Older adults show reduced reminder bias relative to objective need despite setting more reminders¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · review r2–r3 · q2
Currency · newest study 2023 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Older adults set numerically more reminders but were less biased towards external reminders than younger adults relative to their performance level, and showed no significant bias or underconfidence. → Gilbert 2023 q2 i? Older adults remained significantly worse at the task even when allowed to set reminders, and were overconfident in their unaided ability. → Gilbert 2023 (2)

Evidence¶

Gilbert 2023¶

Gilbert, S. J., Boldt, A., Sachdeva, C., Scarampi, C., & Tsai, P.-C. (2023). Outsourcing Memory to External Tools: A Review of 'Intention Offloading'. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-022-02139-4

q2 · i? · review · r3

The review reports Tsai et al. (2022), which used the optimal reminders paradigm with older and younger adults; older adults' higher reminder use reflected greater need, not greater preference. No effect size is printed.

"Results showed that even though older adults set numerically more remind- ers, they were in fact less biased towards external reminders than younger adults."

Gilbert 2023 (2)¶

Gilbert, S. J., Boldt, A., Sachdeva, C., Scarampi, C., & Tsai, P.-C. (2023). Outsourcing Memory to External Tools: A Review of 'Intention Offloading'. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-022-02139-4

q2 · i? · review · r2

The review reports Scarampi and Gilbert (2021), who administered the intention offloading task to younger (18–30 years) and older (65–84 years) participants; older adults were overconfident and did not fully compensate. No effect size is printed.

"older adults still performed significantly worse on the task, despite the option to set reminders as a compensatory strategy"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Individuals systematically overuse reminders relative to the optimal offloading level, and reminder bias correlates with confidence and metacognitive bias — a broader claim this one bears on
• Individuals show a systematic positive reminder bias, setting more reminders than optimal — a broader claim this one bears on
• In Experiment 1, participants in both groups were significantly biased towards excessive reminder use relative to the optimal strategy — related
• In Experiment 1, a five-trial metacognitive prediction-plus-feedback intervention significantly reduced reminder bias, producing more optimal reminder-setting behaviour — related
• In Experiment 1, lower confidence predicted greater offloading beyond objective performance in the no-feedback group, but not in the feedback group — related
• Developmental change in offloading reflects metacognitive control, not knowledge — related
• Feedback interventions show phase-specific effects: advice feedback reduces reminder bias, but ranking feedback alters beliefs without increasing offloading — related
• External reminders dramatically reduce forgetting of delayed intentions — related
• Within-person reminders of implementation intentions improve students' short-term study behaviour — related
• Shifting information to external aids enhances task performance with greater gains under high cognitive load — related