Episodic future thought and its relation to remembering: Evidence from ratings of subjective experience

Karl K. Szpunar, Kathleen B. McDermott

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

190 Scopus citations

Abstract

The goal of the present study was to examine the hypothesis that the ability to construct vivid mental images of the future involves sampling the contents of memory. In two experiments, participants envisioned future scenarios occurring in contextual settings that were represented in memory in varying degrees of perceptual detail. In both experiments, detailed contextual settings were associated with more detailed images of the future and a stronger subjective experience. Our findings suggest that the contents of memory are routinely sampled during the construction of personal future scenarios.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)330-334
Number of pages5
JournalConsciousness and Cognition
Volume17
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2008

Keywords

  • Episodic future thought
  • Episodic memory

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