Abstract：
BACKGROUND: Laboratory-based studies have shown that children\'s ability to remember intentions (i.e., prospective memory; PM) can be improved by asking them to imagine performing the PM task beforehand (i.e., episodic future thinking; EFT) or to predict their PM performance. Moreover, combining the two strategies resulted in an additional improvement in children\'s PM performance. However, the effectiveness of these encoding strategies on real-life PM tasks is still unknown.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of EFT instructions, performance predictions, and of their combination on children\'s PM in a natural setting, namely in the classroom.
METHODS: Twelve classes composed by a total of 121 children (53% females) aged between seven and 9 years participated to the study.
METHODS: As a PM task, children were asked by their teachers to deliver a letter to their parents and to bring it back to school the next day. Children were divided into four groups: control, prediction, EFT, and the EFT + prediction group. Parent reports on children\'s everyday prospective and retrospective memory failures were also collected.
RESULTS: Results showed that encoding strategies were effective in enhancing children\'s PM performance. However, differences compared to previous laboratory-based findings emerged since predicting PM performance resulted to be most effective in enhancing real-life PM performance. Moreover, parent reports were related to children\'s PM performance.
CONCLUSIONS: These novel findings highlight the importance of studying PM interventions in natural settings in order to increase their ecological validity and inform educational practices.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of EFT instructions, performance predictions, and of their combination on children\'s PM in a natural setting, namely in the classroom.
METHODS: Twelve classes composed by a total of 121 children (53% females) aged between seven and 9 years participated to the study.
METHODS: As a PM task, children were asked by their teachers to deliver a letter to their parents and to bring it back to school the next day. Children were divided into four groups: control, prediction, EFT, and the EFT + prediction group. Parent reports on children\'s everyday prospective and retrospective memory failures were also collected.
RESULTS: Results showed that encoding strategies were effective in enhancing children\'s PM performance. However, differences compared to previous laboratory-based findings emerged since predicting PM performance resulted to be most effective in enhancing real-life PM performance. Moreover, parent reports were related to children\'s PM performance.
CONCLUSIONS: These novel findings highlight the importance of studying PM interventions in natural settings in order to increase their ecological validity and inform educational practices.
摘要：
背景：基于实验室的研究表明，儿童记住意图的能力（即，预期记忆；PM)可以通过要求他们想象事先执行PM任务(即，偶发性未来思考；EFT)或预测他们的PM表现。此外，将这两种策略结合起来，儿童的PM表现得到了额外的改善。然而,这些编码策略对现实生活中的PM任务的有效性仍然未知。
目的：本研究的目的是评估EFT说明的效果，性能预测，以及它们在自然环境中对儿童PM的组合，即在教室里。
方法：共有121名年龄在7至9岁之间的儿童（53％为女性）参加了该研究。
方法：作为PM任务，他们的老师要求孩子们给父母写一封信，并在第二天带回学校。儿童分为四组：对照组，预测，EFT,和EFT+预测组。还收集了有关儿童日常前瞻性和回顾性记忆障碍的家长报告。
结果：结果表明，编码策略可有效提高儿童的PM表现。然而,与以前基于实验室的发现相比，出现了差异，因为预测PM性能导致最有效地增强现实生活中的PM性能。此外，家长报告与儿童的PM表现有关。
结论：这些新发现强调了在自然环境中研究PM干预措施的重要性，以提高其生态有效性并为教育实践提供信息。
目的：本研究的目的是评估EFT说明的效果，性能预测，以及它们在自然环境中对儿童PM的组合，即在教室里。
方法：共有121名年龄在7至9岁之间的儿童（53％为女性）参加了该研究。
方法：作为PM任务，他们的老师要求孩子们给父母写一封信，并在第二天带回学校。儿童分为四组：对照组，预测，EFT,和EFT+预测组。还收集了有关儿童日常前瞻性和回顾性记忆障碍的家长报告。
结果：结果表明，编码策略可有效提高儿童的PM表现。然而,与以前基于实验室的发现相比，出现了差异，因为预测PM性能导致最有效地增强现实生活中的PM性能。此外，家长报告与儿童的PM表现有关。
结论：这些新发现强调了在自然环境中研究PM干预措施的重要性，以提高其生态有效性并为教育实践提供信息。
