Adults with ADHD showed large-scale impairment in task planning specifically. A later study found everyday prospective-memory deficits mediate the relationship between ADHD symptoms and procrastination.
How it was done
45 unmedicated adults with ADHD and 45 matched controls completed a complex prospective-memory task requiring planning, recall of the plan, self-initiation and execution.
What it means
Prospective memory is remembering to remember — the faculty that has to fire for "I should message her" to become a sent message. It is a distinct capacity from remembering that the intention existed.
It names the failure precisely without diagnosing anyone. The intention is not forgotten in the ordinary sense; it simply never converts, and the person is left with a vague sense of having meant to do something.
This is the clearest bridge from the implementation-intention work to a population where the gap between intending and acting is widest.
