Executive control contributes little to prospective memory function in older age: evidence from more ecologically valid paradigms

Age-related losses in executive control are widely assumed to contribute to prospective memory (PM) lapses in late adulthood, but to date, this assumption has gained only inconsistent support from lab-based studies. The present study tested whether age indirectly affects PM via (1) individual differences in specific executive control operations (a parallel mediated model), or (2) a serially mediated model, with processing speed as the first mediator. Older adults (