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

Mental time travel in animals?

Thomas Suddendorf1, Janie Busby

  • 1Early Cognitive Development Unit, School of Psychology, University of Queensland, 4072, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

Trends in Cognitive Sciences
|September 10, 2003
PubMed
Summary

While some birds exhibit memory for stored food, this does not prove mental time travel (MTT). Current evidence suggests that complex abilities like reminiscing and future imagining remain uniquely human characteristics.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by
Same author

Peeking ahead in space and time.

The Behavioral and brain sciences·2026
Same author

Developmental origins of ordered memory recall tendencies.

Child development·2026
Same author

The role of foresight in the emergence of innovation.

Acta psychologica·2026
Same author

Perspectives on Time and Personality: Philip G. Zimbardo (1934-2024) in Memoriam.

Journal of personality·2026
Same author

Gibbons (Nomascus leucogenys), siamangs (Symphalangus syndactylus), and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) account for proportional probabilities in a two-choice task.

Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983)·2025
Same author

Children's understanding of conditional probabilities.

Journal of experimental child psychology·2025

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Ethology
  • Comparative Psychology
  • Animal Cognition

Background:

  • Recent studies suggest food-storing birds, like scrub jays, may possess abilities related to mental time travel (MTT).
  • These findings have prompted research into the possibility of MTT in various animal species.
  • The capacity for reminiscing about the past and projecting into the future is a key aspect of human cognition.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To critically evaluate the evidence for mental time travel (MTT) in animals.
  • To identify key characteristics of human MTT that could serve as benchmarks for animal research.
  • To determine if current data supports the existence of MTT in non-human species.

Main Methods:

  • Review and analysis of existing research on food-storing bird memory.
  • Comparative examination of human MTT characteristics (e.g., non-verbal declaration, generativity, developmental prerequisites).
  • Assessment of whether animal data meets the criteria for establishing MTT.

Main Results:

  • Data on food-storing birds' memory for 'what, where, and when' is insufficient to conclusively demonstrate MTT.
  • Human MTT is characterized by complex cognitive and communicative elements not yet observed in animals.
  • No convincing evidence currently exists to support MTT in non-human animals.

Conclusions:

  • The current evidence does not support the existence of mental time travel (MTT) in animals.
  • Establishing a case for animal MTT requires further research focusing on specific cognitive markers.
  • Mental time travel is currently considered a uniquely human cognitive ability.

Related Experiment Videos