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Updated: Jun 23, 2026
11:33
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Investigating Causal Brain-behavioral Relationships and their Time Course
Published on: July 18, 2014
The comparative study of mental time travel
William A Roberts1, Miranda C Feeney
1Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, N6A 5C2, Canada. roberts@uwo.ca
Trends in Cognitive Sciences
|May 19, 2009
Summary
Human mental time travel (MTT) involves recalling the past and planning the future, potentially described by a bi-cone structure. Animal studies on MTT require careful distinctions in memory for
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Animal Behavior
- Comparative Psychology
Background:
- Humans possess the unique ability for mental time travel (MTT), involving past recall and future anticipation.
- The bi-cone structure is proposed as a model for human MTT capabilities.
- Investigating MTT in animals is crucial to understand if this ability is uniquely human.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine whether mental time travel (MTT) is a uniquely human cognitive ability.
- To evaluate the parallels between human MTT and the temporal cognition of scrub-jays, rats, and non-human primates.
- To refine the criteria for assessing past and future temporal cognition in animal models.
Main Methods:
- Reviewing experimental evidence on animal memory for 'what, where, and when' events occurred.
- Analyzing studies on animal anticipation of future events.
- Distinguishing between memory for 'when' an event happened versus 'how long ago' it happened in animal research.
Main Results:
- Current animal studies often conflate memory for event timing with memory for elapsed time.
- Tests for future MTT in animals need to demonstrate planning for specific future times.
- Methodological distinctions are necessary for accurate comparisons of MTT across species.
Conclusions:
- Rigorous criteria are needed to establish parallels between human and animal mental time travel.
- Further research with refined methodologies is required to ascertain the extent of MTT in non-human animals.
- Understanding animal temporal cognition advances our knowledge of the evolution of complex cognitive functions.
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