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Prospective memory (PM), the memory for delayed intentions, develops during childhood. The current study examined PM processes, such as monitoring, PM cue identification and intention retrieval with particular focus on their temporal dynamics and interrelations during successful and unsuccessful PM performance. We analysed eye movements of 6-7 and 9-10 year olds during the inspection of movie stills while they completed one of three different tasks: scene viewing followed by a snippet allocation task, a PM task and a visual search task. We also tested children's executive functions of inhibition, flexibility and working memory. We found that older children outperformed younger children in all tasks but neither age group showed variations in monitoring behaviour during the course of the PM task. In fact, neither age group monitored. According to our data, initial processes necessary for PM success take place during the first fixation on the PM cue. In PM hit trials we found prolonged fixations after the first fixation on the PM cue, and older children showed a greater efficiency in PM processes following this first PM cue fixation. Regarding executive functions, only working memory had a significant effect on children's PM performance. Across both age groups children with better working memory scores needed less time to react to the PM cue. Our data support the notion that children rely on spontaneous processes to notice the PM cue, followed by a resource intensive search for the intended action., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Distractions such as phone calls during laparoscopic surgery play an important role in many operating rooms. The aim of this single-centre, prospective study was to assess if laparoscopic performance is impaired by intraoperative phone calls in novice surgeons., Methods: From October 2015 to June 2016, 30 novice surgeons (medical students) underwent a laparoscopic surgery training curriculum including two validated tasks (peg transfer, precision cutting) until achieving a defined level of proficiency. For testing, participants were required to perform these tasks under three conditions: no distraction (control) and two standardised distractions in terms of phone calls requiring response (mild and strong distraction). Task performance was evaluated by analysing time and accuracy of the tasks and response of the phone call., Results: In peg transfer (easy task), mild distraction did not worsen the performance significantly, while strong distraction was linked to error and inefficiency with significantly deteriorated performance (P < 0.05). Precision cutting (difficult task) was not slowed down by mild distraction, but surgical and cognitive errors were significantly increased when participants were distracted (P < 0.05). Compared to mild distraction, participants reported a more severe subjective disturbance when they were diverted by strong distraction (P < 0.05)., Conclusion: Our data reveals that phone call distractions result in impaired laparoscopic performance under certain circumstances. To ensure patient safety, phone calls should be avoided as far as possible in operating rooms.