, 均未出现前瞻记忆自我参照效应。低认知负荷条件, 显著性目标未观察到前瞻记忆自我参照效应, 但非显著性目标出现了该效应。而且, 个体会根据任务情境在自我和他人参照的前瞻记忆目标出现前、后灵活分配认知资源。当认知资源不足时, 个体会优先分配认知资源给与自我相关的前瞻记忆目标(实验3)。研究表明, 通过所有权范式, 7至11岁小学生中能观察到较为稳定的前瞻记忆自我参照效应, 该效应的产生会消耗认知资源。而且, 认知资源会根据任务情境灵活分配, 并呈现出动态加工的特点, 支持了认知资源密集型动态加工。

关键词: 前瞻记忆, 自我参照效应, 认知资源, 小学生

Abstract:

The self-reference effect in prospective memory (PM) refers to the phenomenon in which memory performance for self-referenced planned events or activities, at an appropriate time or situation in the future, is superior to that for other-referenced conditions. Despite its significance, research on the self-reference effect within the realm of PM remains scarce. Elementary school children have a heightened need for PM; thus, focusing on the self-reference effect in this population can provide insights into how they process information related to themselves and others when remembering future events and how the role of “self” can be leveraged to enhance their PM. This study investigated the generation of the self-reference effect in PM and its cognitive mechanisms in elementary school students aged 7−11 years through three experiments, in conjunction with an ownership paradigm.
This study employed the ownership paradigm for the first time to investigate the existence of the self- reference effect in the domain of PM among elementary school students, using the perspectives of active selection (Experiment 1) and passive allocation (Experiment 2). Findings indicated that elementary school students exhibited superior memory performance for self-referenced PM targets compared to those referenced by others, regardless of whether ownership was determined through active selection or passive allocation. This finding confirms the existence of the self-reference effect in PM among the elementary school students. Furthermore, compared with the 7- and 9-year-old groups of elementary school students, the 11-year-old group exhibited larger self-reference effect in PM.
In Experiment 3, the focus shifted to directly investigating the processing mechanism of the self-reference effect in PM by manipulating the target salience and the cognitive load of the ongoing task to observe changes in cognitive resources. Under a high cognitive load condition, the self-reference effect in PM was absent in the salient and non-salient target conditions among the elementary school students. Conversely, under a low cognitive load condition, the self-reference effect was observed in the non-salient PM targets but not in the salient targets. This study revealed a notable decrease in response speed during the ongoing task under both high and low cognitive load conditions, compared to the baseline condition. In addition, the elementary school students were significantly slower in responding to the PM targets for self- and other-references than to those for the ongoing task and the baseline condition. Furthermore, under low cognitive load, reaction times for the ongoing task before the emergence of PM targets were considerably slower than those after the targets appeared. The findings suggested that cognitive resources were allocated to monitor the potential context of a target before its appearance, and the monitoring of relevant intentions is reduced post-target emergence. Meanwhile, under a high cognitive load, the reaction times for the ongoing task before the appearance of the self-referenced PM targets were also significantly slower than those after the appearance of the targets. However, no such difference was observed in the reaction times before and after the appearance of the other-referenced PM targets.
In conclusion, a stable self-reference effect can be observed in the PM of elementary school students when employing the ownership paradigm, with large effects in the upper elementary school grades. The generation of the self-reference effect in PM requires cognitive resources, which are deployed flexibly based on task demands and showcase a dynamic processing characteristic. The finding supports the notion that the self-reference effect in PM involves cognitive resource-intensive dynamic processing, which can further enrich the dynamic processing theory of PM.

Key words: prospective memory, self-reference effect, cognitive resource, elementary school student

中图分类号:

B844

辛聪, 陈幼贞, 田蜜, 刘国雄. (2025). 7~11岁小学生前瞻记忆的自我参照效应及其认知机制. 心理学报, 57(5), 775-791.

XIN Cong, CHEN Youzhen, TIAN Mi, LIU Guoxiong. (2025). The self-reference effect in prospective memory and its cognitive mechanisms in elementary school students aged 7 to 11 years. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 57(5), 775-791.

图/表 14

图1 实验1流程图

图2 刺激呈现图

图3 不同年龄组和参照条件的PM正确率(左)和反应时(右) 注：误差条表示平均值的两个标准误差; *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001; 下同。

图4 不同年龄组和参照条件的PM正确率(左)和反应时(右)

图5 刺激呈现图(以高认知负荷和显著性目标条件为例)

图6 不同认知负荷和参照条件的PM正确率

图7 不同目标显著性和参照条件的PM正确率

图8 不同认知负荷、目标显著性和参照条件的PM正确率

图9 不同认知负荷和参照条件的PM反应时

图10 不同目标显著性和参照条件的PM反应时

图11 不同认知负荷、目标显著性和参照条件的PM反应时

图12 不同试次类型和参照条件的进行中任务反应时

图13 不同认知负荷、试次类型和参照条件的进行中任务反应时

图14 认知资源密集型动态加工

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