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The complex act of projecting oneself into the future
1Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA.
Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews. Cognitive Science
|August 26, 2015
Summary
Future mental time travel (FMTT) research is complex. This review argues that semantic memory, not just episodic memory, enables future imagination, even without episodic memory or autonoetic awareness.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Future-oriented mental time travel (FMTT) research is active but faces challenges due to task and conceptual complexity.
- Understanding the metaphysical constructs of self and time in memory is crucial for FMTT research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the relationship between FMTT and memory types (episodic and semantic).
- To examine self-knowledge and temporalities in projective temporal experiences.
- To argue for the possibility of FMTT in individuals lacking episodic memory.
Main Methods:
- Literature review and theoretical analysis.
- Examination of the roles of episodic and semantic memory in FMTT.
- Discussion of self-referential memory and autonoetic awareness in relation to FMTT.
Main Results:
- Semantic memory can be self-referential, similar to episodic memory.
- Autonoetic awareness is not essential for FMTT.
- Semantic memory supports certain forms of personally oriented FMTT.
Conclusions:
- Individuals without episodic memory can still envision a personal future.
- Semantic memory plays a vital role in enabling future-oriented mental time travel.
- FMTT is possible through semantic memory's self-referential and projective capabilities.
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