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Delay discounting (DD) refers to the phenomenon in which the subjective value of future rewards is reduced over time. There are individual differences in the DD rate, and increased discounting has been observed in those with various psychiatric disorders. Episodic future thinking (EFT) is the act of vividly imagining events that may happen in the future. Studies have shown that EFT could reduce DD, although inconsistent results have been reported. The aim of this meta-analysis was to clarify the efficacy with which EFT reduces DD and to identify potential moderators. Forty-seven studies (including 63 contrasts) were included in the final analysis. EFT was found to significantly reduce DD (Hedges' g = 0.52). Moderator analysis showed that positive EFT (g = 0.64) was more effective in reducing DD than EFT with the valence not specifically mentioned (g = 0.28) and EFT with neutral or negative valence (g = –0.03). In addition, several factors related to the control task and DD task were related to the efficacy of EFT to reduce DD. These findings have implications for using EFT to reduce DD in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Saccade-induced retrieval enhancement (SIRE) refers to the phenomenon that actively engaging in horizontal eye movements before recall enhances subsequent memory performance. This effect is thought to be the result of interhemispheric interactions stimulated by saccades. An alternative explanation is that saccades promote memory retrieval by improving top–down attention control. Thus, the mechanisms of SIRE are unclear, and the present meta-analysis quantitatively analysed the effect of saccades on memory performance and examined the mechanisms of SIRE. We searched "Web of Science," "PubMed," and "Springer" for peer-reviewed papers using the keywords "eye movements + memory" and "saccades + memory." Twenty-two papers were included in the final analysis. There was a significant facilitation of horizontal saccades on overall memory performance, with a pooled effect size (Cohen's d) of 0.45 (p <.001). However, the overall effect of vertical saccades was not significant (d = 0.1, p =.14). Moderation analysis showed that the handedness of participants was a significant moderator of SIRE, with strongly right-handed individuals benefitting more from horizontal saccades than non-strongly right-handed individuals (p <.01). Horizontal saccades improved memory performance, particularly for strongly right-handed individuals. These results support the interhemispheric interaction hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prospective memory (PM) refers to remembering to perform a planned action at a future time. Implementation intention is an encoding method in the form of “if situation Y is encountered, then I will initiate the goal-directed behavior X”. It has been applied to improve PM performances. The present study conducted a systematic and meta-analytic review on the effect and mechanism of implementation intention on PM. In the meta-analysis, 36 comparisons were included. The results showed that for healthy young adults, the overall effect of implementation intention in improving PM performances was significant with a medium effect size ( d =0.445). The combined verbal and imagery form of implementation intention had a relatively larger effect size ( d =0.590). For older adults, implementation intention had a medium to large effect size on their PM performances ( d =0.680). As for the mechanism, implementation intention seemed to reduce ongoing task performances in young adults as reflected by longer reaction time ( d =0.224) though the effect size was small. The present study supports the positive effect of implementation intention on PM. The mechanism and potential implications of this promising strategy especially for clinical/sub-clinical people are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]