Abstract
An implementation intention is a self-regulatory strategy often used in prospective memory research to boost performance by creating a strong association between a to-be-encountered environmental stimulus (e.g., the door to exit one’s home) and an intended action (e.g., checking to be sure one has the keys). In this chapter, we examine the evidence for the purported automaticity of implementation intentions as well we discuss the extent to which encoding an implementation intention varies (e.g., they can be encoded verbally, through writing, and explicit use of imagery). This chapter concludes with an examination of the underlying mechanism of implementation intentions, and we describe a recent theory that employs a simulation-based account to explain the effectiveness of implementation intentions.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Anderson, J. R. (1987). Skill acquisition: Compilation of weak-method problem solutions. Psychological Review, 94, 192–210.
Bandura, A. (1991). Social cognitive theory of self-regulation. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 248–287.
Barsalou, L. W. (1999). Perceptual symbol systems. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 22, 577–660.
Bargh, J. A. (1989). Conditional automaticity: Varieties of automatic influence in social perception and cognition. Unintended Thought, 3, 51–69.
Bayer, U. C., Achtziger, A., Gollwitzer, P. M., & Moskowitz, G. B. (2009). Responding to subliminal cues: Do if-then plans facilitate action preparation and initiation without conscious intent? Social Cognition, 27, 183–201.
Brandstätter, V., Lengfelder, A., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2001). Implementation intentions and efficient action initiation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 946–960.
Chasteen, A. L., Park, D. C., & Schwarz, N. (2001). Implementation intentions and facilitation of prospective memory. Psychological Science, 12(6), 457–461.
Chen, X.-J., Liu, L.-L., Cui, J.-F., Gan, M.-Y., Li, C.-Q., Neumann, D. L., et al. (2016). The effect and mechanisms of implementation intention in improving prospective memory performance in schizophrenia patients. Psychiatry Research, 244, 86–93.
Cohen, A.-L., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2008). The cost of remembering to remember: Cognitive load and implementation intentions influence ongoing task performance. In M. Kliegel, M. McDaniel, & G. Einstein (Eds.), Prospective memory: Cognitive, neuroscience, developmental, and applied perspectives (pp. 367–390). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Cohen, A.-L., Bayer, U. C., Jaudas, A., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2008). Self-regulatory strategy and executive control: implementation intentions modulate task switching and Simon task performance. Psychological Research, 72, 12–26.
Crovitz, H. F., & Daniel, W. F. (1984). Measurements of everyday memory: Toward the prevention of forgetting. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 22(5), 413–414.
Einstein, G. O., McDaniel, M. A., Thomas, R., Mayfield, S., Shank, H., Morrisette, N., et al. (2005). Multiple processes in prospective memory retrieval: Factors determining monitoring versus spontaneous retrieval. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 134, 327–342.
Exner, S. (1879). Physiologie der Grosshirnrinde. In L. Hermann (Ed.), Handbuch Der Physiologie [Handbook of psychology] (Vol. 2, pp. 189–350). Leipzig, Germany: Vogel.
Fitts, P. M., & Posner, M. I. (1967). Human performance. Monterey, CA: Brooks-Cole.
Gollwitzer, P. M. (1993). Goal achievement: The role of intentions. European Review of Social Psychology, 4(1), 141–185.
Gollwitzer, P. M. (1999). Implementation intentions: Strong effects of simple plans. American Psychologist, 54(7), 493.
Gollwitzer, P. M., & Brandstätter, V. (1997). Implementation intentions and effective goal pursuit. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73(1), 186.
Gollwitzer, P. M., & Moskowitz, G. B. (1996). Goal effects on action and cognition. Konstanz: Bibliothek der Universität Konstanz.
Gollwitzer, P. M., & Oettingen, G. (2007). The role of goal setting and goal striving in medical adherence. In D. C. Park & L. L. Liu (Eds.), Medical adherence and aging: Social and cognitive perspectives (pp. 23–47). Washington, D. C: American Psychological Association.
Gollwitzer, P. M., & Sheeran, P. (2006). Implementation intentions and goal achievement: A meta-analysis of effects and processes. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 69–119.
Guynn, M. J. (2003). A two-process model of strategic monitoring in event-based prospective memory: Activation/retrieval mode and checking. International Journal of Psychology, 38(4), 245–256.
Hommel, B. (2000). The prepared reflex: Automaticity and control in stimulus response translation. In S. Monsell & J. Driver (Eds.), Attention and performance, 18: Control of cognitive processes (pp. 247–273). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Kiefer, M., & Pulvermüller, F. (2012). Conceptual representations in mind and brain: theoretical developments, current evidence and future directions. Cortex, 48(7), 805–825.
Liu, L. L., & Park, D. C. (2004). Aging and medical adherence: the use of automatic processes to achieve effortful things. Psychology and Aging, 19(2), 318.
Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (1990). Work motivation and satisfaction: Light at the end of the tunnel. Psychological Science, 1(4), 240–246.
Marsh, R. L., Hicks, J. L., Cook, G. I., Hansen, J. S., & Pallos, A. L. (2003). Interference to ongoing activities covaries with the characteristics of an event-based intention. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 29, 861–870.
Martiny-Huenger, T., Martiny, S. E., Parks-Stamm, E. J., Pfeiffer, E., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2017). From thought to action: A simulation account of action planning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 146, 1513–1525.
McCrea, S. M., Penningroth, S. L., & Radakovich, M. P. (2015). Implementation intentions forge a strong cue–response link and boost prospective memory performance. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 27, 12–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/20445911.2014.975816
McDaniel, M. A., & Einstein, G. O. (1992). Aging and prospective memory: Basic findings and practical applications. Advances in Learning and Behavioral Disabilities, 7(87), 105.
McDaniel, M. A., Howard, D. C., & Butler, K. M. (2008). Implementation intentions facilitate prospective memory under high attention demands. Memory & Cognition, 36(4), 716–724.
McDaniel, M. A., & Scullin, M. K. (2010). Implementation intention encoding does not automatize prospective memory responding. Memory & Cognition, 38(2), 221–232.
Meeks, J. T., & Marsh, R. L. (2010). Implementation intentions about nonfocal event-based prospective memory tasks. Psychological Research PRPF, 74(1), 82.
Meiran, N., Pereg, M., Kessler, Y., Cole, M. W., & Braver, T. S. (2015). The power of instructions: Proactive configuration of stimulus–response translation. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 41, 768–786.
Newell, A., & Rosenbloom, P. S. (1981). Mechanisms of skill acquisition and the law of practice. Cognitive Skills and Their Acquisition, 1, 1–55.
Norman, P., & Wrona-Clarke, A. (2016). Combining self-affirmation and implementation intentions to reduce heavy episodic drinking in university students. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 30(4), 434.
Orbell, S., Hodgldns, S., & Sheeran, P. (1997). Implementation intentions and the theory of planned behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23(9), 945–954.
Parks-Stamm, E. J., Gollwitzer, P. M., & Oettingen, G. (2007). Action control by implementation intentions: Effective cue detection and efficient response initiation. Social Cognition, 25(2), 248–266.
Prestwich, A., Lawton, R., & Conner, M. (2003). The use of implementation intentions and the decision balance sheet in promoting exercise behavior. Psychology and Health, 18, 707–722.
Scullin, M. K., Einstein, G. O., & McDaniel, M. A. (2009). Evidence for spontaneous retrieval of suspended but not finished prospective memories. Memory & Cognition, 37(4), 425–433.
Scullin, M. K., & McDaniel, M. A. (2010). Remembering to execute a goal: sleep on it! Psychological Science, 21(7), 1028–1035.
Smith, R. E. (2003). The cost of remembering to remember in event-based prospective memory: investigating the capacity demands of delayed intention performance. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 29(3), 347.
Sohn, M. H., & Anderson, J. R. (2001). Task preparation and task repetition: Two-component model of task switching. Journal of Experimental Psychology General, 130(4), 764–778.
Uttl, B. (2008). Transparent Meta-Analysis of Prospective Memory and Aging. PLoS One, 3, e1568. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0001568
Webb, T. L., & Sheeran, P. (2007). How do implementation intentions promote goal attainment? A test of component processes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 43(2), 295–302.
Webb, T. L., & Sheeran, P. (2008). Mechanisms of implementation intention effects: the role of goal intentions, self-efficacy, and accessibility of plan components. British Journal of Social Psychology, 47(3), 373–395.
Wicklund, R. A., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (1982). Symbolic self-completion. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Cohen, AL., Hicks, J.L. (2017). Implementation Intentions. In: Prospective Memory. SpringerBriefs in Psychology(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68990-6_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68990-6_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-68989-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-68990-6
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)