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Remembering possible times: Memory for details of past, future, and counterfactual simulations.

Publication ,  Journal Article
De Brigard, F; Gessell, B; Yang, BW; Stewart, G; Marsh, EJ
Published in: Psychology of Consciousness: Theory Research, and Practice
January 1, 2020

People’s capacity to mentally simulate future events (episodic future thinking) as well as what could have occurred in the past but did not (episodic counterfactual thinking) critically depends on their capacity to retrieve episodic memories. All 3 mental simulations are likely adaptive in that they involve rehearsing possible scenarios with the goal of improving future performance. However, the extent to which these mental simulations are useful at a later time depends on how well they are later remembered. Unfortunately, little is known about how such simulations are remembered. In the current study, we explored this issue by asking participants to retrieve episodic memories and generate future and counterfactual simulations in response to 4 cues: particular places, people, objects, and times. A day later participants received 3 of the 4 cues and were asked to recall the remaining 1. Our results indicate that people and locations are equally well remembered, regardless of the temporal orientation of the mental simulation. In contrast, objects in future simulations are recalled less frequently than are those in memories. Time was poorly remembered across conditions but especially when remembering a future or a counterfactual simulation. In light of these results, we discuss how temporal information may be incorporated into our hypothetical episodic simulations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)

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Published In

Psychology of Consciousness: Theory Research, and Practice

DOI

EISSN

2326-5531

ISSN

2326-5523

Publication Date

January 1, 2020

Volume

7

Issue

4

Start / End Page

331 / 339

Related Subject Headings

  • 5205 Social and personality psychology
  • 5204 Cognitive and computational psychology
  • 5202 Biological psychology
  • 2203 Philosophy
  • 1702 Cognitive Sciences
  • 1701 Psychology
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
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De Brigard, F., Gessell, B., Yang, B. W., Stewart, G., & Marsh, E. J. (2020). Remembering possible times: Memory for details of past, future, and counterfactual simulations. Psychology of Consciousness: Theory Research, and Practice, 7(4), 331–339. https://doi.org/10.1037/cns0000220
De Brigard, F., B. Gessell, B. W. Yang, G. Stewart, and E. J. Marsh. “Remembering possible times: Memory for details of past, future, and counterfactual simulations.Psychology of Consciousness: Theory Research, and Practice 7, no. 4 (January 1, 2020): 331–39. https://doi.org/10.1037/cns0000220.
De Brigard F, Gessell B, Yang BW, Stewart G, Marsh EJ. Remembering possible times: Memory for details of past, future, and counterfactual simulations. Psychology of Consciousness: Theory Research, and Practice. 2020 Jan 1;7(4):331–9.
De Brigard, F., et al. “Remembering possible times: Memory for details of past, future, and counterfactual simulations.Psychology of Consciousness: Theory Research, and Practice, vol. 7, no. 4, Jan. 2020, pp. 331–39. Scopus, doi:10.1037/cns0000220.
De Brigard F, Gessell B, Yang BW, Stewart G, Marsh EJ. Remembering possible times: Memory for details of past, future, and counterfactual simulations. Psychology of Consciousness: Theory Research, and Practice. 2020 Jan 1;7(4):331–339.

Published In

Psychology of Consciousness: Theory Research, and Practice

DOI

EISSN

2326-5531

ISSN

2326-5523

Publication Date

January 1, 2020

Volume

7

Issue

4

Start / End Page

331 / 339

Related Subject Headings

  • 5205 Social and personality psychology
  • 5204 Cognitive and computational psychology
  • 5202 Biological psychology
  • 2203 Philosophy
  • 1702 Cognitive Sciences
  • 1701 Psychology