Free recall of everyday retrospective and prospective memories: the intention-superiority effect is moderated by action versus state orientation and by gender.

Individual differences in the relative accessibility of everyday memories were investigated. Based on the theory of action control described by Kuhl and colleagues (Kuhl and Beckmann, 1994b), an intention-superiority effect (heightened activation and accessibility of intentions--i.e., prospective memories--compared to retrospective memories) was predicted for state-oriented individuals, but not action-oriented individuals. As predicted, only state-oriented individuals showed an intention-superiority effect, recalling more prospective than retrospective real-life memories. In addition, females, but not males, showed an intention-superiority effect in retrieval of the most accessible memories, memories recalled in the first minute. These results show important moderator variables for the intention-superiority effect and extend previous research to real-life, everyday memories.