Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Episodic future thinking.

Cristina M. Atance1, Daniela K. O'Neill

  • 1University of Washington, Center for Mind, Brain and Learning, 458 Fisheries Center, Box 357988; 98195,., Seattle, WA, USA

Trends in Cognitive Sciences
|December 1, 2001
PubMed
Summary

Humans uniquely project themselves into the future to pre-experience events, a concept called episodic future thinking. This cognitive ability unifies diverse psychological research areas.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same journal

What consciousness is should be determined empirically, not a priori.

Trends in cognitive sciences·2026
Same journal

Is AI making us stupid?

Trends in cognitive sciences·2026
Same journal

Clarifications about there being two necessary conditions for consciousness.

Trends in cognitive sciences·2026
Same journal

Positive appraisal style as a key factor in stress resilience.

Trends in cognitive sciences·2026
Same journal

Does reframing access and phenomenality advance consciousness science?

Trends in cognitive sciences·2026
Same journal

In defense of a distinction.

Trends in cognitive sciences·2026

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Human Cognition

Background:

  • * Human cognition involves extensive future thinking, a capacity potentially unique to our species.
  • * Episodic memory, the recollection of past personal experiences, forms the basis for future projection.
  • * Existing psychological research across various domains lacks a unifying conceptual framework.

Purpose of the Study:

  • * To introduce and define 'episodic future thinking' as a projection of the self into the future to pre-experience an event.
  • * To propose episodic future thinking as a unifying concept in psychology.
  • * To highlight its explanatory value across diverse psychological subfields.

Main Methods:

  • * Conceptual analysis building upon the construct of episodic memory.
  • * Integration of findings from cognitive, social, personality, developmental, clinical, and neuropsychology.
  • * Theoretical framework development.

Main Results:

  • * Episodic future thinking is defined as mentally simulating future events from a first-person perspective.
  • * This concept provides a unifying framework for understanding various psychological phenomena.
  • * It connects disparate research findings and identifies future research directions.

Conclusions:

  • * Episodic future thinking is a fundamental aspect of human cognition.
  • * It serves as a powerful explanatory and unifying concept in psychology.
  • * Further research is needed to explore its full implications across different psychological domains.

Related Experiment Videos