Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Language and Cognition

Language and Cognition

Language serves as a bridge between ideas and communication, influencing how individuals perceive and interact with the world. Psychologists have long debated whether language shapes thought or vice versa. This discussion gained grip with Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf in the 1940s, who proposed that language determines thought, a concept known as linguistic determinism. They suggested that the vocabulary and structure of a language influence how its speakers think and perceive reality.

Explicit Memories

Explicit Memories

Explicit memories, also known as declarative memories, are consciously remembered, recalled, and reported. Studying for a chemistry exam involves material that will become part of explicit memory. There are two types of explicit memory: episodic and semantic.
Episodic memory contains information about personally experienced events and is reported as a story. An example of episodic memory is recalling a birthday celebration. This type of memory includes the what, where, and when of an event, as...

Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language

Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language

Language is a system of communication that allows the expression of thoughts, ideas, and feelings. The brain processes language in both hemispheres.
Language formation and comprehension take place in the dominant hemisphere. The dominant hemisphere is responsible for understanding the meaning of spoken, written, or sign language, as well as the ability to communicate. For most people, the left hemisphere is the dominant one. The right hemisphere, then, gives tone and emotional context to the...

Reason and Intuition

Reason and Intuition

The human brain processes information for decision-making using one of two routes: an intuitive system and a rational system (Epstein, 1994; popularized by Kahneman, 2011 as System 1 and System 2, respectively). The intuitive system is quick, impulsive, and operates with minimal effort, relying on emotions or habits to provide cues for what to do next, while the rational system is logical, analytical, deliberate, and methodical. Research in neuropsychology suggests that the...

Language Development

Language Development

Children master language quickly and with relative ease, supported by both biological predisposition and reinforcement. B. F. Skinner (1957) proposed that language is learned through reinforcement, while Noam Chomsky (1965) argued that language acquisition mechanisms are biologically determined.
The critical period for language acquisition suggests that the ability to acquire language is at its peak early in life. As people age, this proficiency decreases. Language development begins very...

Autobiographical Memory

Autobiographical Memory

Autobiographical memory is a unique type of episodic memory that involves recollecting personal life experiences. It allows individuals to remember significant events from their past, creating a narrative of their lives. One interesting phenomenon related to autobiographical memory is the reminiscence bump. This effect refers to the tendency of adults to recall more events from their second and third decades of life — typically between ages 10 to 30 — than from other periods. This...

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by

Same author

Impaired autobiographical remembering and future thinking in temporal lobe epilepsy.

Epilepsy & behavior : E&B·2026

Same author

Gaze patterns reveal attention-based modulation of lure discrimination.

Cognition·2026

Same author

Introduction.

Annual review of psychology·2026

Same author

Endel Tulving: An appreciation of his scientific contributions.

Neuropsychologia·2025

Same author

Creative Evaluation: The Role of Memory in Novelty & Effectiveness Judgements.

Creativity research journal·2025

Same author

Are False Memory and Creative Thinking Mediated by Common Neural Substrates? An fMRI Meta-Analysis.

Creativity research journal·2025

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 15, 2025

A Real-world What-Where-When Memory Test

A Real-world What-Where-When Memory Test

Published on: May 16, 2017

A language of episodic thought?

Johannes B Mahr¹, Daniel L Schacter¹

¹Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA jmahr@fas.harvard.edu; dls@wjh.harvard.edu.

The Behavioral and Brain Sciences

|September 28, 2023

Summary

We propose applying the language-of-thought hypothesis to episodic thought, encompassing memory and imagination. This framework explains how episodic information is stored, retrieved, and utilized in various cognitive functions.

More Related Videos

The Spatial Memory Game: Testing the Relationship Between Spatial Language, Object Knowledge, and Spatial Cognition

The Spatial Memory Game: Testing the Relationship Between Spatial Language, Object Knowledge, and Spatial Cognition

Published on: February 19, 2018

Examining the Characteristics of Episodic Memory using Event-related Potentials in Patients with Alzheimer's Disease

Examining the Characteristics of Episodic Memory using Event-related Potentials in Patients with Alzheimer's Disease

Published on: August 30, 2011

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jul 15, 2025

A Real-world What-Where-When Memory Test

A Real-world What-Where-When Memory Test

Published on: May 16, 2017

The Spatial Memory Game: Testing the Relationship Between Spatial Language, Object Knowledge, and Spatial Cognition

The Spatial Memory Game: Testing the Relationship Between Spatial Language, Object Knowledge, and Spatial Cognition

Published on: February 19, 2018

Examining the Characteristics of Episodic Memory using Event-related Potentials in Patients with Alzheimer's Disease

Examining the Characteristics of Episodic Memory using Event-related Potentials in Patients with Alzheimer's Disease

Published on: August 30, 2011

Area of Science:

Cognitive Science
Psychology
Linguistics

Background:

Episodic thought, including memory and imagination, plays a crucial role in human cognition.
The language-of-thought hypothesis (LoTH) offers a theoretical framework for mental representations.
Existing models may not fully capture the structural and functional aspects of episodic thought.

Purpose of the Study:

To propose the application of the language-of-thought hypothesis (LoTH) to the domain of episodic thought.
To elucidate how LoTH can explain the structure of information encoded and retrieved in long-term episodic memory.
To demonstrate LoTH's utility in understanding the diverse cognitive roles of retrieved episodic content.

Main Methods:

Theoretical analysis and conceptual integration of existing hypotheses.
Application of the language-of-thought framework to episodic memory and imagination.
Exploration of the implications of LoTH for cognitive architecture.

Main Results:

LoTH provides a robust framework for understanding the structured nature of episodic memory.
The hypothesis offers explanations for how episodic content is encoded and retrieved from long-term storage.
LoTH clarifies the functional versatility of episodic content post-retrieval.

Conclusions:

Episodic thought is a promising domain for the application of the language-of-thought hypothesis.
LoTH enhances our understanding of the structure and function of episodic memory and imagination.
This integration offers novel insights into the cognitive mechanisms underlying episodic experiences.