Comparing the cognitive processes underlying autobiographical memory retrieval and future event simulation

Lead Research Organisation: University of Hull
Department Name: Psychology

Abstract

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Publications

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Anderson RJ (2012) Shared cognitive processes underlying past and future thinking: the impact of imagery and concurrent task demands on event specificity. in Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition

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Anderson RJ (2012) Imagining novel futures: the roles of event plausibility and familiarity. in Memory (Hove, England)

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Rachel Anderson (Author) (2011) Past and future episodic thinking : component cognitive processes

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Rachel J. Anderson (Author) (2010) Selective interference in past and future episodic thinking

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Rachel J. Anderson (Author) (2010) Imagining the future : effects of event plausibility and prior experience

 
Description Ten experiments were conducted as part of this 12 month project. The findings were interpreted within the framework of the constructive episodic simulation hypothesis (Schacter & Addis, 2007) which states that individuals draw on their past experiences in order to imagine or construct future events. Findings are generally supportive of this hypothesis, though some important differences were observed between the generation of past and future events. Findings from the project also indicate that participants can draw on sources other than episodic memory when imagining novel future scenarios. These findings place important constraints on the constructive episodic simulation hypothesis and raise a number of questions that need to be addressed in future research.
Exploitation Route The findings of the project are being taken forward to examine the differing function roles of past and future thinking. In particular, how they interact with emotion and mental health. The findings of this work are likely to inform the field of mental health, in particular academics and clinicians within the cognitive-behavioural arena.
Sectors Education,Healthcare