Salient cues facilitate automatic processes in prospective memory.

Salient cues can improve prospective memory performance. This effect is usually explained through the multiprocess framework, which suggests that salient cues recruit more automatic processes and require fewer cognitive resources than nonsalient cues. However, this explanation lacks direct empirical support, as the accuracy and response time data obtained in behavioral experiments are inadequate for providing an index to indicate the extent to which cognitive resources are recruited. To overcome this difficulty, the present study aimed to use the event-related potentials (ERP) technique to investigate the neurocognitive differences between the processing of salient and nonsalient prospective memory cues and verify whether salient cues facilitate automatic processes. Two experimental conditions were designed to manipulate the salience of prospective memory cues. During an ongoing task, participants were required to detect the word 'apple' (nonsalient prospective memory cue condition) or the red words (salient prospective memory cue condition). The results showed that the nonsalient prospective memory trials elicited sustained larger amplitudes than ongoing trials, whereas the salient prospective memory trials elicited sustained smaller amplitudes than ongoing trials, suggesting that the processing of salient prospective memory cues requires fewer cognitive resources compared to the nonsalient prospective memory cues. Moreover, resource-demanding ERP components were elicited in the processing of nonsalient prospective memory cues, but salient prospective memory cues were not. These results demonstrate that salient cues may facilitate automatic processes in prospective memory.